Motion and 3D graphics artist Doug Thompson has art directed “The Pyramid Code,” a new DVD that investigates the technology of the ancient world. Scheduled for release on October 27, this two-disc set has already soared to #3 on the Amazon TV documentary charts and garnered over 40,000 hits on YouTube, even without a scheduled air date.
“The Pyramid Code” is a fascinating five-part documentary that explores the pyramids and temples in Egypt and worldwide, seeking signs of sophisticated technology in the ancient world. The series is based on research done by Dr. Carmen Boulter of the University of Calgary.
The visual effects were a critical part of the story. Using interview footage from renowned geologists, physicists, archaeologists, engineers, and authors, series art director Thompson needed to visually portray facts, conjecture, and opinion using technology and his own imagination. “We tried to visually explain as simply as possible those concepts the average viewer might not have had an introduction to before,” he explains. “The graphics were produced to help underscore the points our experts were making in each segment.”
The project was not without its challenges. Thompson had no script to work from, so he created his own storyboards and developed various versions of renderings for director Boulter’s approval. The long distance process — Dr. Boulter in Calgary, Canada, and Thompson in Oakland, CA — required efficient communication to work through the details of the ideas that surfaced throughout the creative process.
But Thompson was well-prepared for a challenging project. He had cut his teeth working with talented artists whose credits include Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, CSI: Miami, Star Trek: Next Generation and Babylon 5. He is also former head of the Concept Design and Photogrammetry teams at Pixel Corps.
Thompson says, “No matter how much one may agree or disagree with the ideas proposed in this series, one cannot help but come away with the notion that current mainstream interpretations of humanity’s past don’t very well explain certain anomalous artifacts that exist from human prehistory.”
“The Pyramid Code” is currently being shopped for broadcast and is available from Amazon.com and Kultur Films.
