The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop

by Daniel Falconer

Under the supervision of multio Academy-Award winner Richard Taylor, Weta Workshop was responsible for the design of the creatures and technology for director Will Blomkamp's 2009 feature film, District 9. Weta Workshop's artists created the special make-up effects and physical creature elements, the alien weapons and special props, armor, custom vehicles and developed the graphic language that defines the film's distinctive alien aesthetic.

This book illuminates the creative design process, detailing two years of interaction between Weta's artists and District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, including hundreds of images of concept art from both the designers and director, museum quality photographs of the props and sculptures, and insights in the form of quotes directly from the artists. Many of the images included have never been made public before, including some that were cut or barely glimpsed in the finished film.

Written by designer Daniel Falconer, with a foreword by Neill Blomkamp and introduction by Richard Taylor, The Art of District 9 offers an unrivalled glimpse behind the scenes at the creative processes that shaped all of Weta Workshop's contributions to this amazing film.

Genres: Art, Science Fiction, Media Tie In

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 28, 2010

About the author

Daniel Falconer joined Weta Workshop in 1996, shortly before The Lord of the Rings. With a degree in graphic design, majoring in illustration, Daniel has an enthusiasm for world design and the development of imaginary cultures and creatures as a means to tell stories. He also has a deep knowledge of Tolkien's Middle-earth, thanks to an avid interest in the books and associated materials, which frequently proved useful on the project.

This led to Daniel also being involved in writing copy for Weta's licensed collectible products from The Lord of the Rings, a role that has continued alongside his design responsibilities in the years that have followed.

Taking a leading role in Weta's publishing endeavours, Daniel has written and collated a number of books including The World of Kong and The Crafting of Narnia, showcasing the illustrative work of the entire design department on King Kong and the two Chronicles of Narnia movies, and The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop. More recently has returned to Middle-earth to work on The Hobbit.

Reviews

[Marcos Francisco Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si disfrutaron de la película, dudo que no disfruten de este vistazo al proceso creativo detrás del mismo. No solo acerca de el diseño de producción (que podemos apreciar en esculturas, ilustraciones, diseños tipográficos, etc) si no de cómo la historia fue tomando forma en el mismo proceso del rodaje (algo que algunos puristas pueden considerar heterodoxo).
Las páginas son de gramaje alto y la impresión es impecable, lo que hace que el libro se pueda disfrutar tanto al verlo en el estante o mesa de café, como al leerlo en sí.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

Weta Workshop is a brand that's synonymous with quality creative work. The Art of District 9 is another testament to the amazing work they do, on top of what they have already done - Avatar, Lord of the Rings, King Kong and Narnia.

The Art of District 9 is a 160-page hardcover. This book actually cost a few dollars less than typical art books of this size. This is a fantastic bargain.

The book is filled with concept art. Most of the things you see are in their various stages of development, from the idea to the final designs. There are lots of iterations for character designs, the aliens, props, weapons, the mothership and many other stuff. All the visuals in the book are in high resolution with great detail.

What you see in the film is actually a small part of what's presented in the book. You can see a discarded concepts like crazy Organ Retriever which can harvest organs at the press of a button (I suppose), and then there's the variation of the exo suit which was designed to the stage where a life-size model was created and then dropped - I can't even begin to imagine how it feels like to have work at that stage of completion thrown out. And there are a few impressive mothership designs which weren't used as well.

Other than the illustrated art, there are also lots of pictures on the sculpts created. What impresses me are the weapon designs. They look really good, and they are printed really big, and there are lots of them.

Lead conceptual designer Greg Broadmore, creature designer David Meng, Neill Blomkamp and other artists provide good insight into the conceptualization process with their commentary.

This is one of the better art books for 2010.

Highly recommended.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved seeing the development of story lines as well as visual development for one of my favorite films. A very good example as to what a concept art book should be like.

[Seven Pesos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, cool stuff. I didn't like the section with the aliens and monsters concepts. I couldn’t stop thinking about how alien bodies are more important than black bodies. Kinda depressing. Also aliens, monsters, and horror kinda freak me out, so that wasn’t helping my mood. The concept weapons, tech, vehicles, signage, typefaces, and posters were very cool. Cool tech. Sci Fi. Boys Toys. No Aliens. Allowed. Tech.

[Megan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for young artist, graphic novel artists to see.