My
Artwork for the 2006 Doctor Who Series 2 BBC DVD Releases -
Part II
The
2006 series two DVD box set of Doctor Who makes use imagery which is known as
"lenticular".This kind of image is one which can create the appearance
of motion or animation through a series of embedded frames. See
here for a full lenticular explanation.
One lencticular image
is of a TARDIS spinning in the time vortex. This uses the same TARDIS model created
for the rear of each cover.
The lenticular image is on the other side of
the box set and features a Dalek and a Cyberman. The idea was mooted quite early
on when the decision was taken to go with a lenticular idea and it seemed that
Daleks and Cybermen turning see-through would be appropriate to exploring the
idea of what's inside the creatures and the differences between them. The
possibility of Eccleston turning into Tennant was rejected by the powers-that-be
but later used instead on the 2007 Annual (curiously therefore having an actor
who featured solely in 2005!).
The image here above right shows an early
mockup I did of the inside of a Dalek using images of machinery borrowed from
various sources. The
exterior uses my 3D Dalek render as reference point and I did the natural thing
of trying to link up the external design features to something inside. I took
wiring inwards from the eye stalk, lights and apendages. Also important was to
align the underneath of the skirt which we'd seen in hovering shots to some kind
of anti-grav technology. Above left is my finished construction of the interior
featuring prominent power-generator in the skirt and other essential bits. It
was important that this model did not become totally filled with clutter which
would have been arguable more likely of the Dalek's interior. It needed to retain
something distinctive and discernable through all parts and it would have been
very easy to totally overdo the inside with wires and machinery until all clarity
was lost. So although the final version may be a little more bare than you might
expect, it means you can still perfectly make out the innards, and also the exterior
of the Dalek shell, which is as important at showing off the 3D aspect as what's
inside. A lot of work had to go into stripping down and refining the exterior
model so that it not only lined up with the photograph which was to be the starting
point, but it also showed of the skirt balls at the back of the skirt, the neck
rings, etc. Once the final image had been created in greyscale, I isolated the
elements for Stuart to colour in the style of a false colour X ray.
Creating
the inside of a Cyberman was a real challenge. It was something I had always wanted
to attempt. There had been so many contradictory hints down the years about how
the Cybermen were put together that I thought it would be fun to untangle the
myth and make some sense of it. The
extra dimension was added by the fact that these new Cybermen evolved in a parallel
universe and so didn't come with all the history of the Cybermen that we know.
The ink drawings on the left were part of my initial brain-storming. I played
around with the very skeletal look of the head and in working out how the ribbed
piping we can see between the metal plates would work around the whole body. Little
did I know that a part-Cyberperson would be seen in Torchwood so the BBC
sent me over some sketches so that my X-ray didn't contradict their Cyberwoman.
On
the right is an early photoshop mockup I did whilst trying to think through how
the basic elements would lie under the suit. Those of you with a keen eye may
pick up on the fact that I used the endoskeleton of the Terminator! In
the final X-ray, like the Dalek, it didn't want to look too over-complicated.
Although the above-right "Terminator" mockup does look great in terms
of realism, it just looks like metallic skeleton wrapped in clear plastic, not
like an X-ray and it's a good example of showing what happens when there is too
much detail: You
can't really make much out of any part of the shape inside, it's just a general
impression you get, and overall it is a mess.
The final version is lean
in terms of the amount of stuff visible and the emphasis is very much on the skeleton.
I wanted to achieve some links betweem the suit and what must be inside, so you
will see at the top of the legs the external handle is continued inside the thigh
and up to some internal organ. Also the photo being used as the starting shot
showed that the "knee bolts" on either side of the leg did not actually
match where the knee was in the body. In order to mask this oddity I routed the
pipes so that they ran around a knee block which I brought up higher, and snaked
the tubing round the other side and down the shin. Hopefully this keeps the knee
in a place which looks right, while also working the crossbar in, as I did in
the elbows. I'm really pleased with the end result and I think the "false
colour" look added by Stuart brings the whole thing to life.
The
2006 series two DVD box set of Doctor Who makes use imagery which is known as
"lenticular".This kind of image is one which can create the appearance
of motion or animation through a series of embedded frames. 
The
possibility of Eccleston turning into Tennant was rejected by the powers-that-be
but later used instead on the 2007 Annual (curiously therefore having an actor
who featured solely in 2005!).
The
exterior uses my 3D Dalek render as reference point and I did the natural thing
of trying to link up the external design features to something inside. I took
wiring inwards from the eye stalk, lights and apendages. Also important was to
align the underneath of the skirt which we'd seen in hovering shots to some kind
of anti-grav technology. Above left is my finished construction of the interior
featuring prominent power-generator in the skirt and other essential bits. It
was important that this model did not become totally filled with clutter which
would have been arguable more likely of the Dalek's interior. It needed to retain
something distinctive and discernable through all parts and it would have been
very easy to totally overdo the inside with wires and machinery until all clarity
was lost. So although the final version may be a little more bare than you might
expect, it means you can still perfectly make out the innards, and also the exterior
of the Dalek shell, which is as important at showing off the 3D aspect as what's
inside. A lot of work had to go into stripping down and refining the exterior
model so that it not only lined up with the photograph which was to be the starting
point, but it also showed of the skirt balls at the back of the skirt, the neck
rings, etc. Once the final image had been created in greyscale, I isolated the
elements for Stuart to colour in the style of a false colour X ray.
Creating
the inside of a Cyberman was a real challenge. It was something I had always wanted
to attempt. There had been so many contradictory hints down the years about how
the Cybermen were put together that I thought it would be fun to untangle the
myth and make some sense of it. 
The
extra dimension was added by the fact that these new Cybermen evolved in a parallel
universe and so didn't come with all the history of the Cybermen that we know.
The ink drawings on the left were part of my initial brain-storming. I played
around with the very skeletal look of the head and in working out how the ribbed
piping we can see between the metal plates would work around the whole body. Little
did I know that a part-Cyberperson would be seen in Torchwood so the BBC
sent me over some sketches so that my X-ray didn't contradict their Cyberwoman.
In
the final X-ray, like the Dalek, it didn't want to look too over-complicated.
Although the above-right "Terminator" mockup does look great in terms
of realism, it just looks like metallic skeleton wrapped in clear plastic, not
like an X-ray and it's a good example of showing what happens when there is too
much detail: 
You
can't really make much out of any part of the shape inside, it's just a general
impression you get, and overall it is a mess.