Territory creates in-film interface for sci-fi film Ex_Machina

Consultancy Territory has designed an imaginary user interface for science fiction film Ex_Machina, which is released today.

The film is the directorial debut of author Alex Garland – who wrote The Beach – and explores the dynamics of a man’s relationship with a human form AI.

Territory was tasked with creating a “next generation” UI for the fictional BlueBook, a user-friendly operating system which has been created by a genius billionaire entrepreneur. 

The consultancy examined the look and feel of contemporary OS and UI examples before thinking about how to evolve functionalities so that they reflect more advanced and intuitive behavior patterns.   

Territory creative director David Sheldon Hicks says: “Crafting realistic UI, rather than futuristic sic-fi graphics, brings the logic and functionality of our work under greater scrutiny within the film, and we have to be that much more disciplined with the ideation process.”

A secondary design consideration was to make BlueBook reflect the Modernist and minimal  aesthetic of the stage environment, which run through the film.

“Our intent was to create a credible OS that sits comfortably within the environments, supporting the narrative, emotional tone and actors performance,” says Hicks.

Territory was also asked to create a series of printed technical visualisations of the AI, which appear in the film.

The consultancy’s experience is in motion and screen graphics for games and film. Hicks says his multi-disciplinary team drew on other experience and skills in the fields of product design, automotive design and technical drawing. 

Ex-Machina

Source: © TerritoryStudio 2015

Ex-Machina

Source: © TerritoryStudio 2015

Ex-Machina

Source: Universal Pictures International


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