Great science-fiction is always inspired by science and technology, and their impact on humans. Frank Herbert wrote Dune being inspired by a biological experiment he witnessed in Oregon at the dawn of the sixties. Biologists where back then trying to control the expansion of sand dunes by using new plants. The idea for Dune came from there. Biology is at the very heart of the novel. I kept the same approach as we were writing and designing the movie. All elements of the movie have been created in direct relationship with their proper ecosystem.
As an example, the ornithopter design. In the book, its described as a kind of plane that uses a propelling system that looks like a bird. Production Designer Patrice Vermette and I came with a design that feels closer to an insect because I wanted the vehicle to be muscular and resistant to harsh desert weather.
I wanted also the audience to believe that this thing can fly for real. We made sure that the ornithopter would obey to gravity laws and aerodynamic laws.
More important, I wanted the ornithopter to feel familiar for the audience, so that they can have a connection with them subconsciously. There are so many ideas in the movie that are complex, foreign, strange that I wanted the audience to rely on, to have some ground at some place. They will then accept more of the ideas that were conveyed by the movie. At the end of the day, I did it on purpose, making some elements of the movie closer to our reality, so the audience can resonate with the humanity and with the drama of the characters.
偉大的科幻一直都受到科技以及科技對人類影響的啟發。法蘭·赫伯特創作【沙丘】的靈感來源是上世紀六十年代他在俄勒岡州親眼目睹的一場生物實驗。生物學家當時試圖透過使用新的植物來控制沙丘的擴張。【沙丘】的靈感就是從那裏來的，生物學是這部小說的核心內容。在我們寫作、設計這部電影的時候，我采取了同樣的方法。電影中的所有元素都是以與其相匹配的生態系有直接關聯的思路而創造出來的。
以撲翼機的設計為例。在原著中，它被描述為一種使用外形似鳥的推進系統的飛機。影片的藝術指導帕泰利斯·維梅特和我想到了一種更接近昆蟲的設計，因為我希望這種交通工具強勁有力，能夠抵抗惡劣的沙漠天氣。
我也希望觀眾能夠相信這東西真的能夠飛起來，我們確保了撲翼機能夠遵循萬有重力定律和空氣動力學定律。
更重要的是，我希望撲翼機能讓觀眾覺得熟悉，這樣觀眾就能潛意識地和它建立聯系。因為【沙丘】這部電影中有太多復雜、陌生、奇特的概念，我希望觀眾能在電影裏找到一些依靠，能夠找到一些立足點，這樣他們就能更多地接受電影傳遞出來的資訊。歸根結底，我是有意為之，讓電影中的一些元素更貼近我們的現實生活，這樣觀眾就能和角色的人性和戲劇性產生共鳴。
