Concept Art
for The Worst Sci-Fi Prequel Ever!
image: A color key of the Festus.  Its lines were based on the classic 1950s "rocketship" design, seen also in the Festus 7, the Rosebud, and the Titiania.  Various features on it, notably the more detailed surface, the window panes, and the silvery paint scheme, were an attempt to make a past to the future seen in the original Worst Sci-Fi Trilogy.  At the same time, it was challenging to not make the styles look antiquated by current standards.

image: A pen drawing of the Festus and its launch pad.  This was used in the movie poster.  Originally, the pad was intended to be a miniature, along with the Festus, but it was just as simple to composite the CGI Festus into photographs of the actual Shuttle/Saturn V launch pad.

image: At first, the effect of the Festus launching was to be a small-scale model rocket, but this was eventually abandoned because the movie was created during a summer of extreme drought.

image: A grainy cutaway of the "real" Festus.  A similar drawing appears at the front of the bridge set.

image, image: two set drawings, illustrating the basic layout of the Festus bridge.  The panes were inspired by the window on the 1940s supersonic aircraft X-1.

image: Various views of the Festus' lifting body shuttle, the Adams.  It's shape was largely inspired by recent government-funded research programs (which have been cancelled), namely the X-33 Venturestar and the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle.  The name is in honor of the late, great, sci-fi satirist, Douglas Adams, who wrote great books including The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

image: A color-coded three-view, which helped CGI artist Jani Strzepek in creating his 3-D model of the Adams.

image: A concept drawing of the Europa set, with a Jupiter backdrop, and an astronaut wearing a pressure suit.