Blender, Procreate & Photoshop DESIGN CREEPY ARCHITECTURE

Nick Stath explains how he built an eerie, atmospheric environment for the sci-fi horrors of Alien: Romulus

- Nick Stath

Nick Stath

LOCATION: Australia Nick is a concept designer in the film and entertainment industry, including Love, Death & Robots, Alien: Romulus and Secret Level.

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This tutorial will break down the process I followed for designing the conveyor hall and hive setting in Alien: Romulus. The aim is to show you how I apply architectural thinking when designing a feature-film set, and use methods of proportions, scale, lighting, composition and materiality to develop a dramatic environment that matches perfectly with the Alien universe.

My workflow will be broken up into four phases: sketching a plan and section to break hesitancy and get ideas onto paper; blocking out in Blender to explore the initial idea in 3D; applying details, lighting and materials to ensure the design ties into the aesthetic of the first two Alien films; and finally painting over the render to add details, atmosphere and hive elements that would have been too time-consuming in 3D.

By the end of this tutorial you should have a good understanding of the thorough, planned process that allowed me to be efficient in designing under time constraints, while also creating a detailed interior that can provide a high level of production value for development in a major science fiction film.

1 The importance of finding good references

The brief I was given for the conveyor hall/hive environment was for it to have the look and feel of Aliens, the second film from the series.

The most important part of the process is to have a sheet of screen grabs that are the most suitable for the design task. These references help you to get a quick understanding of the shapes, angles, lighting and materiality that were used in the film.

2 Sketch out a cross-section