SUPERVIXEN, DESIGNING THE DYSTOPIAN FUTURE OF NETFLIX’S THE ADAM PROJECT

The Adam Project follows Ryan Reynolds as Adam Reed, a time-travelling fighter pilot who crash-lands in the year 2022 and teams up with his 12-year-old self in order to save the future.

Supervixen was engaged to design future-based equipment, tech and props including weapons and vehicles for the film. Their creativity spanned all phases, from pre- to post-production, with elements so well-designed and skillfully integrated they feed the film’s narrative of a futuristic dystopian world-order-gone-awry.

The sci-fi feature, which recently received a People’s Choice Award for best comedy of 2022, was directed by Shawn Levy, and also stars Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Jennifer Garner and Catherine Keener.

Supervixen was engaged across creative direction, art direction, conceptual design, VFX and title sequences. Enjoy this phenomenal design breakdown below, or head directly to the full article on Supervixen’s page here.

DESIGNING THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF SORIAN TECHNOLOGY

As the film’s antagonist, the tyrannical Sorian company maintain exclusive control over the dimension of time travel in The Adam Project. This includes all future-based tech, gadgets and vehicles; which fall within a cohesive design language of Sorian branding.
Commencing the initial concept designs in pre-production, Supervixen established a strong visual identity in Sorian tech which was carried through to post-production, as their studio has the capacity for both.

Supervixen worked collaboratively and enthusiastically with visual effects and post-production teams globally to achieve the staggering results below which speak for themselves.

PROP DESIGN

Props were designed and physically constructed in-house by the talented Supervixen team, the 1:1 scale props were provided to the production’s Prop-Master, Dean Eilertson for the final build to be used in physical production.

THE MAG-CYL

This plasmic energy-blasting hand weapon makes light work of foes, and no, it’s not a lightsaber.

HOVERDECK

Harnessing the power of the plasma for propulsion and lift, the Hoverdeck also makes for a great getaway/chase scene.

SORIAN DRONE AND HEADSET

The drone features a headset controller for remote enemy thwarting and contracts into itself for ‘offline’ mode, when not in use.

SORIAN FOB KEY

The FOB key contains vital information relative to the storyline, including DNA sequencing. Supervixen streamlined their design iterations to keep it simple whilst conveying complex information through the screen’s holographic capabilities.

VEHICLES AND TECH

THE SORIAN JET

The Sorian Jet aka Nightfall was designed to build visual interest and enable a depth of storytelling. With wings that articulate like those of a bird into an X and Y axis depending on the requirements of the situation at hand.

ADAM’S JET COCKPIT

In order to unite the designs of the Nightfall above and Adam’s time jet (which are both Sorian assets) Supervixen was tasked with revisiting the designs of the cockpit of Adam’s jet, featuring Supervixen’s pentagonal light-drive design which is a casual nod to Doc’s flux capacitor in Back To The Future. Additionally, the cockpit re-design included the control stack, which was also built to scale.

JET UI DESIGN

Supervixen’s construction of the electronic interface for each jet adheres to the established design identity of the Sorian brand, whilst offering variations in visual narrative from one jet to the next, with the Nightfall UI coming across as a more sinister and more angular version of Adam’s interface.

It is evident that Supervixen had fun with these designs, admitting they absolutely love this aspect of their work.

THE LIGHT-DRIVE

The Light-Drive is the device that enables time travel. The visual design of the Light-Drive is introduced as the film draws towards it’s suspenseful crescendo.

SORIAN HQ

SORIAN HQ EXTERIOR

The Sorian HQ exterior design involves three main elements:
1. The trademark Sorian S
2. A solid structure that echoes fluid form, like the bending of time
3. An underlying sense of potential doom, exacerbated by potential flooding and claustrophobia

SORIAN HQ INTERIOR

Re-designing the interior of the Sorian headquarters structure posed one of Supervixen’s greatest challenges on the project, however, the team was inspired once the exterior design had been established. Inspiration was gathered from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.