(Above) Graystone Industries. Gary was looking for a “Microsoft campus” feel, which Davey nailed with aplomb.
A couple of days after the Caprica pilot aired, an architectural blog picked up on it and featured the shows design work. Gary Hutzel’s point man for developing these vistas is the amazing Dave Morton with an able assist from Joe Lawson. More on Davey and the rest of the crew in an upcoming entry. These caps came from the Arkinet blog. Thank you Ana for the attention! Sometime in the near future I’ll run some higher quality images. In the meantime visit Arkinet and let them know you appreciate the spotlight on our work.
http://arkinetblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/vancouver-as-caprica-city/
(Below) More Graystone campus.
(Below) One of many Caprica cityscapes created by Davey.
(Below) I designed and built the Graystone estate, but Dave’s environment makes it sing. There is a VTOL pad in the back.
(Below) The Atlas stadium, home of the Bucs. We decided that it’s architectural inspiration would come from renowned architect Calatrava. This ties nicely to the the Cylon Resurrection ship from BSG, also Calatrava inspired. Atlas stadium was built by modeling maestro Pierre Drolet.
SHAZAM!
I am duly impressed!
I especially like the wind turbines showing that Caprica has moved to renewable energy. A tip of the hat to the Venus Project?
That was Davey all the way. We all share similar views on the world of tomorrow.
I just hope that when the Bucs make the move from Tampa to Caprica, they don’t pull a Colts play and sneak out in the middle of the night.
Dayton (Tampa Bay Bucs fan from Day 1
)
Great, great stuff, Doug. I agree that the turbines are a nice touch. But the overall design esthetic is what makes these come to life. You’re actually created a fully-realized world with Caprica. My hat’s off to you.
Doug, I’m really impressed by the FX work in Caprica, particularly how much of it there was in “Rebirth.” I’m assuming you’re pouring it on in the early episodes and will ease off on it later on, once it’s all well enough established that the audience will take it as read, since I can’t believe you could afford to do this every week for 20 episodes. But it really is a hell of a piece of work. This is the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to see in film or TV science fiction: something where the FX are used, not for space battles and action, but for telling intimate, dramatic stories set against rich, exotic backgrounds and populated with exotic characters. The format of this show really allows you to do that for once. And it’s great how smoothly it’s all integrated.
I’m quite surprised by the pyramid stadium. Given the way the game was depicted in the two BSG shows (Larson and Moore), I was expecting something more like a basketball court than a football field. Given how much work and expense must’ve gone into creating that stadium interior, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing a lot of scenes set there.
I also wanted to say that I absolutely love the main title sequence, and I’m dying to know who designed it. It does an amazing job of concisely and clearly establishing the characters, their roles, and their relationships, and in a visually compelling way. It’s the kind of title sequence I’ve previously only seen in animated shows. My one complaint is that I don’t understand this modern fashion of divorcing main titles from onscreen credits; it seems inefficient not to combine them. But I guess in this case, it means there are no words to distract from the really great images.
Oh, and one more thing I’m dying to know: how does Serge get up and down stairs? Does he hover like a Dalek, or are there little robot legs that can deploy from around his wheel when he needs to climb?
Wow, that’s some impressive stuff, eh. Modeling like this fascinates me. I want to get into some of it at some point.
I still have watch the two aired eps. (one being the pilot) on DVR. I saw the pilot on DVD, but you mentioned there were a bunch of new matte paintings for the aired version, correct, Doug?
Great work, guys!
peace | deg
Very impressive stuff! A nice combination of classic and new architecture, the Bladerunner like advertscreens do look a lot more friendly here. Certainly a convincing city.
I’m wondering if the windmill area is also used for baseball training
The CG in Caprica really is truly fantastic work! I was impressed with every bit of it and it really did a lot to sell the world that the story was taking place in. The Grayson estate and the stadium were among my favorite designs!
For those of you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the pilot of the show, it’s up on SyFy.com for your viewing pleasure. Even if you check it out to see the fantastic work that Doug and his partners in crime have done on this series, you won’t be disappointed!
Haven’t seen “Rebirth” yet as I don’t get the SyFy channel. Thankfully they will have it available online on Wednesday!
You’ll have to let me know when you’ve seen it. Yes, I’ve gone ahead and added it to the too many things I watch list. Something else will have to give way!!
Just watched it tonight!
“The crowd goes fraking wild.” Haha! Too funny! Love that little robot!
