After Earth GFX Reel

Here's a GFX reel of some of the UI work done on After Earth.

It's an interesting experience seeing montage reels like this as it displays the visuals without the original sound or voice over. In doing so you can concentrate on the movement of the elements and rely on them solely to demonstrate their functions. This is a really good example where the animation and movement of the elements have a lot of character and purpose, and the viewer can put together an idea of what they do.

There's a distinct style in the treatment of the After Earth UI. It prefers gradients and LED glows, which takes the hard edge off the line work and creates a sort of clean and soft look. This is helped along by the use of transparent and curved surfaces. Unlike a lot of technical styles that often use grids as a holding device, they've completely steered away from using carriages and backgrounds and in doing so continues the clean, soft approach.

A good comparison would be to look at the interface design in Avatar. Both feature medical diagnostic screens that appear on transparent panels. But you can really see the difference in the soft-edged glow approach verses the hard edges of the Avatar UI.

PS. The X-ray shots look fantastic!

Watch the After Earth GFX Reel
Compare it with the Avatar UI