Concept artist David Levy was kind enough to share some of the concept art and designs he created for 2013’s ‘Ender’s Game’.

The military science fiction action film is based on the novel of the same name by author Orson Scott Card. The film is written and directed by Gavin Hood, the film stars Asa Butterfield as Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, an unusually gifted child who is sent to an advanced military academy in outer space to prepare for a future alien invasion.

Since Ender’s Game was published in 1985, author Orson Scott Card had been reluctant to license film rights and artistic control for the novel. In 2003, Card submitted a screenplay to Warner Bros., at which time David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were hired to collaborate on a new script in consultation with the then-designated director Wolfgang Petersen. Then in 2010, it was announced that Gavin Hood was attached to the project, serving as both screenwriter and director. Special effects workshop Amalgamated Dynamics provided the special character effects for the film.

The film wasn’t a financial success, Variety included the film in its list of the “Biggest Box Office Flops of 2013”. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 61% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 6 out of 10. The critical consensus states: “If it isn’t quite as thought-provoking as the book, Ender’s Game still manages to offer a commendable number of well-acted, solidly written sci-fi thrills.”

The film looks good, however, the special effects are plentiful, and they’re dazzling. Perhaps to be expected of a big-budget Hollywood extravaganza like this. The futuristic look of the Battle School feels like something out of the best sci-fi stories. The well-choreographed battles are ripe with the wonderful combat, explosions and other goodies one might come to expect from a modern sci-fi film.

Important to the looks of the film is preproduction and conceptualizing. Among those working on preproduction was David Levy, who was hired as a concept artist.

Gaze at some of the fantastic concept art that David created for ‘Ender’s Game’ below, and you can see more of David’s work here and here.

 

 

All images used with permission by the artist. All images © David Levy or their respective copyright holder.