Alex Garland’s Ex Machina has been one of the unexpected gems of the year, a strikingly original and modern sci-fi that has already been enshrined as a cult hit. Now, with its UK and US theatrical releases behind it, there’s an opportunity to lift its shell and examine the wiring beneath. Jock, 2000 AD luminary and Garland’s Dredd collaborator, was the man responsible for designing Ava and a new book charts her/its creation from the ground up. Here, exclusively, is some of that concept art. Click for a closer look.
The book, AVA Evolved, collates Jock’s mood pieces, designs and concept art to show how Alicia Vikander’s AI slowly came together during pre-production. It’s a limited edition tome – there are only 500 copies available – and a fascinating insight into how the robot prototype developed from Vikander 1.0 to the final, big-screen version. Interestingly, it all came about after the Swedish actress’s casting, presumably adding no little time pressure to the process.
"It’s been an incredible experience for me seeing Ava come to life in the final film,” says Jock, "and the response people have had to her. I worked with Alex [Garland] in the very earliest stages of production, and this portfolio contains all the images from that time, before she was handed over to the amazing VFX team at Double Negative. It was a few intense weeks trying to figure out what this machine was and I’m looking forward to people getting to look behind the scenes and see the process from the first sketch to the final concepts.”
The book will be available exclusively here and at the 2000 AD booth at next month’s San Diego Comic-Con.