Syd Mead’s impact is explored through the lens of his varied and influential body of work. The video delves into how his designs influenced not only Hollywood but also video games, architecture, and industrial design. Mead’s website, sydmead.com, showcases his portfolio and continues to celebrate his legacy. 

In this analysis and introduction to theatre and film set design, we will look at the amazing world of set design, and how you build Movie or thratre sets. We will break down the fundamentals of production design and shows you how to communicate your visual ideas on set. Taking examples from the Mandalorian, Titanic, The Matrix, Interstellar, 1917, Star Wars, The Hobbit, Lord Of The Rings, Alien

Guy Hendrix Dyas, the acclaimed production designer for Inception, Steve Jobs, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, breaks down the fundamentals of production design and shows you how to communicate your visual ideas on set. 

Four key engineering and cinematographic techniques helped Stanley Kubrick create a depiction of space in 2001: A Space Odyssey that still feels real half a century after the film’s release. These techniques also inspired countless films that came after Kubrick’s masterpiece.

Cowboy Bebop defies genre, blending noir, jazz, and space western into a unique style. Recreating its iconic ships for Netflix’s live-action series was a major challenge. Show creators drew from anime aesthetics and Western design, overcoming inconsistencies to faithfully adapt the Bebop and other ships. The video reveals their process.

Explores the groundbreaking production design of Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner. Featuring interviews with key members of the film's crew, the documentary delves into how the film’s gritty, futuristic world was brought to life. It highlights the creative vision behind the dystopian architecture, atmospheric lighting, and layered visual textures that defined the film’s iconic aesthetic.

Matte painting played a crucial role in creating the visual effects for the Death Star in Star Wars, especially in the original 1977 film, A New Hope. Since digital tools didn’t exist yet, artists relied on hand-painted artwork to extend sets, create vast environments, and depict the massive scale of the Empire’s superweapon

Wētā Workshop won a Visual Effects Society Award for their work on Blade Runner 2049, creating detailed miniatures and concept designs for the LAPD Building. Filmed by Alex Funke, the project was a labor of love for the New Zealand-based team, honoring the legacy of the 1982 original.

Retrospective video that explores how George Lucas and the team at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) revolutionized filmmaking with the original 1977 Star Wars. It dives into the innovative use of special effects, miniatures, matte painting, motion control cameras, and groundbreaking sound design The video highlights the challenges and creativity that defined the production, showcasing how A New Hope set a new standard for visual storytelling.

LED walls are revolutionizing this process by projecting 3D environments in real time behind actors to provide the illusion of being in a physical location. These methods were put to the test on Disney’s "The Mandalorian," of which over half was filmed indoors on a virtual set. This process of combining traditional cinematography techniques with advanced world-building technology effectively eliminates the need for a green screen.

This video explores the evolving role of green screens in Hollywood, highlighting their drawbacks and a groundbreaking alternative. Charmaine Chan, a compositor at ILM, discusses how LED panels powered by video game engines—used on shows like The Mandalorian—replace traditional green screens. This technology creates realistic, dynamic backgrounds on set, improving lighting and speeding up production. 

A closer look at the Emmy-winning visual effects of The Mandalorian Season 1, focusing on the Razor Crest’s journey from Doug Chiang’s concept art to digital and practical miniature builds. Discover ILM’s innovative motion control camera system, marking their first use in 15 years, in this behind-the-scenes look inside ILM. 

A chrome ball is a vital tool in visual effects for capturing real-world lighting. Leo Bovell used it to create an HDRI map for a digital, destroyed Lincoln in The Handmaid’s Tale. HDRIs combine images to replicate scene lighting, enabling realistic illumination of digital objects in VFX.

This film by Piercefilm productions explores the detailed miniature work behind James Cameron’s Aliens. Featuring insights from visual effects expert Patrick McClung, the video highlights the collaboration between British and American crews to create realistic scale models. It also showcases upgraded “Sense of Scale” footage and photos from renowned artists like Syd Mead and others,

A behind-the-scenes documentary that explores the creation of Tron: Legacy (2010). It showcases the concept art that shaped the film’s futuristic architecture, costumes, and lighting. The video also highlights advanced post-Avatar computer animation techniques used to bring the digital world to life.

VFX World

ART & VFX

Before & After

Meaning behind 2001 A space Odyssey (8 min)

Visual Design 2001 (21 min)

Film Analysis Kubrick's 2001 (24 min)

New VFX technology (60 min)

Ralph McGuire Effects (42 min)

Behind the scenes Star Wars(58 min)

Virtual Production SNW  (5 min)

Panel Discussion SNW (60 min)

Enterprise VR Walkthrough (60 min)