Dune director Denis Villeneuve is no stranger to designing spaceships and vehicles unknown to the human eye, be it the egg-shaped ships from Arrival or the far-future-tech shuttles of Blade Runner 2049. Yet , The adaptation of Frank Herbert’s beloved sci-fi epic Dune presented a new challenge for Villeneuve.
How can the fully analog technology of Arrakis and its surrounding planets be brought to life for modern audiences? It was a difficult balancing act, but one that the director never avoided and that he now tells us about.
“It is a process that I love“, affirmed Villeneuve.”It was quite a challenge because Dune inspired many other films in the past. The challenge was trying to bring something fresh to the screen. For it, we focus entirely on the novel and Frank Herbert’s description. I tried to go back to the image I had in my mind as a teenager and read the novel for the first time“.
“It was a long process“, Explain. “The good thing is that we had a lot of time. I was in no rush. I worked a lot that time, the right time to carry things as precisely as possible in concept art. So the effects team would have everything they need. Not only the design, but even the atmosphere, the look, the quality of the light. Everything was done with precision in the preparation“.
Para Villeneuve, no vehicle in the Dune universe was more important than the thopter. A fusion between the mechanical and animal kingdoms, it plays a huge role in the story, and the vivid descriptions of the novel have been in Villeneuve’s dreams since he was little.
“I worked in the beginning with my storyboard artist, Sam Hudecki, where we did tons of sketches“, dice. “For example, thopters, how do you approach a machine that is described in the book as a flying machine that has wings, like a bird that flutters in the air?“.
“I dreamed of having that dragonfly-inspired shape, that was muscular and realistic, and close to the spirit of a helicopter. For me it was important that all vehicles obey the laws of nature, gravity and physics, and that they do not look like fantasy vehicles, but something closer to science fiction, science, and all based on the book.“
“There is something very retro-futuristic, because the world is analog“he points out.”It is something that I love deeply, the idea that it is a science fiction world where there are no computers and where the only intelligence on board is the human brain. That triumph of the human spirit is something that is at the heart of Dune. We try to maintain that reality in the design of the machines“.
“For the thopter cabin, I asked the team to design something that would keep the characters in contact with the environment, feeling that they are, in a way, a bubble that allows us to always be in visual contact with the landscape and feel its impact seen. from above. So they were really like aquariums the characters were sitting in“.
Putting the designs on paper is one thing, but Bringing them to life is another, especially when Villeneuve wanted totally practical sets with CGI reduced to a minimum..
“We had several thopters that were built to life size, because we needed some to be in Hungary and some in Jordan.“, reveals. “They were intended to be practical. The interior of the cabin was functional. We could open the cabin doors, the back door was always mechanical“.
“Other thopters were designed to roll on stage. There was one called The Bucket, which was an ornithopter that looked more like a piece of Lego, from which you could remove pieces to be able to put the camera inside and find the most interesting angles.”
“The only problem we had with the thopters is that, being designed to receive many people inside, they were extremely heavy“, Explain. “I think that, if my memory is good, it is 11 tons. Taking those machines into the desert was a great challenge. We had to use an Antonov, which is the largest cargo plane available on Earth, to bring those ornithopters into Jordan, and then move them with the huge cranes into the desert to place them in the proper position. It was a bit painful, but quite rewarding to see them in position in the desert.“.
“We actually blew one up with cranes“, reveals. “There was a time when Paul and Gurney are watching the worm engulf the combine from above. To get the right light and dynamics for the shot, we had to put one of the thopters with doubles … I don’t know how many meters in the air, but it was quite a technical challenge to carry that machine with that weight and turn it under the light from the sun to have adequate lighting on the characters. It was a really exciting take to do, but very technically complex.“.
“There is something about its utilitarian quality that I find very attractive“, dice. “There is something fresh and very dynamic in the way we bring them to the screen“.
The challenges were immense, but the rewards are in sight. Dune’s signature ships sing on the sand every time they appear on screen, only helping Arrakis feel like a truly living world. But what about the finally confirmed second part of Dune? What otherworldly vehicles is Villeneuve waiting to bring the next part to life?
“I think there are some“Come on.”But I’ll keep it to myself because I’d love to save the surprises for the second part“.
Disclaimer: This article is generated from the feed and not edited by our team.
