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Jordan Vogt-Roberts shares Metal Gear concept art to celebrate the series’ 31st anniversary (updated August 15)

July 13th 2018 was the 31st anniversary of the Metal Gear series (Metal Gear for the MSX came out in Japan on July 13th 1987), and to celebrate, Metal Gear Solid movie director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is releasing an art work every day for the next 31 days. In a video resembling a MGS CODEC call, Roy Campbell (voiced by his original actor Paul Eiding) explains: ‘Jordan Vogt-Roberts will be releasing concept art he created with a series of next-gen artists.’ The video goes on to stress that this is fan art and not representative of the movie, but simply meant as a celebration of the series.

“DAY 2 of #METALGEAR31st
The impeccable @eddiedelrio_art helped me bring the “Gas Mask Samurai” to life in KONG.
Cyborg Ninja & the Gekkos are two of the most iconic Hideo Kojima + Yoji Shinkawa designs. I wanted to see their potential in the same frame. Wish I could say more…”
“DAY 3 of #METALGEAR31st
@BenMauro993 created this for me and I have a good feeling he’s a dude I’ll be working with for the rest of my career.
One aspect of Metal Gear that’s important for me to translate onscreen is the blending of horror imagery with stylized magical realism.”
“DAY 4 of #METALGEAR31st
Dennis Chan was one of my art assassins on KONG.
MGS is about the “cycle of pain” so we created a diptych to visually represent history repeating.
Can’t wait for you to see my approach to the dense past & present timeline of this world.
Zoom in. Enjoy”
“Day 5 of #MetalGear31st
I worked with the legend @mr_werewolf_art on KONG. He doesn’t do freelance work anymore but we’ve become friends and I convinced him to contribute ‘mood art’ to this project. I truly felt the world needed to see his heavy atmospheric style + Metal Gear.”
“DAY 6 of #METALGEAR31st
I found Lap Pun Cheung’s beautiful speed paintings and reached out to collaborate.
Metal Gear is unique for the sorrow & loss you feel while “winning”. The death of Sniper Wolf rocked me when I first experienced it. I wanted to capture that melancholy victory.”
“DAY 7 of #METALGEAR31st
@maciejkuciara was a huge part of cracking the code on the 8-bit-tribal-villager-war-paint in KONG.
This piece explores visualizing active-camouflage + integration into an environment.
He nails the badass elation of stalking & the tension being stalked.”
“DAY 8 of #METALGEAR31st
Ignacio Lazcano helped me nail the design of Marlow’s boat in KONG.
https://www.artstation.com/neisbeis
He regularly helped me flesh out early concepts and he’s one of my go-to people.
I wanted him to play with one of the most iconic scenes in Metal Gear history”
“DAY 9 of #METALGEAR31st
Joe Peterson is an artist I met specifically for this project and he is A+
Enjoy
NOTE: This artwork is NOT in any way representative of casting nor wishlist casting. It’s a common practice for artists to use actors in key frames. Nothing more than that.”
“DAY 10 of #METALGEARSOLID31st
How most people feel after comic con…
“Neither truly alive, nor truly dead, an undying shadow, in a world of lights. Now, in front of you, I can finally die”
This @BenMauro993 art is an exploration of Cyborg Ninja’s trapped & tortured nature.”
“DAY 11 of #METALGEAR31st
@c780162 was known for his MGS1 speed-paintings, but I worked with him to apply his stunning style to the realm of MGS3.
The tragic relationship that occurrs between Naked Snake and The Boss is one of the most potent in the series.
Loyalty to the end.”
“DAY 12 of #METALGEAR31st
Another piece by the impeccable Jakub Rozalski (@mr_werewolf_art)
This is one my favorite pieces of art (much more than 31 days worth) that I created while working on the script.
The relationship between tech and human nature is important to this film.”
“DAY 13 of #METALGEAR31st
Here’s another gem by @eddiedelrio_art that introduces (and remixes) a few elements from the vastly underrated PSP games.
Portable Ops and Peace Walker are two of my favorite stories in the franchise and I couldn’t help but explore them visually.”
“DAY 14 of #METALGEAR31st
@c780162 captures the tragedy of The Boss.
Standing in that field until you realize that YOU must pull the trigger is Hideo Kojima at his finest.
Flowers shifting color + stylisized moments of magic realism are elements to embrace rather than fear.”
“DAY 15 of #METALGEAR31st
If you know anything about me as a filmmaker… it’s how much i love shooting during magic hour.
So I couldn’t resist having @Kilo_Three make this gorgeous shot of Rex during sunset.
Accurately bringing the MGS designs to life is one of my goals.”
“DAY 16 of #METALGEAR31st
It’s not over yet!
I haven’t focused much on our friend Revolver Ocelot, but as we know he’s one of the main pillars of the franchise.
