Into Darkness Catch-Up Part 4: Artwork

The final part in my round-up of all things Into Darkness, having worked my way backwards through the production cycle I'm looking at the inception of the look of the film from the concept art (see previous entries on the effects, music, and promotion). Hopefully we'll get something similar to the last film's Star Trek: The Art of the Film book at some point, but until then the many artists that worked on designs for Into Darkness have been busy sharing their work online.

Comic Book Movie and Film Sketcher posted artwork from, and in the case of a latter an in interview with, Harald Belker, who worked on concepts for ships early in the pre-production of the film. He was instructed to develop some very exotic designs for Klingon ships, which featured towering structures.

 

Belker also worked on a design for a small Starfleet ship, which appears to be the basis for what became John Harrison's small-craft that he attacked Starfleet HQ with:

You can see more artwork for both designs on Comic Book Movie and Film Sketcher. Film Sketcher also posted artwork and an interview with Andrea Dopaso, who worked on location design for Into Darkness, including stunning stuff like this concept for Nibiru:

Dopaso also worked on the look for Qo'noS; his comments on that design give some interesting insight into what they were aiming for in the production:

Scott wanted to achieved a red warm, seductive atmosphere for the primitive civilization of the Red Planet. But for the Klingon world he was looking for a planet devastated not only by continuous war, but the nature of the planet itself, consumed by toxic eruptions and chemicals spills of all sorts. This created a miserable condition for the life of its inhabitants.

Clothes on Film and Film Sketcher have also done features on the costume design, featuring the work of Keith Christensen, Michael Kaplan, Neville Page, and Constantine Sekeris. Here are a few examples: Klingons, Starfleet space dive suits, and alternative looks for the Nibirans:

 

Finally, Inventing Interactive have done an extensive feature on Jorge Almeida's work on the displays and interface designs in the film. The article includes lots of images at the images used on the displays, giving us a great look at the design of these sometimes difficult to make out bits of artwork. Here are a few examples:

Almeida noted how they approached the design of the Vengeance monitors:

The “Vengeance,” like the “Enterprise,” featured 4 sets of monitors that wrap around the top half of the bridge walls and act as a 360º radar monitor. Some of the images Scott had provided us felt like nautical maps, so I kept that in mind when coming up with ideas. Thinking of the monitors as windows of a submarine, I tried to make what was happening outside feel slightly ominous and alive.

You can see many more examples of the user interface designs on Inventing Interactive, as well as Jorge Almeida own portfolio, and the company he work's for, OOOii's website.

For more Into Darkness production art, check out my previous feature on Scott Chambliss' work. While for full coverage of every aspect of Into Darkness, check out my Into Darkness guide page.