Cyberpunk City Model
2020
Set design/model box. Ever since reading the Philip K. Dick's book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I have thought about designing my own world, sets and props for a different film adaption. Not quite Blade Runner, but something that follows more closely to the book. This project started out as a small piece of set design for this adaption, but I found myself wanting to add more and more of my own concepts. While no longer intended to fit into the storyline or world of Do Androids Dream or Blade Runner, its still inspired by both.
I added lots of small details that crate their own story. Old posters and fliers for the bar lie scattered and crumpled, while more recent ones are still stacked on the shop counter.
I found myself creating backstories to almost every element of the model, and using them to help build a more believable world.
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The run down looking garage - Maybe the owner has been evicted, or maybe he's moved off world. I'm sure the note on the door would give some clue. On the side is an old print billboard advertising the freedom and luxury of Mars, but it's falling away to reveal everyone's favourite beverage brand beneath, still alive and kicking in the distant future.
The old corner shop - Used to be a news agents, selling papers, magazines and even a few video tapes, but the owner sold out his exterior wall space to electric billboards. It seemed a good idea at first, but the advertising companies began to place heavy restrictions on what he could sell in his shop, and eventually ran it into the ground. The owner is gone now, but the screens keep scrolling, shouting out the same messages as the day it shut down.
The Grid - a "dream bar." A place where people can go to plug in to alternate realities. Inside clever set design and a set of holo projectors give the effect that the bar is somewhere entirely different. A space station, A frontier saloon, even an English pub from the mid 2010s. Large screens out front of the building give a sense of the current theme. There's also rows of advanced VR sets that put the body of the user in a sleep like state to experience various other scenes, movies and events.
The thing is these dream bars become highly addictive. When customers leave they're often hit with an intense depression - leaving a perfect world to find you're still in one of the worst neighborhoods. And it's still raining. Last night's theme was a high level corporate party, and one of the screens was smashed by an angry passerby.
The noodle stand - Not many people know it, but this stand isn't just any old grubby, badly maintained King Noodle stand, it's the original King Noodle stand. Mr. King built the stand himself when he first arrived in America from scrap metal and a drinks bar that was being ripped out from a nearby corporate office that was undergoing refurbishment. At one time it looked very fashionable.
Now, 40 years on, the King brand is known worldwide as a producer of almost all types of fast food, and the original stand still makes and sells the same fresh noodles that made Mr. King a worldwide success. Shareholders have tried to convince him to shut this unit down, as it costs far too much to run, and it's junkyard appearance supposedly damages the brand identity. King never lets them, as he maintains to this day that these noodles are still better than any other.
He still visits from time to time, and serves noodles to customers who are completely unaware they're looking at one of the world's richest men.
Baahs Teka - the little hole in the wall shop opposite the noodle stand. At first glance it's a regular news agent style shop, but as soon as you approach the opening you'll realise it sells more than just magazines, papers and sweets. Behind the counter are shelves full of ammunition, tech tools, legal, and often illegal, cybernetic parts and upgrades. Baahs Teka originated as a small German firearms manufacturer, but soon branched out to more general tech production. It opened a few stores in America dedicated to prosthetics and enhancements, and demand grew so rapidly that they began to open smaller stores much like this one in every city. While Baahs Teka itself is a relatively ethical company, many employees and stores sell illegal goods and services on the side. This shop's technitian is well known for his ability to install a weapon onto almost any prosthetic for a very reasonable price
The magazines - In my version of the future, large corporations have a monopoly on digital media and publications, and some subjects are heavily censored. To get round this, small printing factories sprung up all over the place, producing old style physical magazines and papers. They work with old systems and printers, and because of the small scale they are able to move fast to produce content. Many of the magazines are technically illegal, but individual publishers are so widespread and work so quickly that they're rarely caught.
1mm mountboard, label paper, printer paper, accrylic paint, aluminium wire, 6mm plywood
I added lots of small details that crate their own story. Old posters and fliers for the bar lie scattered and crumpled, while more recent ones are still stacked on the shop counter.
I found myself creating backstories to almost every element of the model, and using them to help build a more believable world.
-
The run down looking garage - Maybe the owner has been evicted, or maybe he's moved off world. I'm sure the note on the door would give some clue. On the side is an old print billboard advertising the freedom and luxury of Mars, but it's falling away to reveal everyone's favourite beverage brand beneath, still alive and kicking in the distant future.
The old corner shop - Used to be a news agents, selling papers, magazines and even a few video tapes, but the owner sold out his exterior wall space to electric billboards. It seemed a good idea at first, but the advertising companies began to place heavy restrictions on what he could sell in his shop, and eventually ran it into the ground. The owner is gone now, but the screens keep scrolling, shouting out the same messages as the day it shut down.
The Grid - a "dream bar." A place where people can go to plug in to alternate realities. Inside clever set design and a set of holo projectors give the effect that the bar is somewhere entirely different. A space station, A frontier saloon, even an English pub from the mid 2010s. Large screens out front of the building give a sense of the current theme. There's also rows of advanced VR sets that put the body of the user in a sleep like state to experience various other scenes, movies and events.
The thing is these dream bars become highly addictive. When customers leave they're often hit with an intense depression - leaving a perfect world to find you're still in one of the worst neighborhoods. And it's still raining. Last night's theme was a high level corporate party, and one of the screens was smashed by an angry passerby.
The noodle stand - Not many people know it, but this stand isn't just any old grubby, badly maintained King Noodle stand, it's the original King Noodle stand. Mr. King built the stand himself when he first arrived in America from scrap metal and a drinks bar that was being ripped out from a nearby corporate office that was undergoing refurbishment. At one time it looked very fashionable.
Now, 40 years on, the King brand is known worldwide as a producer of almost all types of fast food, and the original stand still makes and sells the same fresh noodles that made Mr. King a worldwide success. Shareholders have tried to convince him to shut this unit down, as it costs far too much to run, and it's junkyard appearance supposedly damages the brand identity. King never lets them, as he maintains to this day that these noodles are still better than any other.
He still visits from time to time, and serves noodles to customers who are completely unaware they're looking at one of the world's richest men.
Baahs Teka - the little hole in the wall shop opposite the noodle stand. At first glance it's a regular news agent style shop, but as soon as you approach the opening you'll realise it sells more than just magazines, papers and sweets. Behind the counter are shelves full of ammunition, tech tools, legal, and often illegal, cybernetic parts and upgrades. Baahs Teka originated as a small German firearms manufacturer, but soon branched out to more general tech production. It opened a few stores in America dedicated to prosthetics and enhancements, and demand grew so rapidly that they began to open smaller stores much like this one in every city. While Baahs Teka itself is a relatively ethical company, many employees and stores sell illegal goods and services on the side. This shop's technitian is well known for his ability to install a weapon onto almost any prosthetic for a very reasonable price
The magazines - In my version of the future, large corporations have a monopoly on digital media and publications, and some subjects are heavily censored. To get round this, small printing factories sprung up all over the place, producing old style physical magazines and papers. They work with old systems and printers, and because of the small scale they are able to move fast to produce content. Many of the magazines are technically illegal, but individual publishers are so widespread and work so quickly that they're rarely caught.
1mm mountboard, label paper, printer paper, accrylic paint, aluminium wire, 6mm plywood
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