Barracks Analysis Part 2: Graff's Symbol

Back to the Barracks again. AAAATTTTTEEENNTIONNNN!

Lets focus on the symbol on Graff's right shoulder.

 

Through the magic of Photoshop I have managed to zoom in and then recreate the symbol.

 

You can recognize the movie version of the I. F. Logo at top center, with a cluster of nested inverted chevrons located below. Is this the symbol of the movie version of the Battle School symbol, or is it a sign of "Colonel" Graff's rank? Guess we will have to wait and see with more still releases when they occur.

 

Barracks Room Analysis-Part 1: Size and Layout

I am about to add some more analysis of the latest production still that will focus more on the room structure and layout.

First, let's look at the Hi-Res Still one more time, which we are assuming shows the Launchie Barracks of the Battle School. Launchies are all lined up next to their bunks while Graff (Ford), is giving Ender (Butterfield) the run down of who is boss...

"I've done the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, out run Star Destroyers, killed aliens on multiple planets, blew up Death Stars, been frozen in carbonite, taken out off world rogue replicants, and beat up Nazis, all before you were a thought.."... I digress.

Back to the set, which is futuristic and functional with design elements consistent with the style of production Designer Ben Proctor. On a side note read my previous post about Ben's style

I just was wondering how big this Barracks is and how many Launchies you could fit into it? From the discussion on other fan sites the figures have ranged from 12 to 16 Launchies.

To get an estimate of size of the Barracks and how it was laid out I used a program called Sketchup made by Trimble. It is a 3D modeling program that has a nifty "Match Photo" feature that allows you to place a 2D picture in a 3D environment and create a 3D model to match a photo or to match an existing 3D model to a photo's context. (See in the image below)

After matching the photo to the models  I can remove the image and just be left with a scale 3D representation of the Launchie Barracks. It's not fully detailed as the picture, but it should give you a good sense of about the room size and how items are arranged in the room. Pretty cool, right?

From my estimation I think there are at least four other bunks and 8 other lockers toward the back of the room you can't see in the still because they are blocked by actors and bunks in the foreground. I believe that the Barrracks can hold a grand total of 20 Launchies (6 bunks we can see + 4 bunks we can't see) X (2 Launchies per bunk) = 20! Of course I reserve the right to be wrong. Also, this is only based on what I see in the picture. There is alot I don't know, for example that we are looking at the Barracks from the front to the back. It could be the middle of the room for all we know.  

In the picture above  you can see how I would arrange 10 bunks and 20 lockers in the 3D model of the Barracks. also notice the numbers on the floor that the Launchies would position themselves in during an inspection.

 

I also created a walk through video of my model using Google Earth,

That's all for now. Let me know what you think?

Sorry, Bernard!

Ender's Game Movie Battle School Exterior Up Close!

Recently our friends over at Ender's Ansible published an image of a framed storyboard that was a gift to Jimmy Pinchak (Peter Wiggin) from the movie's director, Gavin Hood.

Picture taken down at request from Summit PR

The storyboard appears to show the exterior of the Battle School. I've known for sometime that the look was not going to reflect the design outlined by Steve Sywak in the Authorized Ender's Game Companion, so it is interesting to see what the Movie Art Department cooked up.

Here is a close up:

Picture taken down at request from Summit PR

From that image I was able to create a 3D model to help clarify the design. Take a look:

It looks to me that there is one Battle Room in the center, not nine as they outline in the book Ender's Game. Aside from that there appears to be three other major parts to this design. I used the image below and some color coding in a couple sections to show you how I interpreted the design.

Picture taken down at request from Summit PR

1. Habitation Ring (Not Colored)

The doughnut to the left of the picture where all those arrows are going around. I assume that this is a rotating structure.

2. Power Plant or Propulsion Section: (Not Colored)

The rectangular structure on the far right end. I am speculating that this where they might put the power source to run the Battle School or house the propulsion system that would move this thing around in orbit. 

3. Equatorial Ring: (Red)

 The large structure in red that I estimate that see that it connects the Doughnut to the Powerplant Section. I have no idea if it rotates or not, but I don't believe it connects to the Battle Room directly.  I do believe this ring connects at two endpoints to a ring that is connected to the Battle Room.

4. The Battle Room Ring (Green)

The green structure that wraps around the circumference of a equator of the Battle Room. It has a common point at each end that connects to the Equatorial Ring at a circular hub that the Habitation ring rotates about. This hub is the access way to transfer between rings.

Picture taken down at request from Summit PR

In the image below you can see how the sections correspond to my model. Click the image to enlarge it.

 You will also notice that I have attached some dimensions to this model. Since I had no clue as to what size the designer was making this version of the Battle School. I scaled the model to reflect the long side length of the Battle School outlined in the Authorized Companion which was approximately 550m (1,804 ft) This meant that the Habitation Section is approximately 474 ft in diameter and the Battle Room is approximatel 578 ft in diameter.

I also sized the "Movie" Battle School model to reflect dimensions my friend and "First Battle School Engineer", Steve Sywak was able to deduce given his great knowledge and experience in physics, and engineering science calculations. I refer you back to comments at Ender's Ansible to understand what real world forces and calculations would make this version of teh Battle School to work in reality.

