Interview: Podcast – Guy Hendrix Dyas on Creating the Look of Passengers

Guy Hendrix Dyas has wrapped Passengers. This was the first time Dyas took the lead as a production designer in a science fiction film and he loved the experience. One of his challenges was, “How do I design a spaceship where I can project the mood and feel of being lonely, isolated and helpless through the colors of these sets.” Dyas visualized the setting this way: “It’s really Robinson Crusoe in space.”

Passengers stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt as two intergalactic pioneers onboard a spacecraft transporting them and 5,000 other passengers to a new life on a distant planet. Their voyage hits a potentially disastrous glitch when their hibernation pods mysteriously wake them 90 years before they reach their destination.

As Jim (Pratt) and Aurora (Lawrence) try to solve the problem behind the malfunction, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction… only to be threatened by the imminent collapse of the ship and the discovery of the truth behind why they woke up.

Dyas talks about designing the bar locale in the film. He explains, “The bar becomes a refuge, a moth to the flame.” He wanted to give the bar a warmer ambience, and felt that it didn’t necessarily need to have the same aesthetic as the rest of the ship. Instead, he created something art deco where Pratt’s character could go and have a drink and talk to the android barman (Michael Sheen).

Take a listen to Dyas as he explains designing the Passengers spacecraft.