Andrew Probert
Encyclopedia
Andrew Probert is an artist who is best known for designing the USS Enterprise
for Star Trek: The Motion Picture
and the Enterprise-D
for Star Trek: The Next Generation
.
After spending some time in the United States Navy
, Probert studied at the Art Center College of Design
in Pasadena, California
.
His first film/TV work was on Glen A. Larson
's 1978 ABC
miniseries Battlestar Galactica
, for which he was recommended by artist Ralph McQuarrie
. For Galactica, Andrew contributed the design for the Cylon
Centurions as well as building one of the physical spaceship models for the "ragtag fleet", seen in the opening title sequence of each episode of the series.
In 1978, he was hired by Robert Abel and Associates
to work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture
, where he worked as a concept designer/illustrator. When Abel's group was replaced, Andrew survived the transition to the group of new effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull
. Andrew was primarily responsible for designing the human and Vulcan
space technology seen in the film, including the refitted starship Enterprise
, Space Drydock, Orbital Office Complex, Travel Pod, Work Bee support vehicles, and the Vulcan long range shuttlecraft. His concept sketches for the bridge set of the Klingon battlecruiser
set the style for all future Klingon ship interiors.
In 1983, Probert returned to television, working on the pilot episode of Airwolf
(1984). He designed the external fuselage attachments for the Airwolf helicopter
, based on a Bell 222
, as well as both versions of the internal Electronic Data Command Center, the show's iconic logotype and wolf insignia, flight suit costumes and other miscellaneous items within Archangel's office. He also story-boarded most of the aerial sequences on the show for the 2nd Unit team during the series' run from 1984-1986.
In 1984, he worked on Back to the Future
, initially drawing storyboard
s but then continuing the design of the DeLorean
time machine that had been started by Ron Cobb
.
Also in 1984, he designed the motorcycle for the pilot episode of Street Hawk
, which was later redesigned for the series by Ron Cobb.
In 1986, he joined the staff of the then new series Star Trek: The Next Generation
where he was initially hired to design the bridge of the new starship, the Enterprise-D
However, after the show's producers saw a speculative Enterprise sketch that Probert had produced he was tasked with designing the starship's exterior as well. During his one season stint on the The Next Generation, he also designed the exteriors of virtually every other space vehicle seen in the first year of the show, including the Romulan Warbird.
His film and television work also includes stints on *batteries not included
, SpaceCamp
, Mask
, Tron
and The Philadelphia Experiment
. He also worked four years as a Show Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering
.
On February 6, 2006, Perpetual Entertainment
and CBS Media announced that Probert had been employed as an initial design consultant for the first incarnation of the MMOG
Star Trek Online
.
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
for Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
and the Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
for Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
After spending some time in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, Probert studied at the Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
.
His first film/TV work was on Glen A. Larson
Glen A. Larson
Glen Albert Larson is an American television producer and writer best known as the creator of Battlestar Galactica, The Fall Guy, Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider.-Career:...
's 1978 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
miniseries Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
, for which he was recommended by artist Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie is a conceptual designer and illustrator who designed Star Wars , the original Battlestar Galactica , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award....
. For Galactica, Andrew contributed the design for the Cylon
Cylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
Centurions as well as building one of the physical spaceship models for the "ragtag fleet", seen in the opening title sequence of each episode of the series.
In 1978, he was hired by Robert Abel and Associates
Robert Abel and Associates
Robert Abel and Associates was a pioneering production company specializing in TV commercials made with computer graphics. Robert Abel's company, RA&A was especially known for their art direction and won many Clio Awards....
to work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
, where he worked as a concept designer/illustrator. When Abel's group was replaced, Andrew survived the transition to the group of new effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull
Douglas Trumbull
Douglas Huntley Trumbull is an American film director, special effects supervisor, and inventor. He contributed to, or was responsible for, the special photographic effects of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner and The Tree of...
. Andrew was primarily responsible for designing the human and Vulcan
Vulcan (Star Trek)
Vulcans, or sometimes Vulcanians, are an extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek universe who evolved on the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic with no interference from emotion. They were the first extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek...
space technology seen in the film, including the refitted starship Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
, Space Drydock, Orbital Office Complex, Travel Pod, Work Bee support vehicles, and the Vulcan long range shuttlecraft. His concept sketches for the bridge set of the Klingon battlecruiser
Klingon starships
In the Star Trek franchise, the Klingon Empire makes use of several classes of starships. As the Klingons are portrayed as a warrior culture, driven by the pursuit of honor and glory, the Empire is shown to use warships almost exclusively. This contrasts with the exploration and research vessels...
set the style for all future Klingon ship interiors.