The stadium was AWESOME! Man, what a cliffhanger and a half. I can’t wait to see the next episode! We’ll have to chat about it sometime!
You know where to find me…when you’ve got a few minutes.
I’m pushing a midnight deadline (ya, I know, it’s after midnight already for you) tonight myself.
I saw the episode too. “Serge has a crush on U-87″ LMAO!
The Graystone’s family life is about to become a little more interesting with Amanda’s speech at the memorial. Can’t wait for the next ep!
I couldn’t help but notice that Caprica City has kind of a 1930′s – 1940′s Art – Deco Futuristic / Bauhaus / Le Corbusier look to it externally with touches such as big digital billboards, hovercraft, neon, the LEV, etc.
I wonder if we’ll get a look at some of the capitol cities of the other Colony worlds – Picon, Tauron, Aeralon, Sagittaron ( Spelling ? ), etc. ? It’d be very cool if we did.
I understand that the SEATAC / Vancouver area have provided the backdrop for other Science Fiction / Fantasy series such as Stargate SG 1 & Stargate Atlantis as well.
I wonder if Caprica ever had organizations like illegalsigns.ca? Those guys have been the billboard trade’s most annoying gadfly in Toronto.
Just watched the pilot and Rebirth last night in HD and did notice the architecture. Color me impressed. Most SciFi movies, let alone shows, do not spend that much time on thinking about the urban design.
As someone who came dangerously close to being a urban planner, I must say that Caprica City, so far looks extremely believable.
Can’t wait to see other cities, especially on other colonies.
I thought that Vancouver would have more influence from Frank Lloyd Wright. He was always a visionary regarding innovative architecture & urban planning ( Ref. : Broadacre City ). Maybe he didn’t get up that way.
I’d dig the prospect of seeing the other colonies.
I’ve only seen the pilot so far, but all the technology and views of the city are a joy. I hope we’ll be seeing more of the other Colonies along the way as well, the brief glimpses in The Plan were very tantalising.
Thanks for explaining a little about the inspiration behind it all.
Yeah — worldbuilding of all twelve Colonies is something I definitely hope to see over the course of this series.
I certainly hope that we’ll see the other Colonies & their capitols as well. You could have all manner of architectural styles & blends of technology and architecture. Caprica has always had more exposure than the other colonies. It almost seems like both the city & the planet are the 12 colonies’ de facto capitol, trading / commerce & cultural hub, like NYC, Chicago, London or Paris.
I had a nice trip over to arkinet’s site and almost got lost in there!
I can’t stress enough how much the city feels like a natural and real part of the story…that stadium CG is incredible! Impressive just isn’t strong enough for a weekly series to have this kind of quality and detail. It’s imperative that this city appear ahead of our time to have the beginnings of the cylon uprising (of this era, it’s happened before…) feel like it’s the precursor to what will happen in our own not-to-distant-but-definitely future.
The U-87 is oh so believable, and the amount of animation for her screen time in “Rebirth” gives us a good look. I won’t be specific for people who haven’t seen any of it yet, but two-way character portrayal is just brilliant. Not to mention saving a lot of CG modeling time!
When I first saw “Caprica” on DVD last year, I got a big kick in seeing the Cylon’s famed pentagon as part of building designs all over the place.
Very cool.
This is actually the first stuff I see from Caprica, and I’m amazed. Is more realism still possible?
I was very impressed with the first two eps so far – I am going to love this show. And a huge part of the credit goes to world building that gone on, and blends so unobtrusively into the background. From what I have seen I do believe this show will set new standards for Science Fiction storytelling, just as it’s predecessor BSG did in different ways. Thank you Doug for your work in this regard, and please convey our appreciation to all your teammates as well.
And just to riff a bit on the general idea of watching these stories play out against this brilliantly conceived background, one of ny secret dreams for a new TRK series would have been an anthology series. Different characters, different settings, different stories, different time periods even; every week – but all set with the Trek Universe. Caprica could well point the way to how such a show could be done!
Thanks again Doug.
doug! an honor to have you comment on our blog! check it out: http://twurl.nl/aqffsp
=)
Btw tell the team im officially hooked on caprica, saw ep2 and luv what ur doing with it! U up for a lil interview sometime in the future? We’d love that.
Glad you got in touch. Take care!
regards from bcn,
ana
Bravo! That’s all I have to say.
Keep up the great work. This is fascinating stuff. I pause playback at each establishing shot and I’m still finding new and wonderful details.
I can’t wait to see how you realize other locations on Caprica and beyond.
