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ADI Shares Concept Art Exploring Design of the Emissary Predators!

Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. not only worked on the Fugitive Predator for The Predator but they worked on an additional two Predators known as the Emissary Predators which were ultimately cut from the film. While the Fugitive hewed quite close to Stan Winston’s original Predator, the Emissary’s were intended to be something completely different.

These Emissary’s have largely been absent from any of the behind-the-scenes coverage but thankfully ADI has just shared an awesome new video on their YouTube channel that shows the evolution of the design of the Emissary Predators!

Early drafts of Fred Dekker and Shane Black’s script, THE PREDATOR, had two characters called Emissary Predators. The Emissaries were of the Scientific Class, the ones who design the technology used by the Warrior Class. Our first instructions were to imagine them as older and wiser versions of the familiar Predators. Later they became fearsome, and eventually they were not part of the final film. Still a fun design challenge! Thanks to the designers who contributed to the Emissaries shown here in this video– Farzad Varahramyan, Ken Barthelmey, Bryan Wynia, Mike Larrabee and Steve Koch.

We recently had the chance to chat to ADI’s Alec Gillis about their work on The Predator for the AvP Galaxy Podcast. Naturally we asked him all about the Emissary Predators and their experience working on the new designs. If you haven’t already, be sure to give the interview a listen!

Keep checking in with Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest on The Predator! You can follow us on FacebookTwitter, Instagram and YouTube to get the latest on your social media walls. You can also join in with fellow Alien and Predator fans on our forums!



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Comments: 69
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  1. Still Collating...
    Yeah, that does sound bitter, like he's trying to shift the blame onto the audience. Never insult the audience. Dumb ideas get a pass if they're executed well and if the movie is extremely fun. There were not enough merits here to forgive the hideously bad ideas. They didn't work, that's all. People didn't like them enough, the end.
  2. The Old One
    "We should have made a cheaper, more predictable movie, and not tried to do something new."

    You should've wrote something good
    ya' f**kin' hack.

    New ideas aren't bad in of themselves,
    your new ideas are.
  3. SiL
    It's one of the reasons Predator heads in general look the way they do. He says that the two Emissary Predators look different to each other because one actor's eyes are closer together. He also said Wolf had a differently shaped head without the mask because they weren't restricted by using the actor's eyes.

    It's just something that is always taken into consideration in costume designs that fans and comics don't worry about, not an excuse for anything.
  4. Xenomrph
    Quote from: SiL on Dec 09, 2018, 11:54:03 PM
    You've completely misunderstood the point of what was being said. Nobody was saying that the bad designs are excused because they had to make them around a human head. The point was simply that a lot of the variations we see in comics and fan art wouldn't actually work if you had to make them as something that would fit onto an actor's face. That's all.
    While that's true (and is an interesting component of creature I hadn't given a lot of thought to), does ADI try to use that point for justification in why the Predator heads look the way they do? Because in that case, I think brokentusk has a point that the first two movies didn't have that problem.
    I'm genuinely asking because I haven't listened to the podcast.
  5. Rick
    Pff. It's totally unwatchable. I've watched some weirdness in my time but this is a WHOLE other level of junk! It makes no sense and I am never watching it again. Offensive and rubbish on EVERY level. We were 'Rick Rolled'.
  6. SiL
    You've completely misunderstood the point of what was being said. Nobody was saying that the bad designs are excused because they had to make them around a human head. The point was simply that a lot of the variations we see in comics and fan art wouldn't actually work if you had to make them as something that would fit onto an actor's face. That's all.
  7. brokentusk420
    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 10:21:15 PM
    Quote from: Xenomrph on Dec 08, 2018, 01:10:31 PM
    Speaking of comics, I think they can get away with "stylizing" Predator designs in ways that live action can't. Like there are a lot of Predator comics that heavily change up how Predator faces look ('Predator: Homeworld' comes to mind) and I can dig it on a "creative interpretation" level even if it's not my cup of tea, but translating some of those designs to live-action would be a disaster. :P I think a bunch of these concept drawings illustrate that pretty well.
    Gillis mentioned in the podcast that having to design around putting a human head under the mask really changes how the head can look. A lot of fan art and comic stuff couldn't be done as suits that required an actor's eyes to be used in the mask, for example. Really interesting stuff.

