Richard Hudolin

Richard Hudolin
Role:	Production Designer
BSG Universe:	Re-imagined Series and Caprica
Date of Birth:
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
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IMDb profile

Richard Hudolin is a production designer on the Re-imagined Series and Caprica.

Career and Background

Richard Hudolin is a veteran production designer who worked on the opening five seasons of Stargate SG-1, designed the Eighth Doctor's TARDIS set in the 1996 television movie, and various other film and TV projects before joining Battlestar Galactica. He was suggested for the role by the miniseries' director, Michael Rymer, following their previous collaboration on the short-lived fantasy series Haunted.

Hudolin was hired to head Battlestar Galactica's design team in December 2002, just as the miniseries entered pre-production.

Design Philosophy and Approach

Realistic, Non-Futuristic Vision

"The producers really wanted us to do something people had never seen before," explains Hudolin. "They made it clear that this wasn't a redesign or update of the original show, and that we shouldn't use any of the conventions you normally see in science fiction. We were then left to come up with a completely new vision of life in space."

Working from executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick's request for a realistic, submarine-like environment that they described as "Das Boot in space" and the script's description of Galactica as a relic from the Cylon War, Hudolin primarily drew on real-life World War II submarines and aircraft carriers to conceive the interior of the ship.

"The interior design of Galactica deliberately avoids the futuristic look of other shows," he notes. "We didn't do futuristic screens or sliding doors. There's a mix of old and more modern technology on display, but there's nothing that's really state of the art. We combined retro items like the old-style telephones and maps you would see on 1940s battleships with computer screens and other elements from the 1980s and 1990s. That gives everything a degree of familiarity to the audience, and also constantly reminds viewers that the Galactica is an old ship that's out of date and dependent on old technology."

Major Design Achievements

Combat Information Center (CIC)

One of Hudolin's earliest and most important creations for the production was the Command Information Center (CIC), which served as Battlestar Galactica's answer to Star Trek's bridge set. "When we started talking about doing something that was completely different, we all knew we wanted to stay away from using a main viewing screen and a captain's chair," recalls Hudolin. "So I started thinking about making the control room a bit like a hospital operating theater, with Adama at the center of the room and all of his crew around him. That was a way of allowing us to work in multiple directions and on multiple levels, rather than having everyone standing together looking in one direction at the screen all the time."

"I then came up with the idea of placing a moveable array of screens that come down from above at the center of the room. The screens function a bit like a periscope on a ship. A lot of people weren't sure that idea would work when I initially suggested it, but the periscope concept just worked like a charm. Once people saw it, they loved it. And it's given us a lot to play with."

Edward James Olmos particularly appreciated Hudolin's work on the CIC: "I've got to tell you, Edward James Olmos loves going into that room and doing his scenes there," adds Hudolin with pride. "Edward is a fantastic guy. When he first saw that room he just loved it."

Galactica's Interior Design

"The hangar is very much like what you would see on an aircraft carrier," notes Hudolin. "I deliberately designed the hangar in a way that the set could be extended using visual effects, to show just how massive the ship is. When the live-action footage is blended with shots of the ships moving around in the background, it really gives viewers a sense of the enormity of the ship."

For the crew quarters, Hudolin drew inspiration from submarine design: "The crew quarters were more influenced by life on a submarine, in terms of how the crew have to sleep jammed in together because space is at such a premium. The crew quarters are small and cramped, and I tried to give them a claustrophobic feeling, because I saved the more epic designs for the ship's military elements — as the Galactica's primary function is to be a battle ship."

"We wanted the Galactica's corridors to have a monumental feeling, to reinforce the idea that it's a big ship. The corridors have a truncated pyramid style and there's a Cathedral-like feeling to them. I actually designed a variety of corridors for the show — some are wider and higher than others, which means we can accommodate how many people are in a particular scene. So there's an interesting balance between the show's epic feeling and its claustrophobic elements."

Commander Adama's Quarters

Another frequently-visited location aboard Galactica was Commander Adama's private quarters. "We really wanted that set to reflect Adama's character," reveals Hudolin. "When he's in the CIC or anywhere else on the ship, he's the commander and that's it. But when he's in his room, we get a chance to express where Adama has been in the past, how he thinks and what he likes. It's an opportunity to show the humanity of the man and show more about who he is."

Commander Adama's personal quarters featured a striking painting of the Cylon War. The picture was painted by Battlestar Galactica's additional art director, Ken Rabehl, and was loosely inspired by a US National Archives photo of soldiers raising the American flag after the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, as well as various old lithographs. "That was actually the last thing Ken did on the miniseries," recalls Hudolin. "We had a week left of his time and so I said to him, 'I want you to do me a painting of the Cylon War.'"

