ABOUT
"Echo 3, is an epic action thriller set along the Colombia-Venezuela border created by Mark Boal, based on the Israeli award-winning series 'When Heroes Fly'. Territory Studio was brought on to develop innovative story-telling visuals and VFX for the series’ military backdrop and dynamic remote setting. The series kicks off with the disappearance of scientist Amber Chesborough and follows her brother Alex ‘Bambi’ Chesborough and husband Prince Haas - both US Army Delta Force operators — as they wade through the jungle to find her. To support the accuracy of state-of-the-art military tech used in today’s armed forces, Territory delivered VFX shots that include CGI drone replacements and drone POV Graphics across four episodes of the series." - Territory Studio Breakdown
PROCESS
I was brought on the intial stages of the project and worked under Creative Director Russ Gautier to craft a near-future military drone for Apple TV's Echo 3. I created the concept designs for the drone's physical body and user interface. After the drone concept was approved I created the production sub-d model of the drone and textured it inside of Substance Painter. I also helped out with several production shots of the FUI and VFX.
The above images were created in Blender and Photoshop. There were around 40 designs total that were rapidly iterated on from a single side view. From there I built out the final drone(below) inside blender and substance painter. Final render in Redshift(C4D).
The Drone's FUI went through a military advisor to maintain authenticity. Our producer, Whitney Rowlett, is a licensed pilot and was able to give valuable feedback on aeronautical terms. There were far more iterations than shown here. Designed in After Effects.
CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
I spent some time creating a larger "mother" drone that would drop off the smaller "dragonfly" drones. Ultimately it was cut. You'll see the sub-d model in mid-production at the bottom.
