DarenDoc’s Slightly Nifty Musings Inc.

Occasionally I get an art project that gives me a little break from designing architecture and futuristic hardware…  Last year I was asked to provide key art for the CD release of the soundtrack from the classic 60′s TV series “My Favorite Martian”.  I’ve always been a fan of it since I used to watch it on  local New York TV in the 70s, and I got to work on the movie version in 1999… but for this it was all classic… done in the style of a modern movie poster and a chance to brush up on my portraiture.

Bill Bixby and Ray Walston in My Favorite Martian CD Artwork by Daren Dochterman.

As a kid, and adult, I loved the original “Get Smart”… so when I got the call to work on the big budget movie version for Production Designer Wynn Thomas, I jumped at it.  I got to help conceive the CONTROL headquarters, which was able to be much grander than the budgets of a TV show allowed in the 60s.

[View with PicLens]

I thought it might be interesting to take you through the concept process for a set using 3D tools.  On “Rush Hour 3″, Production Designer Ed Verreaux hired me to help with creating several sets for the film, including the fictitious version of the “Jules Verne Restaurant” in the Eiffel Tower.

This process was stretched out over the few months I was on the movie, intersperced with working on other set concepts in the film.  The set for the Restaurant went through several concept changes and design refinements according to script action, budget concerns, and logistics, such as stunt considerations.  The 3D concept work was all done in Lightwave 3D, and was there to augment the physical foam core models that the Art Department generated to show the Director what the final set would look like on screen.

[View with PicLens]

It is fun to do “real world” movies now and then to flex the design muscles in a different way than on more fantastical projects.

Not a scene you'd like to see out your back window...

In October of 2007, during the Santa Ana wind driven fires in San Diego and Los Angeles counties, we had a bit of a scare…  the brushfire named the “Buckweed Fire” made its way from Agua Dulce southwest down to us in the Santa Clarita valley.  It got a bit too close for comfort one Sunday afternoon, so we packed up the kitty, the boy,  and a very few supplies and evacuated… right after I managed to snap some pictures.  We had a few days of worried waiting while they kept people from coming back up the hill to their homes… everything for us turned out ok, thank goodness…  and I hope we don’t have that kind of adventure again.

After a little wrestlling with the WordPress format, I’ve managed to turn comments back on… feel free to contribute!