George Hull's Dune sci-fi design

Recently, the sci-fi movie Dune Part 2 has been a huge success in the cinemas. Based on Frank Herbert's book, the movie takes place in the distant future on a hostile desert planet. I have always found sci-fi a big inspirational source when I work on projects, and this movie is filled with interesting technologies, design aesthetics, and, of course, a killer soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.

I saw a video on how the 'ornithopter' was designed. I thought it was worth sharing because it was interesting how close the movie's sci-fi design process was to industrial design, except for the freedom to make up new technologies. My one complaint about the movie's aesthetic was that certain designs felt so familiar that they looked like a few decades into the future instead of thousands of years. However, this intentionally familiarised audiences with a completely bizarre world.

Below, I have provided some images made by George Hull, where you can see the analogue drawings, Photoshop touch-ups, and, eventually, a hero shot. Unfortunately, the sketching process is touched upon very briefly in the video, but it is still worth a watch. Great to see how the team shifted from sketching to 3d and then back to sketching, eventually leading to a prototype.

I think sci-fi and the domain of industrial design have always had an interesting relationship, which is becoming increasingly apparent as time progresses. In my eyes, modern architecture, XR technologies, electric vehicles and drones still sometimes evoke a feeling of awe, as if we have finally arrived in 'the future' that authors, filmmakers and artists have envisioned. Let's see what writers, artists and filmmakers will dream up next.

Constructing The Ornithopters - Dune (2021) Special Feature - YouTube

Bonus images; George Hull's design sketch for the flying vehicle of the movie Blade Runner 2049.
The final movie prop was a fictional flying Peugeot piloted by Ryan Gosling.