Medusa Machine
Medusa RAC for Ad Astra. Since much of the main motif of the film was that of exploration and adventure, echoing stories like Jason and the Argonauts, at some point our hero would also encounter its own Medusa. This was supposed to be a a decrepit old machine abandoned in the flooded tunnels of Mars. It wouldn't turn you into stone but it's blinding light would at least make you stop on your feet. This is another example of an unusual design. I did a couple of several more "cool" pieces that totally missed the mark and every time James Grey kept saying, make it weirder, almost like the first prototype an engineer does before simplifying the design, literally straight of the workshop for testing. And of course it was cut from the movie, mostly.
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Developed at the ILM Art Department
Ad Astra 2019 © 20th Century Fox
Reveal clearly inspired by the intro from Aliens. It was supposed to be flooded in murky waters.
Inner components and outer casing (didn't have a chance to flesh it out since we moved on from this design)
This was a predecessor model of the newest RAC seen in the opening of the film that were building the space elevator.
A version without the funnel shaped "head".
At some point we would have a closeup of the welding arm that would spring instantly to surprise our main hero.
And just like in Jurassic Park, I imagined this scene similar to the Dilophosaurus that Nedry encounters.
Our main hero (Brad Pitt) needed to evade the attacks of this arm in order to proceed on his journey.
Detail of the "claw". This was supposed to be some kind of advanced welding/3D printing machine.
We also played with the idea of having other models on land. The sewer RAC was a forgotten machine while its counterparts where working just fine on the surface.
The design changed dramatically here where we added more elements to the robot. The body was a piece done by production so I had to work around it adding newer elements.
The silhouette in the dark was a big component in getting this design approved.
As I progressed I also added more dangling cables to further support the Medusa theme. The main arms would also bend in weird ways to suggest a more animalistic motion.
If I'm completely honest, I can't remember why we called these RACs. We only knew they were machines capable of welding and 3D printing.
And just like the first versions, we also explored a couple of land versions.
The director preferred this one since he didn't want to stir the attention away from the arms. This is the only version seen on the film over the Moon surface.