“Lovers Go to Mars”
The perfect couple is headed to an eight-year mission to Mars…but are they as perfect as they seem?
Photo (and cover photo on home page) by Finn Ozaeta (@finnozaetafilms) www.finnozaeta.wixsite.com/films
Written & Directed by Nico Rinciari. DP & Concept by Keon Abbott. Senior thesis film on the film festival circuit. Winner of “Best Student Short Film” at the Milan Film Awards.
BEGINNINGS
I was tasked to use the sketches and layouts below to design & build a semi-futuristic spaceship cockpit for several scenes in the film. I worked under the art direction of Sarah Dallaire (sarahdallaireartdept.com), with the help of Niranjan Patil & various other crew members who assisted as needed.
Sketches by Niranjan Patil. Digital layouts by Sarah Dallaire.
Niranjan & I were given an initial budget of $400 & shopped accordingly for materials. However, as production went on & the visions & goals of the director & DP changed, the budget was thrown out in favor of “just getting it perfect.” Several such changes in the client’s needs forced me to adapt to new design directions, & taught me the importance of adaptability on a hectic film set.
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
This was my first time working on a film set, & we built the entire set in two days. I helped guide the director, DP, & art director in the design of the set, & helped manage a small team of PAs and grips in constructing it. I listened, adapted, asked questions when necessary, & did my best to be a team player with my crew.
Photo above by Finn Ozaeta (@finnozaetafilms) www.finnozaeta.wixsite.com/films
I also designed these laser cut panels in Rhino to emulate futuristic buttons & switches on the ship walls. I hid the names of the entire cast & crew in the panels as a fun Easter egg. The unique property of this plastic is that it glows when light shines through its edges, so we put LED strips around all the edges of each plastic panel to make it pop.
PROCESS
We began the first night with the flats in the far left image, then glued the diamond-patterned fabric in the second image over foam plumbing tubes to create a soft look.
We were told that having as much light as possible was extremely important, so we wired LEDs into all of the panels & began to install them. Finally, we added design & details to the panels, making them look as real as possible with our time and budget.
GALLERY
All photos below by Finn Ozaeta (@finnozaetafilms) www.finnozaeta.wixsite.com/films
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