STARSHIP TROOPERS 3.NET EXCLUSIVE:
Interview with Production Designer Sylvian Gingras.
SYLVIAN GINGRAS is a Production Designer for film, television music videos. He has credits that span both coasts and the better part of two decades. Sylvain has designed a wide range of films for television, including Hunger TV series, Race to Mars and Superstorm. He also designed the critically acclaimed feature Maelstrom starring Marie-Josee Croze. He won the Jutra Award for Best Art Direction for Maelstrom and the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Art Direction for Zie 37 Stagen. He has also signed the art direction for over 50 music videos. Sylvain Gingras has worked in Canada, USA, Jamaica, Mexico and South Africa. Sylvian has recently completed this work on the highly anticipated movie Starship Troopers: Marauder . New weapons, vehicles, sets (and some other super cool “things” we cannot talk about yet) were designed and manufactured for the sequel. Exclusive interview by ARKADIUSZ GRZEGORZAK.
What is your role in the production of STARSHIP TROOPERS: MARAUDER?
My role on STM was production designer, basically designing the overall look of the movie.
Were you a STARSHIP TROOPERS fan before you worked on MARAUDER?
I actually was a fan of the first Starship Troopers. I always thought this movie had something special and different from the usual action movie or sci-fi movie. The humour mostly is was attracted me.
What kind of overall look are you trying to create for ST:M?
For the overall look I tried to respect what had being established in the original Starship Troopers. There was a clear architectural langage that had been established. It seemed important that ST Marauder should belong to the same world. The difference is that the war has being going on for a while and sets, mostly the trenches should reflect that. Also I thought the Lander could use some improvements; if in the first movie it looked like a Volvo, in this one I wanted it to look like a hybrid between a Apache helicopter and a Lamborghini.
What other films have influenced you for this movie in terms of style and tone?
For the influence, I can’t say that there is a movie that especially influenced me but it is hard to ignore movies like Alien and Aliens in regards to industrial or military design. Both these movies accomplished a lot in that field. The biggest influence remains the original ST. One of my biggest influence is actually not a movie but the work of the artist; Bilal, who has done impressive comic books (or “bandes-dessinées” as we say in french).
In ST:MARAUDER we will see some awesome new weapons and other military stuff. What does it take to create a great sci-fi weapon according to you?
To achieve a respectable sci-fi weapon(like for a lot of other military equipment), I think it needs to be anchored in reality. Not the stuff of fantasy but extrapolating from current trends an inventions. The new Morita in this ST was inspired by existing high-tech weapons and a little bit from gun design in the first Starship Troopers.
How many props were made for the film?
Quite a bit of props were made. The most important was the new Morita, of course.
The movie contains a great amount of miniature effects shots. Why did you chose to use miniatures (in some scenes) instead of doing it all CGI?
The decision to go with miniatures or CGI is often a production decision. Budget dictates what is actually the best avenue. In this case we wanted to re-use some miniatures used in the original movie. Making miniatures is a complex and arduous task and shooting them isn’t simple either. I prefer miniatures to 3D model in general because they always look more real. The big difference is the textures, 3D model tend to have a plastic unrealistic textures if the scenic work on the model isn’t detailed enough. In this case I am very happy we have a guy like Robert Skotak in charge of visual effect. Robert is a true artist and is doing an amazing job.
As a model maker told me once...
What were the biggest challenges in making MARAUDER from you point of view?
Biggest challenges has to be how to design a movie with a fraction of the original movie budget without compromising on the quality.
What is your favorite set on MARAUDER and describe why?
My favorite set has to be the rescue pod. It’s a simple & functional design...
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