In 1983, Probert returned to television, working on the pilot episode of Airwolf
Airwolf
Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 until 1987. The program centers on a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and its crew as they undertake various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme....
(1984). He designed the external fuselage attachments for the Airwolf helicopter
Airwolf (helicopter)
Airwolf is the helicopter from the 1980s American television series of the same name. The aircraft itself was a modified Bell 222 twin-engined light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter and owned by JetCopters Inc.-Bell 222:...
, based on a Bell 222
Bell 222
The Bell 222 is a twin-engined light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. The Bell 230 is an improved development with different engines and other minor changes. A cosmetically modified version of the 222 was used as the titular aircraft in the US television series Airwolf.-Development:In the late...
, as well as both versions of the internal Electronic Data Command Center, the show's iconic logotype and wolf insignia, flight suit costumes and other miscellaneous items within Archangel's office. He also story-boarded most of the aerial sequences on the show for the 2nd Unit team during the series' run from 1984-1986.
In 1984, he worked on Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
, initially drawing storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
s but then continuing the design of the DeLorean
De Lorean DMC-12
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car originally manufactured in Dunmurry, a suburb west of Belfast, Northern Ireland by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company for the American market in 1981-82. Most commonly known as the DeLorean, it was the only model produced by the company which would go into...
time machine that had been started by Ron Cobb
Ron Cobb
Ron Cobb is an American cartoonist, artist, writer, film designer, and film director.By the age of 18, with no formal training in graphic illustration, Cobb was working as an animation "inbetweener" artist for Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He progressed to becoming a breakdown artist on...
.
Also in 1984, he designed the motorcycle for the pilot episode of Street Hawk
Street Hawk
Street Hawk is an American television series that aired for 13 episodes on ABC in 1985. The series was a Limekiln and Templar Production in association with Universal Television. Its central characters were created by Paul M. Belous and Robert "Bob" Wolterstorff, and its core format was developed...
, which was later redesigned for the series by Ron Cobb.
In 1986, he joined the staff of the then new series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
where he was initially hired to design the bridge of the new starship, the Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
However, after the show's producers saw a speculative Enterprise sketch that Probert had produced he was tasked with designing the starship's exterior as well. During his one season stint on the The Next Generation, he also designed the exteriors of virtually every other space vehicle seen in the first year of the show, including the Romulan Warbird.
His film and television work also includes stints on *batteries not included
*batteries not included
*batteries not included is a 1987 family-science fiction film directed by Matthew Robbins about small extraterrestrial living machines that save an apartment block under threat from property development....
, SpaceCamp
SpaceCamp
SpaceCamp is a 1986 American film based on a book by Patrick Bailey and Larry B. Williams and inspired by the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Directed by Harry Winer from a screenplay by Clifford Green and Casey T. Mitchell, the film stars Kate Capshaw, Kelly Preston, Larry B...
, Mask
Mask (film)
Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz. Dennis Burkley and Laura Dern are featured in supporting roles. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress....
, Tron
Tron
-Film:*Tron , a franchise that began in 1982 with the Walt Disney Pictures film Tron** Tron , a 1982 science fiction film by Disney, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, Dan Shor and David Warner...
and The Philadelphia Experiment
The Philadelphia Experiment (film)
The Philadelphia Experiment is a 1984 science fiction film. It is directed by Stewart Raffill and stars Michael Paré, Bobby Di Cicco, and Nancy Allen.-Overview:...
. He also worked four years as a Show Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering is the design and development arm of the Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation and construction of Disney theme parks worldwide...
.
On February 6, 2006, Perpetual Entertainment
Perpetual Entertainment
Perpetual Entertainment, founded in March 2002, was an American developer, publisher and operator of networked multiplayer games and MMORPGs. Their headquarters were in San Francisco, California, USA. From October 2007 to February 2008 the company was known as P2 Entertainment...
and CBS Media announced that Probert had been employed as an initial design consultant for the first incarnation of the MMOG
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online, often abbreviated as STO, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Cryptic Studios based on the popular Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry. The game is set in the 25th century, 30 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis...
.
External links
- Probert Designs - Andrew Probert homepage