Doing a side by side comparison of the two Battle Schools.

 

Now let's look at the Battle Room. 

 The Battle Room Ring in green is the place where armies would travel through to get to their respective gates. I hope they have some motorized transport, this room is huge, and I would hate to be the army that would have to travel to the far gate for a battle. If you look in the room I have place 2  40 person armies. Each of those person's in that rectangular formation are at least 5 ft in height. So you can see how vast that room would be in relation to an individual.

Well, that's an overview of my model. Give me some feed back what do you think of the proposed designs for the upcoming Movie. How do you think it will work?

Until then, since this is my blog...enjoy my Battle School Art!

 

New Worlds....Humanity's Greatest Opportunity!

Keep Calm and Carry on!

Although we are at War...

Stay Compliant!

Stay Compliant! The Fleet decrees no more than two kids per couple. A #third is absurd

New Ender's Game Fan Trailer "WIN THE END"

My latest fan trailer. It has alot of photos form the Ender's Game Production Blog, plus some of my own work, and others that I have grabbed of the Internets! I apologize if the audio is kind of loud at times. Keep your finger near the volum button, otherwise, enjoy!




The song is called "Frozen Whispers" by Stephon Jones. Check out his music on Soundcloud. Its very good plus he has some tracks from and Ender's Game score he is doing. I'm not sure if its for an audio or e-book. I have to ask him about that.

That's my voice your hearing. The text of what I wanted to say is below, but I modified during the taping.

meh....

They've watched through his eyes.
They've listened through his ears.
And they know he's the one
So they will take him
and others like him
to train them as warriors
to play the game of survival
for the survival of all humanity
as they face a terrible enemy
making it's play
to destroy all they know.
Ender's Game
Win the end.

The Real International Fleet Symbol

The Ender's Game Production Blog finally made their update and it was a good one. We finally get a peek at the official symbol for the International Fleet, the military organization that protects humanity and runs the Battle School in Ender's Game.

I can dig it. To me it has got a Roman Empire dictatorially feel to it, which is how I feel the Fleet probably acts in the Ender Universe. Afterall, they can monitor you kids electronically and take them away from you to train them for war and humanity's defense. I wonder if the designs and stars have any meaning?

Back when I imagined what The International Fleet Logo would look like I created this:

For the Ender's Game Comics produced by Marvel it got beefed up to this:

Which is grittier than the movie design. Also, my design composed of a crest and shield arrangement with a star rising above a stylized Earth and a winged shield in the foreground. The shield meanings were a description of the IF's purpose of the defense of humanity. The wings and the star were to symbolize space where IF held vigilance. I also had three bold lines that formed the star to symbolize the 3 leadership positions of Earth , the Polemarch, the Strategos, and the Hegemon, working in concert. Pretty good, huh? (Pats Back) At times I can't believe how geeked out I sound about this kind of stuff.

Here is a better view of the insignia. So tell me is everything that you imagined?

-Go FLEET 

Ender's Game Movie Concept Imagery?

***Post Update****

UPDATE: From Summit PR:

   " These are NOT from the film. The Ben Proctor image was a personal sketch that was done years ago, before he was ever affiliated with the ENDER’S GAME production. It was his own fan art and not something that is or ever was a piece of concept art for the film. You’ll note that Ben is taking this down from his personal site, but it’s only to ward off further confusion. The David Levy image is also not a piece of concept art from the film. This is actually from a video game project he worked on years ago. "

****Back to the regularly scheduled blog****

 
I can't wait to start seeing more complete images of the set for the Ender's Game Movie. I'm sure they will be releasing something "official" soon enough, but still I had to go searching. So starting with IMDB I saw that Ben Proctor, a visual artist that is known for his work on such movies as Transformers and Avatar, is heading up the Production Design for the movie. I viewed some recent work in his online gallery he posted up in his online gallery and came across this image: 

While he lists it as "Sketch of a scene from the classic scifi novel 'Ender's Game'. I wonder if it might be a set for the movie since it looks like the simulators Ender and company use at the Command School on Eros.Only time will tell

Also,  in my IMDB hunt I came across the David Vyle Levy, senior concept artist, for the movie. In his online gallery he posted this shot entitled "Corridor."

What interested me in this piece as a possible set design for the Ender's Game is the rounded door at the end of the hall, the shape of the hall way, and the paneling layout. In my mind a lot of those elements looked like the parts of a set that were visible behind a picture Roberto Orci in a posting on the Ender's Game Production Blog

Yeah. I'm reaching for sure....but hey, I got to do something while I wait the 530+ days until I can see the real thing.

I also noticed that the color of the suit top of the person standing at the end of the "Corridor" picture is a color blue like a picture posted on this weeks edition of the Production Blog showing the color scheme of the real life suit behind Graff's name tag.

 
Ok.
I'm done.
No, really.
Have a good weekend....

Ender's Game IF, Command School ,and Tactical SchoolInsignia'

In addition to creating army insignias, I also created insignias for various International Fleet Sections.
Of course I have the International logo below, which was licensed by Orson Scott Card and Marvel for use in the comic adaptation that were put out a few years ago

Then I did some fro Command and Tactical School the places were Ender and the Jeesh fought their legendary battles.