Do you Tivo it or do you have an ” old – fashioned ” VHS recorder.
Soon the VHS format will be as defunct as disco.
Anyway, the aerial views that I’ve seen are amazing.
I liked the wind – power farms, too, environmentally conscious & eco – friendly on an extra – terrestrial world.
They might use nuclear in there as well.
Wonder if they use geothermal & tidal energy, too….. ?
Doug:
Was the design brief ‘disorientate the viewer by putting a twist on the familiar’ from the start, or was it more of an evolutionary process that developed over time?
There’s so much that’s ” alien ” & so much that APPEARS to be a mirror of our Terrestrial architecture, etc. on the series. Architectural styles apparently from our past side by side with walls & windows that display video, robots, A.I., that ” data paper “, video LCD / LED billboards, it’s a visual & contextual feast.
Fantastic…. All around.
Doug-
WOW!! most excellent job on the CG. There is a nice little write-up and link back over on IO-9. http://io9.com/5462516/like-the-look-of-caprica-you-could-live-there-someday
Really impressive article on IO9 !!
I’m going to Google ” Calatrava “, & see what comes up, too. My dad was an architect / engineer, & you can’t be the son of such a person without a little of it rubbing off on you.
The pics of Caprica also make very colorful computer wallpaper.
Thanks for the link !!
Looking at the screencaps again, I’m impressed by how Caprica City includes a mix of architectural styles from different eras, conveying the impression of a real place with a history. Too many SF cities, as imaginatively designed as they may be otherwise, are simply too uniform, as if they were built all at once rather than growing up gradually.
Although I guess it worked out that way partly because Caprica City is based on Vancouver. Would it be safe to assume that a lot of those older buildings, and some of the newer ones, actually exist in Vancouver?
Too many cities like that wind up looking sterile. Caprica City looks like something that we could have on Earth maybe 50 – 75 years from now, taking into account the hovercraft, the giant building – side display screens, private heli – pads.
It’s got a definitely ” lived – in ” look, & it looks mostly organic in a way, like it has grown over decades / centuries. Caprica wouldn’t be the same if it looked like the City of Domes from ” Logan’s Run “, New Chicago from the 1980′s ” Buck Rogers “, or the crystalline corridors of Krypton’s capitol in the 1st ” Superman ” movie. If anything, it looks like ” Blade Runner ” ‘s mostly – futuristic L.A.
It’s believable.
Safe enough. I’ve seen the Vancouver Public Library Main Branch myself during a visit a couple of years ago. That building’s shown up more than once in recent SF TV and film work. It’s in one of the Arkinetblog screencaps.
What movies or tv series has it figured in ? I’d be willing to bet it appeared in a Stargate SG 1 or Atlantis episode or 2.
Just curious.
The Graystone estate is absolutely gorgeous, but I have to ask, the two smaller houses on either side, with the double slanted roofs, are they a nudge to Huf Haus’ design or just a pure coincidence? I think it really rooted the futuristic look in actual design and balanced it perfectly.
Daniel: Apparently, The 6th Day, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Futuresport are among those movies and TV projects that’ve made use of VPL Main Branch.
Dwight: I’ll have to look up ( via YouTube or ” hulu ” ), some of those movies. I’ve Googled the Vancouver Public Library & it has a GREAT website & Wikipedia entry that has some shots of that building & mentions using it in movies & TV series.
Wowzers !!
I love how great Caprica is looking. It’s a better series than I realized.
Great work so far, Doug.
BTW, have you see the latest missive from fans of the original show:
Craprica – A GINO Odyssey
Sad that people can’t get past the past, huh?
Neville :
I’ve heard about the origin of the name ” GINO “. The BSG ” purists ” think that the original BSG is THE one, true Galactica & that RDM’s version is tantamount to blasphemy. Too bad, really. They’re living in the 70′s.
I have a soft spot for the original, too, but I think that RDM’s version is a vast improvement.
There is some Seattle in there too – the Public Market sign, and at least one very gothic building I cannot recall the name of….and where else would you get the idea for the Microsoft
Campus look?
Did you know that you can watch this movie online ?
Check here : http://www.iwatchcaprica.com
I liked so pilot episode of Caprica, That that was strange and not like other tv shows, but all next series come out just ordinal borring and uninteresting. Acter Kids are also terribly not professionals, say the truth other actors are in hi class, but actually never mind, if director of film don’t think about results, that show will close soon. Sad sad sad.