Colonial One

Away from Galactica itself, Battlestar Galactica's primary recurring set was the interior of Colonial One. This particular design was heavily influenced by the work of Harry Lange. "Harry was one of the designers on 2001 and at one point he also worked for NASA," explains Hudolin. "I worked with Harry many years ago, and Colonial One was something of a homage to Harry and what they did with the space shuttle in 2001."

Vehicle Design

As Hudolin had just over three months to complete the production design for the Battlestar Galactica miniseries in preparation for the start of shooting, he knew that he wouldn't be able to personally devise all the exteriors of the show's ships as well as design all of the production's sets. Hudolin solved this particular problem by charging visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel and his team with the task of designing the exteriors of most ships, while personally focusing on specific vehicles.

"There just wasn't time for me to design the exteriors of the ships apart from the Raptor and the Mark II Viper," says Hudolin. "So I said to Gary, 'Look, here's what I'm doing — follow my lead.' We then worked very closely to ensure everything we did matched. For example, with the interior of Galactica, we ensured that the ship's exterior ribbing was also visible in its hallways."

Despite some minor tweaks from Hudolin, the new show's Mark II Vipers remained very similar to the Vipers featured in the original series. "The original Viper is a gorgeous ship, so we stayed pretty close to the original design," says Hudolin. "We just helped it by making the nose a little longer and smoothing a few lines out."

The interior and exterior of the Raptor was personally designed by Hudolin. "The Raptor is basically a [military transport helicopter]," he explains, emphasizing its utilitarian design philosophy.

Cylon Ship Interiors

The first season presented Hudolin with an opportunity to explore the Cylon world in greater depth, as it required him to design the interiors of both a Raider and a Basestar. Hudolin attempted to ensure that these designs were in keeping with everything that had previously been revealed about the robot race. "We knew that some Cylons were more evolved than others, and I felt the ships were somewhere between the mechanical Centurions and Number Six, who is pretty much organic. So I figured the ships had evolved to a point where they were part-mechanical, part-organic units. I started to integrate biomechanics with the human form and gave the interiors of the ships an element of muscular skin and bone."

Production Challenges and Solutions

Studio Transitions

The miniseries was shot on three soundstages at Vancouver's Lions Gate Studios, as well as at various locations in and around Vancouver. Hudolin's most impressive accomplishments on the miniseries included designing the massive CIC set and Galactica's hallways to all fit on one soundstage, which enabled the miniseries' introductory tour of life on the ship. "We could do that because we had a stage that was about 200 feet long by 100 feet wide," reveals Hudolin. "The corridors were basically designed in a figure eight to intersect at a hub, and you literally could go from the CIC through the hallways and back again."

The show relocated to Vancouver Film Studios for its transformation into an episodic series. "The move required a lot of changes," recalls Hudolin. "The biggest stage at Vancouver Film Studios is 110 feet square, so we had to split the main set and slightly redesign a few things. But I don't think viewers would notice any differences. The only real difference it makes to the production is that we couldn't do a continuous tour of the CIC and the hallways like we did in the miniseries."

Location Changes

Another minor change concerned the real-life Vancouver building that doubled as Baltar's house. "We couldn't use the same house we used in the miniseries for the series, so we just went up the road to a different place that also overlooks the Pacific Ocean," reveals Hudolin. "The new place has two storeys, but other than that we made it look as similar to the original apartment as possible. It's hard to tell that Baltar's apartment is different between the miniseries and season one."

Design Details and Innovations

Corner-Cutting Papers

One of Battlestar Galactica's most subtle design motifs is the lack of corners on most of its printed documents and books. "That's something that came out of a discussion between myself, Michael Rymer and David Eick," reveals Hudolin. "We were trying to come up with ways of making Galactica look different and unconventional, and we decided that certain papers would have clipped corners."

Caprica

For the Caprica pilot, Hudolin was praised for his work on the various sets, including the intricate design of the V-Club's inner cathedral room. His attention to detail extended to small elements of world-building; for instance, he consulted with executive producer Ronald D. Moore to name the school seen in the episode "Wilson Elementary," after the junior high school Moore himself had attended.

Legacy and Assessment

Richard Hudolin's pride in his work extended to everything he and his colleagues achieved with Battlestar Galactica during its opening adventures, and he was especially proud of the way the show fulfilled its producers' request for something memorable and completely different.

"I think we've done pretty well on this show," states Hudolin. "It's been a constant challenge to come up with unique ideas, but I'm working with great people and I think we've achieved a very nice level of design. Everyone seems really happy with it. The viewers certainly seem happy with it, and that's the most important thing."