@c780162 created this lovely piece of Shalashaska.
Such a fun character to write for. So ripe for amazing casting.”
“DAY 17 of #METALGEAR31st
Another great piece by Nick Foreman (@Kilo_Three)
I wanted to see REX out of the hanger and in action.
I love the idea of characters using Metal Gear as more than a walking tank, but instead also using it as a symbol for the times we live in.”
“DAY 18 of #METALGEAR31st Today you get a pair of frames by @BenMauro993, which means you technically get 32 pieces of art! Snake and Ninja in a ROCKY face off. “Now we can fight as warriors. Hand-to-hand, it is the basis of all combat. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon”
“DAY 19 of #METALGEAR31st
Artwork by @jamesharveytm
Hal “Otacon” Emmerich
I can’t understate the importance of Otacon in this franchise. In many ways he was a reflection of us, the player.
More importantly… he was a conduit to growth and pathos for Snake.”
“DAY 20 of #METALGEAR31st
I worked with Form Language Studio on KONG. These guys always deliver.
This beautiful photobash inspired by Walker Gear is an exploration of if bipedal technology proliferated into other countries earlier in history with their own spin on the design.”
“DAY 21 of #METALGEAR31st
By the maestro @DennisChanArt.
Metal Gear is full of what I call “military surrealism”. It’s a delicate balance between horror-inspired-supernatural (nanomachines) & manga-stylized-magical-realism.
I wanted to explore and capture these odder moments.” 
“DAY 22 of #METALGEAR31st
Many people ask if I’m adapting a specific game and they usually assume MGS1 or 3. I think the original MSX games are also crucial to understanding the lore so I wanted visually experiment.
@c780162 explored Big Boss and Snake in a remixed scenario.”
“DAY 23 of #METALGEAR31st
Another by the great Ignacio Lazcano featuring a young Ocelot.
There’s a fine line in the Metal Gear universe between the extremely grounded and the extremely heightened.
The alt-tech employed by Hideo Kojima is a filmmakers dream to play with.”
“DAY 24 of #METALGEAR31st
In honor of today’s codec transmission, I have one more piece capturing the iconic Sniper Wolf.
@eddiedelrio_art blew me away with here.
I wanted to explore pushing the magic realism and stylization. Letting her be the bloody, wounded angel she was.”
“DAY 25 of #METALGEAR31st
@DennisChanArt’s diptych to visualize the cycle of pain passed down from Big Boss To Snake + repetition of war + the progress of tech.
“Whoever wins the battle does not end. The loser is set free from the battlefield, while the winner must remain there””
“DAY 26 of #METALGEAR31st
By @eddiedelrio_art
The design of the Scarabs are another uniquely original Kojima / Shinkawa achievement and I wanted to capture their unsettling swarm.
Their presence after the exhaustive brutality of the microwave-corridor has always stayed with me.”
“DAY 27 of #METALGEAR31st
I worked w/ @josephacross on KONG & DESTINY. These are very early renders of accurately replicating Snake’s iconic wardrobe + other MGS inspired designs.
I found @NivanhChanthara through this celebration and he played with a few horror-driven concepts.”
“DAY 28 of #METALGEAR31st
Lap Pun Cheung (@c780162) has an ability to truly capture the spirit and vibe of how various Metal Gear scenes felt in our minds as we played them.
The goal of the film is to tap into those same feelings and introduce them to a wider audience.”
“DAY 29 of #METALGEAR31st
The final piece by the great @mr_werewolf_art.
It always amazes me what sense of dread and wonder he creates at once. Men and machines. Nature and steel.
In Metal Gear, wild technology is common place but still needs to be treated with a sense of awe.”
“DAY 30 of #METALGEAR31st
One final piece by @c780162 and a companion piece by Alex Mandradjiev who is another legend in his own right.
Once again showing history repeating itself.
I can’t believe there’s only ONE MORE DAY left. I’m going to miss sharing all of this art.”
“DAY 31 of #METALGEAR31st
A final piece by the amazing @BenMauro993.
Snake and Rex activated.
Something about this classic pairing just felt like the right thing to end this celebration on.
This scene is forever engraved into my childhood brain.
Stay tuned for a final update.”

In an interview by website Collider Jordan Vogt-Roberts talked about his goals and wishes for the movie, as well as giving some context to some of the artworks he released.

To conclude the celebration of the series’ 31st anniversary, Jordan Vogt-Roberts uploaded a video featuring the voices of none other than David Hayter (Snake) and Patric Zimmerman (Ocelot).

Incoming Codec from Jordan Vogt-Roberts on Vimeo.

Source: Jordan Vogt-Roberts Twitter

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