John joined the team at Perception NYC to develop concepts and designs for various technologies used throughout the world of Sakaar for Thor: Ragnarok, as well as lend additional design support for the Main On End title sequence for the film. Sakaar is an alien planet surrounded by portals that act like giant vacuums taking in debris from all over the universe and dumping it in huge landfills on the surface. Scavengers loot what is useful from the trash and leave the rest.
Everything on Sakaar has been discarded or lost, so it posed a unique opportunity to create wildly varied technologies that felt like they came from vastly different origins. John helped design and develop a wide array of tech for the Grandmaster’s world including everything from environmental details to unique ship UI/HUD elements.
John also helped design and animate UI/HUD elements for three of the primary ships: The Torana, The Warsong and The Commodore. To make the technology believable and alien at the same time, research and inspiration was taken from real-world technologies both old and new. Water vapor projection, repurposed oscilloscopes, old analogue games, and focused femtosecond laser projections were just a few areas of focus. All of which are grounded in present-day reality.
Lastly, The Statesman ship is like a cruise ship made for long voyages through deep space, so its design needs were more around navigation through the stars rather than around a city or planet. John explored several layouts and navigational features from elements inspired by modern day nautical navigation to more advanced AR overlays on the large window itself.