Production Companies 20th Century Fox, Canlaws Productions, Davis Entertainment, Laurence Mark Productions, Mediastream Vierte Film GmbH & Co. Vermarktungs KG, Overbrook Entertainment
Studio Alex Proyas, Davis Entertainment, Laurence Mark Productions, Mediastream IV, Mystery Clock Cinema, Overbrook Films Production
A year and a half prior to the start of principal photography, director Alex Proyas began working with his core group of collaborators, including Production Designer Patrick Tatopoulos, on concept designs for a future where robots are part of the everyday world. Proyas and Tatopoulos previously collaborated on “Dark City.”
“I described I, ROBOT early on having an almost documentary feel of the future, because I really wanted to steer away from the usual Hollywood theatrical approaches to the future,” explains Proyas. “I wanted to create a strong sense of reality so that you believe that you’re in this world populated by robots. We’ve gone with a believable and realistic view of the future. I didn’t want to have flying cars and stuff that other people have had in their cinematic visions of the future. I wanted it to feel like it was a real and natural 30-year progression from our world.
“I’m more interested in the characters and the story than gadgets,” Proyas continues. “Robots are such intriguing forms of technology that I didn’t want to have other forms of technology getting in the way of that. That said, we do have some cool cars with spherical wheels that can go in any direction. But, at the end of the day, I wanted the robots to be the main technological focus in this world of 2035.”
In fact, Patrick Tatopoulos’ most important assignment was designing the robots, including Sonny, one of the film’s principal characters. Tatopoulos, who was both Production Designer and Creature Designer on the Twentieth Century Fox blockbuster “Independence Day,” serves in those same capacities on I, ROBOT.
“Having a chance to do the sets and create Sonny the robot, from the beginning, was very important,” says Tatopoulos. “I’ve always believed that the beings that live in a world should feel very much like that world, and that they should really fit together well.”
Working with Proyas, Tatopoulos developed the design of Sonny over a two-year period by trying “to forget everything we’d seen before.” Sonny’s look went through approximately 50 different designs before its final incarnation as a slender and elegant figure.
For Proyas, Sonny’s look was a key to the story’s credibility. “We tried to put ourselves in the mindset of the people designing the robots and we figured that they would be making creatures that we would feel comfortable having in our homes, around our kids. So the robots had to feel familiar.
“Again, it feeds right back into Asimov’s stories, which are about safety and feeling secure in the knowledge that the robots can’t turn on you or hurt you in any way. It all makes sense from a human and corporate perspective. So we’ve tried to be truthful to those original ideas that Asimov created.”
The turning point in Sonny’s design came when Proyas began to picture Sonny as a saintly, innocent figure. “Sonny, at his core, is innocent,” says Proyas. “He is like a young boy on the brink of manhood. Sonny is highly intelligent, but his emotions – that distinguish him from the rest of the robots – are as highly attenuated as those of a child.”
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