    That's a load of BS. Stan Winston studio made the original design with a human under the mask on mind TWICE and had zero problems.  It was his designs that made us all fall in love with this character.  Not Gillis and his cronies awful designs. All they have to do is give us the original designs with small tweaks.  Not these stupid looking crab shell head predators with these warped facial proportions.  All these designs including those derpy looking emissary costumes look like something someone dreamt up having seen predator only once and never again. Then they were asked to make a predator design with just that vague image their brain recalled. Like I've said before this movie is a hollow barley recognizable shell of a predator.
  8. Voodoo Magic
    Quote from: Wysps on Dec 09, 2018, 05:18:44 PM
    It was entertaining as far as monster movies go.  Maybe this is what fans thought when Predator first aired, "what a great monster movie!  Now lets move on..." except they (we) never did  :P

    At the time, based on my experience, being alive and excited my Mother was taking me to this Rated R movie called "Predator", people weren't calling it a great monster movie. They were calling it a great Schwarzenegger movie.

    Yet to some of us, the guy sporting the mandibles was the true star!  ;D
  9. Wysps
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Dec 08, 2018, 07:57:32 PM
    Quote from: MrPeterKeyes666 on Dec 08, 2018, 07:05:48 PM
    Fred Dekker has posted an explanation of why the Emissary Predators were cut in the comments on his FB page.

    Copy and paste of what he said -

    QuoteIt was a mutual decision. We grew concerned that we were already making a movie that veered away from fan expectations, and when we showed it to some small, select audiences, our concerns were validated... so we removed the Emissaries AND the hybrids in favor of a traditional "hunt" finale, which -- in my opinion -- squandered the notion that the Predators have a larger, unseen civilization and other concerns besides sports hunting -- like, for instance, saving their civilization from extinction. It was decided that this, plus the humor in the film, was too much for the Predator fan base to swallow... and sadly, the box office and critical reception proved we were right. We should have made a cheaper, more predictable movie, and not tried to do something new.

    But what do I know? I was just the co-writer.

    Too much at one time.  If they had focused on adding new angles to the franchise in smaller doses, it could have gone a whole lot better.  But everything together was just...so, so much. 

    Quote from: BigDaddyJohn on Dec 09, 2018, 03:24:41 PM
    Well to me it's a fake predator movie, pretty much a Shane Black movie, and a fun movie overall.

    It was entertaining as far as monster movies go.  Maybe this is what fans thought when Predator first aired, "what a great monster movie!  Now lets move on..." except they (we) never did  :P
  10. BigDaddyJohn
    I think most would agree from the get go that the script didn't made much sense overall. What happened next is a mix between Shane wanting some of his vision to be present in the movie and studio interferences.
  11. skull-splitter
    Quote from: Voodoo Magic on Dec 08, 2018, 08:31:11 PM
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Dec 08, 2018, 07:57:32 PM

    Copy and paste of what he said -

    It was a mutual decision. We grew concerned that we were already making a movie that veered away from fan expectations, and when we showed it to some small, select audiences, our concerns were validated... so we removed the Emissaries AND the hybrids in favor of a traditional "hunt" finale, which -- in my opinion -- squandered the notion that the Predators have a larger, unseen civilization and other concerns besides sports hunting -- like, for instance, saving their civilization from extinction. It was decided that this, plus the humor in the film, was too much for the Predator fan base to swallow... and sadly, the box office and critical reception proved we were right. We should have made a cheaper, more predictable movie, and not tried to do something new.

    But what do I know? I was just the co-writer.

    So the problem was not the quality in scripting, casting, direction and execution, it was that they tried something new and the fans (and critics?) wanted predictable.

    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 08:05:04 PM
    Doing something new was fine.

    Doing what they specifically did, less so...

    Indeed.
    It's the fine line (not that subtle though) between adding to a franchise and just kicking it in the nuts by doing the complete opposite of what fans love.

    In a way, The Last Jedi toyed with people's expectations too, but it managed to keep it all in character (if you're willing to accept it not living up to your personal fanboy dreams) rather than just make it about something completely different.

    The Predator is a nice film, just a very poorly thought through sequel. Whoever pushed this through Fox should ask themselves if they get what the franchise is about.
  12. SiL
    Quote from: Xenomrph on Dec 08, 2018, 01:10:31 PM
    Speaking of comics, I think they can get away with "stylizing" Predator designs in ways that live action can't. Like there are a lot of Predator comics that heavily change up how Predator faces look ('Predator: Homeworld' comes to mind) and I can dig it on a "creative interpretation" level even if it's not my cup of tea, but translating some of those designs to live-action would be a disaster. :P I think a bunch of these concept drawings illustrate that pretty well.
    Gillis mentioned in the podcast that having to design around putting a human head under the mask really changes how the head can look. A lot of fan art and comic stuff couldn't be done as suits that required an actor's eyes to be used in the mask, for example. Really interesting stuff.
  13. Voodoo Magic
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Dec 08, 2018, 07:57:32 PM

    Copy and paste of what he said -

    It was a mutual decision. We grew concerned that we were already making a movie that veered away from fan expectations, and when we showed it to some small, select audiences, our concerns were validated... so we removed the Emissaries AND the hybrids in favor of a traditional "hunt" finale, which -- in my opinion -- squandered the notion that the Predators have a larger, unseen civilization and other concerns besides sports hunting -- like, for instance, saving their civilization from extinction. It was decided that this, plus the humor in the film, was too much for the Predator fan base to swallow... and sadly, the box office and critical reception proved we were right. We should have made a cheaper, more predictable movie, and not tried to do something new.

