Another look at Los Angeles 2019 revealed by Blueprint

Los Angeles 2019 drawn by Syd Mead

I have completed the editing of the Los Angeles 2019 scene at the beginning of Blade Runner White Dragon Cut 5.

The main attraction of the opening scene is a complete recreation of Los Angeles 2019, drawn by Syd Mead in production sketches.

You can see the four sets of electric signs and glowing objects on the front and sides of the bookstore building in the Mead’s sketches.

Four sets of electric signs at the front of the bookstore building.

Two distinctive glowing objects on the side of the Bookstore building.

It’s shame that these distinctive electric signs and glowing objects were not realized on the movie set.
For more information, please read the following article.

Four years of fighting with Blender

Well, it was in 2018 that I decided to fully recreate Los Angeles 2019 drawn by Syd Mead in the opening scene of White Dragon Cut 5. Since then, I’ve spent four years creating this scene (^^;).

These scenes were created by compositing CG images created in Blender and live action scenes with After Effects.
I started making CG images by learning Blender on my own. It was truly a four-year battle with Blender.
That’s why I am deeply moved when I look at the changes in my work over the past four years.

Blueprint for Los Angeles 2019

I used the blueprints for the film set as a reference when creating the CG scenes besides Mead’s skethes.

You can see the four sets of electric signs and two glowing objects which were not realized in the film set. It would be evident that Mead’s production sketches would be planned to be realized in the blue print stage.

Another look at Los Angeles 2019 from the Blueprint

If you take a closer look at the four sets of electric signs in front of the bookstore, you can see that there are some differences from the design Mead drew.

The four sets of electric signs at the front of the bookstore in the blueprint.

The Mead design is an elongated board with arcs on the top and bottom, whereas the Blueprint design has arcs on only one side of the board.
Moreover, they are alternately lined up upside down.

When I first saw this Blueprint, I assumed that the Blueprint version of the sign board was plate-shaped like the Mead version. But then I realized that it could be a different shape.
It might be a cylinder shape, not a board shape.

You can see two glowing objects, which the object on the left is in the shape of a cylinder, on the side of the bookstore.

Of the two glowing objects drawn by Mead, the one on the left has a cylinder shape.

On the side of the bookstore on the blueprint, there is this cylinder-shaped object. Even if the plan was to install four of these same objects in the front of the store, it would not look out of place.
So, as a Blade Runner fan, I can only think of one thing…

“What would the four bulletin boards in front of the bookstore have looked like if they had been built based on the Blueprint?”

So, I made it!

Four sets of electric signs based on Mead’s sketches.

Four sets of electric signs based on Blueprint.

Well, this is pretty crazy!
It would be so exciting, if I could see the four sets of electric signs based on the blueprint in the film.

Next creation will be Chinatown!

Now, I can start working on the next scene.
This is the next one.