Black Terminator Design-01

I worked on T4 Salvation early on the project, while the script was in a state of flux. Unfortunately I had to leave the project to finish a commitment illustrating a book, and was unable to stay on for much of the final design work. However, often the earliest stage of a script is where the most fun is to be had!

This design was for a singular Terminator robot we referred to as the 'Black Terminator' or the 'Assassin'. He was to be a special robot dispatched to hunt down our hero relentlessly, much like the Terminators of the previous films. He was to be very tall, made of anodized, black-chromed, titanium, and to be outfitted with special weaponry. He was to be unique in some way, yet similar to the T-600. Here, in this drawing, I have borrowed elements from one my my favorite yet underrated robotic, movie villain designs, to try to give him a more interesting and menacing silhouette. Though I painted this in Photoshop, I don't think the director had much of a response to it. It seems that the only thing that gets a rise out of modern directors (and everyone else for that matter) is design by image-collaging, which gives the art a more 'photo-realistic' look. Ultimately, this is how most everything for the film, including the costumes, were designed.