Geof Darrow and The Matrix

Sorry, long time, no post. Thought I'd post again about Geof Darrow. I saw him at  the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Exhibition(C2E2) and got my copy of Hard Boiled autographed. He was also a really nice guy and let me take one his sketchbooks for free.

Darrow seems to be most well known for his designs for The Matrix. So I thought I'd share some of his designs.

Geof designed much of the interior of the Nebuchadnezzar. The thing I really appreciate about Darrow, is the fact that while his work is insanely detailed, everything works and looks practical. Many artists try to be this detailed, but so much of it just seems tacked on and isn't aesthetically pleasing. Darrow mentioned in a Matrix Art Book(where these pictures come from) that Neo's room was designed with practicality in mind, like Neo's door being like a vault, so none of the sentinels could get through, and if they were able to, there was a little escape hatch on the floor, that led to the bowels of the ship. Also, shelves for storage had little nets on them to catch whatever they were holding, in case the ship made a harsh turn. Many little details like these didn't make it into the movie, but made for some incredible concept art.

The Main Deck

On the opposing side, Darrow also designed the machine city and all of it's inhabitants. His imagery and ideas in these sequences are truly disturbing and equally amazing.

Power Plant

Fetus Stalk

I like watching the "making of" features on these films, as it allows you to delve into the mind of these creators and gain  a little bit of their thought process. When Darrow designed the "Deus Ex Machina" or God Machine for Revolutions, he said it would be the hardest design to come up with. In his mind, he thought that audiences would expect a machine resembling the typical image of God with  a long white beard and such. Keeping on with his disturbing thought process for these movies, Geofrey instead decided to go the opposite way and make it resemble a human baby.

Deus Ex Machina

I will definitely be updating with more of Geof Darrow's incredible work in the future, and try to keep in touch more often with this blog.

All images © Geof Darrow and any other copyright holders.