    But what do I know? I was just the co-writer.

    So the problem was not the quality in scripting, casting, direction and execution, it was that they tried something new and the fans (and critics?) wanted predictable.

    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 08:05:04 PM
    Doing something new was fine.

    Doing what they specifically did, less so...

    Indeed.
  14. Corporal Hicks
    Quote from: MrPeterKeyes666 on Dec 08, 2018, 07:05:48 PM
    Fred Dekker has posted an explanation of why the Emissary Predators were cut in the comments on his FB page.

    Copy and paste of what he said -

    QuoteIt was a mutual decision. We grew concerned that we were already making a movie that veered away from fan expectations, and when we showed it to some small, select audiences, our concerns were validated... so we removed the Emissaries AND the hybrids in favor of a traditional "hunt" finale, which -- in my opinion -- squandered the notion that the Predators have a larger, unseen civilization and other concerns besides sports hunting -- like, for instance, saving their civilization from extinction. It was decided that this, plus the humor in the film, was too much for the Predator fan base to swallow... and sadly, the box office and critical reception proved we were right. We should have made a cheaper, more predictable movie, and not tried to do something new.

    But what do I know? I was just the co-writer.
  15. Voodoo Magic
    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 09:38:36 AM
    I meant the fan ideas people were coming up with cut the roles along those lines. See 'males are hunters, females are scientists' up above.

    Well of course that would be totally inappropriate.  Recently, going with the premise that Super Predators were practicing dna manipulation as the "Predators" script suggests, someone attempted to make the point that the Assasin Upgrade from "The Predator" could not belong to the same rogue, blasphemous Yautja clan with the Supers, because the Supers were a black subspecies and the Upgrade was not - and therefore, the Upgrade must have come from the honorable clan depicted in Predator, Predator 2 etc.  Hoping this fellow fan just didn't realize what they were saying, just didn't realize how it was sounding, or what inappropriate parallels could be made, I just explained associating ideology with Yautja subspecies or race was problematic and extremely narrow thinking. And that goes with gender too.
  16. Xenomrph
    Speaking of comics, I think they can get away with "stylizing" Predator designs in ways that live action can't. Like there are a lot of Predator comics that heavily change up how Predator faces look ('Predator: Homeworld' comes to mind) and I can dig it on a "creative interpretation" level even if it's not my cup of tea, but translating some of those designs to live-action would be a disaster. :P I think a bunch of these concept drawings illustrate that pretty well.
  17. SiL
    5 and 6 in the slideshow that were posted were the worst offenders. Some of them later - around 10 onwards I think - had interesting variations with definite Predator features that I liked, and I think it's weird we've never seen Predators onscreen do anything with their hair. Such a simple addition to make them stand out. Comics do it well.
  18. Xenomrph
    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 12:49:11 PM
    By shrinking the mandibles down to effectively tumours with teeth on the upper and lower jaw, they're streamlining the face into ever more human forms and proportions. You might be right in that it's because the pictures are front on, but as concept art impression is everything.
    Totally.
    I agree, the ones with the small mandibles felt the most "off" to me - although I think there is potential in varying the mandible and tooth sizes as a way of differentiating individuals, just like how different humans and animals have different jaw shapes and facial structures.

    I think the eyes and brows felt "Predator" enough across almost all of the designs that it never felt too human to me, but I agree the narrower mouths feel more human and not in a good way.
  19. SiL
    By shrinking the mandibles down to effectively tumours with teeth on the upper and lower jaw, they're streamlining the face into ever more human forms and proportions. You might be right in that it's because the pictures are front on, but as concept art impression is everything.
  20. Xenomrph
    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 12:25:10 PM
    I like some of the designs, but most are changing the overall shape too much to be too human. Keep them lumpy and ugly and find more creative ways to differentiate them.

    Edit

    To that end I think the finished versions were probably the best of the designs presented.
    What do you mean by "too human"? Like, as opposed to the Predator designs from the other movies.
  21. SiL
    I like some of the designs, but most are changing the overall shape too much to be too human. Keep them lumpy and ugly and find more creative ways to differentiate them.

