The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist

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Syd continued to work until September 2019 taking high-profile projects every year, and notably worked on the Blade Runner sequel ‘Blade Runner 2049’ in 2017 where he was asked to imagine the post-apocalyptic Las Vegas by Director Denis Villeneuve.

Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist - Yumpu P.D.F The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist - Yumpu

Production design for vehicles and footage production arti- facts for casino attraction for Las Vegas Hilton)We meet at Mead’s home and studio in Pasadena – itself a futuristic open-plan house, with verandas and an indoor fountain – set into a wooded hillside. As well as artwork, the walls are covered in shelves of model cars. Mead is also an automobile enthusiast, starting his career at Ford before founding his own corporation in 1970. Syd was invited to be not only the guest speaker and presenter but also contributed the vehicle design and consultation for the showcase corporate video.

Illustration: Syd Mead : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming Illustration: Syd Mead : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming

The other thing that jabbed me a little during this book was the words by Craig Hodgetts. I understand, after doing a bit of research, he is a successful California architect and therefore that would give him a good amount of scope to really analyse the artistic language behind the art. Brilliant! A lot of it gave a new angle I could view a lot of science fiction art with. HOWEVER, across the book he seemed to look down upon science fiction language with a little bit of distain. I got the impression that multiple long words, constructed in a typical winding description about motive and comparison to more spiritual and ethereal drives behind the work would be suitable instead of the word "cyberpunk" or "noir" or a whole host of other little helpful devices, and so ultimately I felt him trying to distance himself from the people that used that language. By convolutedly attempted to avoid the genre defining/ sub-genre nametags, he one one hand allowed a fresh take on the work without the reader coming in with previous expectation (I grant this was interesting), but on the other hand Hodgetts seemed to distance himself from the community of popular science fiction, and filmmaking in general. There were obvious nods to other brilliant science fiction works in some of Mead's concepts and yet were not mentioned or given a confused description. I don't know Hodgetts, I don't know his preferences, and it full well might be me missing something from the aim of his when he was writing this, but it seemed that he missed some key points to really bring the reader in. A proposed but never accomplished television production featuring Alvin Toffler. Syd created unique sets for computer visualization Syd Mead’s remarkable career included futuristic vehicle designs for U.S. Steel starting in 1959, groundbreaking concept work on sci-fi films like ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’, ‘Tron’, ‘Aliens’, ‘2010’, and his best known work on Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ and the sequel ‘Blade Runner 2049’. Syd was asked what title he’d like for Blade Runner’s end credits and came up with ‘Visual Futurist’. Though it was an off-the-cuff suggestion, the title perfectly described the work for which Syd Mead would become synonymous.Concept and pre-production design for re-use of existing structure interior at Disney Land, Anaheim, California) Syd Mead, you will be missed by so many artists, designers, and creators. Not only will you be remembered for your extraordinary ability as a thinker and an artist, but also for your kind generosity in allowing us fledgling artists into your studio, to be inspired directly from the master. Your influence will live well into the far flung future. One that you helped create.” Third venue for this exhibition at the College for Creative Studies Gallery, Detroit, MI and personal appearance presentation.