The Making of Irrational's Giant Bioshock: Infinite Booth

Scott Bullock

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Nov 11, 2010
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The Making of Irrational's Giant Bioshock: Infinite Booth

You don't often see a 12-foot steampunk eagle-thing bursting out of a brick wall, but Irrational Games' 'Him' booth at PAX East featured exactly that.

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If you attended PAX East, you saw Him. Hanging out in the main lobby of the convention center, it was impossible to miss the 12 foot tall steampunk eagle grasping at attendees and menacing the actress dressed as Elizabeth, a character from Irrational's upcoming game Bioshock Infitite. Ever wonder how these immense Con-worthy dioramas are made? According to a post on Irrational's site, it takes a lot of time, foam, and intensive sketching.

The original idea was quite simple: Make a diorama for PAX East to wow the attendees and promote Bioshock Infinite. When the the idea was pitched to Robb Waters, a concept artist at Irrational, inspiration struck, and he whipped up a basic design plan. The plan was finalized and zipped over to the team that would actually attempt to build the gargantuan bird-thing.

The construction team sent photo updates to Irrational's main offices, showing how Him was coming along. Over the course of 17 days, the diorama went from a jumble of weird foam shapes to a recognizable fist, to a giant bird head, to a fully assembled terrifying steampunk bird-thing.

Even unpainted it was damn impressive. "When we got these shots, the scale of the project finally became truly apparent," writes Irrational's Community Manager, Chris Remo. "Seeing Him assembled and upright, even in this rough form, was a stirring moment."

Finally, as the first day of PAX East approached, it was done. The mammoth construct stood in the main lobby of the Boston Convention Center, an astounding promotion for Bioshock: Infinite. People were able to really step into the world of the game - and into the hands of Him.

There was only one problem: he's just too damn big to keep at the office.

So the giant diorama has been put on the road to various gaming events. Where will he be heading? "We're actually not sure," says Remo, "but expect to see Him again."

Source: Irrational's Website [http://irrationalgames.com/insider/the-making-of-him-at-pax-east-2011/]


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Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
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Notice that the con-attendee in the concept drawing is labelling as "Nerd".

Made me laugh.
 

PayneTrayne

Filled with ReLRRgious fervor.
Dec 17, 2009
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This is why I need to go to more Cons. This is a fucking piece of art and I missed it. Great sadness is had by me.
 

tombman888

New member
Jul 12, 2009
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Christ that thing is freaky, But awesome at the same time... i wish I could go to these places...
 

Iwana Humpalot

New member
Jan 22, 2011
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I love it. I can't wait for the game.
Has there been any info about the mechanical bird thingy yet? It looks awesome.
 

Kaymish

The Morally Bankrupt Weasel
Sep 10, 2008
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it would be cool if there were cons like this over here
byt what is "Him" anyway? its got the whole big daddy thing going on in bird form you could almost call it big bird :p
 

sulld1

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Apr 14, 2009
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can i get one for my room, scare the bee'Jesus out of anyone who comes in... but on a more serious note that thing rocks.
 

Harbinger_

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Jan 8, 2009
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Pics 3 and 4 look sort of like the Alien Bird sort of things from Metroid. Chozodas or something like that?
 

vxicepickxv

Slayer of Bothan Spies
Sep 28, 2008
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Good to see it going on tour. I would hate to see that much time used for a single con event.
 

Azmael Silverlance

Pirate Warlord!
Oct 20, 2009
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OMG ITS HIM! lol that is truly epic. I wish i could one day attend one of these amazing gaming events!!!!

Also this doesnt look like an eagle X_X
 

Ohlookit'sMatty

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Sep 11, 2008
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My first point is, they made this is 17days?!? Holy Gods! That is some mad skills // My second is, what type of foam did them use to carve out the main body as I'm trying to work on simular stuff and it seems to do what I want done

-M