    Edit

    To that end I think the finished versions were probably the best of the designs presented.
  22. Xenomrph
    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 03:57:11 AM
    I'd say they're as uninspired as anything Black and Dekker did. Cutting Predator roles along racial and gender lines is just...  Kinda lame.
    It makes them seem a little too "human".
    Not even that, it's too "sterile". Even humans (generally) don't cut roles along racial and gender lines, at the risk of seeming, you know, racist or sexist. :P

    I mean yeah there's a place in sci-fi for interesting stories about one's role in society and whether one is "born" to be in a certain role, but I don't think "Predator culture" is the place for it.

    That said,



    re: the design concepts, I dig some of the designs early in the video with the dreadlocks "bundled" up and tied back behind the head, it re-frames the shape of the Predator head in an interesting way without full-on redesigning it (although the particular artwork felt a little "stylized").

    The "scale plating" idea at 1:16 reminds me of the armor from 'AvP', especially the bit running down the middle of the chest and abdomen. Putting scale plates on the dreadlocks themselves is a novel idea, though. And the one at 1:21 feels like Berserker's armor from 'Predators', with the straps and cloth bands.
    The one at 1:38 feels very "low-tech Prometheus" - the lower-abdomen ribbing and the ridges going up the neck remind me of the Engineer from the end of the movie, but then it's got cloth sleeves and whatnot.

    Also while this might have just been because they weren't the focus, I like how the naked Predator body designs don't have anything resembling human genitalia.
    I'm serious - I remember an idea tossed around that "male" and "female" Predators would be visually indistinguishable, and that any of the Predators in any of the movies could conceivably be male or female and the audience would have no idea. I always thought that was a neat approach.

    I agree with SiL that the face concepts feel a little thin and squished, but I think part of that is the perspective. The faces look too "flat", but almost all of the designs are from straight-on. If they had some accompanying profile or quarter-profile drawings, I might find them more appealing - the designs didn't really start to fall into place for me until the 3D renders at 5:30
    On one hand I'm not real big on the large, pronounced ridges going down the center of the top of the head, but on the flip side, shaking up the shape of the head in radical ways goes a pretty long way towards conveying "these are individuals" more than just changing their colors.
    And in the BTS clips of filming the Emissary Predators, some of the more pronounced design features from the artwork feel a lot less extreme and it comes together a bit better.
  23. Jorma
    This just really shows that the more you elaborate in a lousy backstory, the more the whole thing loses its appeal. These concepts are so naive.
  24. The Kurgan
    Quote from: SiL on Dec 08, 2018, 03:57:11 AM
    I'd say they're as uninspired as anything Black and Dekker did. Cutting Predator roles along racial and gender lines is just...  Kinda lame.

    I don't think they cut the roles along gender or racial lines. I think it has more to do with  the  genetic modification they introduced in the movie. It makes sense that not only their warriors are modified to play their role better, but their diplomats, scientists etc as well, explaining the different appearance . Still kinda lame though.
  25. El Pistolero
    It seems they played a bit around with the female predators. And I like it. The face is much smoother and they are a bit skinner than the other predator concepts. I would love to see more about the cultural backround of the predators. It would be cool to see the male ones more as the warriors and the females as scientists. The homeworld should be very technological advanced and the society very prosperous.
  26. skull-splitter
    Quote from: yautjapet on Dec 07, 2018, 12:37:13 AM
    I'm totally down for "species variation," I loved the different coloring, but a lot of those concept faces were really strange, almost like a different race entirely. I will say that some of the designs toward the beginning of the video with the cloaks and sashes were beautiful! It would have been fascinating to see an on-screen pred in something other than hunting gear.
    You do get that 80% of this planet can be labeled as ugly only to have 20% being pretty by perception?
  27. The Kurgan
    Quote from: Xenomrph on Dec 07, 2018, 09:59:36 AM
    Quote from: yautjapet on Dec 07, 2018, 12:37:13 AM
    I'm totally down for "species variation," I loved the different coloring, but a lot of those concept faces were really strange, almost like a different race entirely.
    Imagine this quote were spoken by an extraterrestrial, viewing images of a myriad selection of humans from around the world from different ethnicities.

    Maybe they wanted them to have different castes with different purposes and different physical  appereance and attributes. Like warriors, diplomats, priests, scientists etc.

    Kinda like the Tau from Warhammer 40k have them :

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/8a/df/d38adf3adc0212bf8a4983df61e667cb.png

  28. bobcunk
    It was better in this then the last 3. In predators he couldnt move his jaw at all. In the predator his mouth was closed fine after the assassin pulls his mask off, but I think it was cgi.
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