WGE MAG: 29
“Design has been my vocation for the past 17 years, but film has always been my passion. It had always been my intention to work in film and television; however, it’s a tough industry to crack and get your first break. The design route, which is by no means an easy one is, comparatively, a conventional one. So I found myself working in the product and automotive industries designing everything from cars and motorbikes to white goods and toys. In hindsight, I couldn’t have hoped for a better grounding for being a conceptual artist.
“My first feature was Batman Begins, over eight years ago. That really was a case of perfect timing. I was finishing a five year stint at the UK Design Consultancy, Seymour Powell, when I received a call from Ravi Bansal, informing me that the Production Designer needed a Concept Artist to design the interior of the Batmobile, and that’s, as they say, all she wrote! I couldn’t have wished for a better transitional job.”
Not a bad first job and opening opportunity in the highly competitive industry of Hollywood blockbusters. Added to those ‘first job’ pressures, Walker also had to handle the fact that with the Batman franchise he was taking on a character and world which fans around the world were already accustomed to. It was a challenge which the Teesside graduate tackled in true Bruce Wayne style – full-on.
“In the case of Batman Begins and the Tumbler, the Production Designer, Nathan Crowley had already designed the exterior, so we already had a fixed architecture to work to. Nathan and his researcher had already collated a good deal of visual reference for inspiration. The hard part was nailing the mechanics of the interior, as everything had to physically work. The script asked for a two-seater vehicle with a driving seat that slid into the middle and then collapsed into a prone position, which had to engage into an industrial slew ring at the fore…and all this had to work within a confined interior, using real world ergonomics. Not your typical concept artist job! Once this was resolved, the design language easily fell into place.”
“I was invited to contribute to Crysis 2 by their senior Art Director, Frank Kitson. The Aliens had been in development for some time and they had conceptualised some very cool stuff, but they needed somebody with an industrial bent to give them that additional, functional edge. That and I think they were looking for a fresh pair of eyes.”
Things didn’t get any easier when he was invited to bring new life to the BBC classic sci-fi series, Doctor Who. Famous for low-budget special effects, the rebirth of the Doctor, whilst retaining the strict economical restraints of the licence payer, returned with high-end production values. It was project which Dan enjoyed for obvious reasons.
He said: “Doctor Who was an entirely different experience in regards to pressures. For starters we were responsible for rebooting a British icon, a tall order, and yes we were aware of the fanatics out there. Fortunately, most of us in the Art Dept grew up on Doctor Who, so we were all committed to getting the tone right. It’s a rarity, to be working on material that you have real, genuine affection for. A real bonus was having Ed Thomas leading from the front. He had a clear idea of what he wanted, but was also generous enough to allow for an amount of interpretation.
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