3D Printing

Fathom 3D Prints a Highly Detailed Functional Prop for Terry Gilliam's Zero Theorem

3D printing company Fathom and their team of designers and engineers worked closely with North Design Labs to create a functional and highly detailed prop for the science fiction film Zero Theorem. The prop was printed in one piece on the studio’s in-house Objet500 Connex multi-material 3D printer.

zero theorem fathom 3d printing

Fathom is not a company that you can easily define or fit into a box. Like many companies in the 3D printing industry, they need to be adaptable and not rely too closely on one technology or service. So aside from being a Stratasys reseller, they also offer prototyping, advance manufacturing services and full design and engineering services. They can help companies design products, engineer solutions to manufacturing difficulties and build prototypes from scratch. There just aren’t a lot of other design studios with the resources to create a functional and detailed prop in just a matter of days.

So when the Fathom team was approached by prototyping and product design company North Design Labs for help creating a prop for the new Terry Gilliam movie with only a few weeks lead time they were uniquely suited to the task. Not only because they have two facilities with over thirty 3D printers available to them, but they have a whole team of designers and engineers who knows how to use them.

cad zero theorem fathom 3d printing

“With only a couple weeks to take a concept to a fully functional prototype, we needed a company we could work closely with and I knew could deliver. Just as in the past, Fathom came through on all counts,” said President of North Design Labs Mike North. “The movie prop and controller presented a unique challenge by needing to not only look like some sort of alien futuristic device, but it also needed to function like one.”

The interactive prop would be used on screen in several key scenes and needed to look and feel like a real piece of technology. North Design Labs had settled on an enclosure to house a Samsung Galaxy tablet that would include working knobs, slides and buttons that would activate the touch screen which would in turn trigger pre-programmed lights and graphics. But they needed help to make it a real object, so they turned to Fathom.

Here is a short video about the 3D printed prop that was printed by Fathom:

Fathom worked with North Design Labs to optimise the design for 3D printing with PolyJet multi-materials. Once they had the completed file it was printed on the studios Stratasys Objet500 Connex. The multi-material 3D printer was able to print the enclosure in a single print thanks to the Objet500’s ability to mix materials.

zero theorem fathom 3d printingThe main body was printed in rigid VeroClear while many of the knobs and buttons were printed using a rubbery material called TangoBlackPlus and several parts of the prop were made by mixing both materials together. Fathom then handled the post processing and assembly, including the insertion of the conductive foam that would interact with the tablet and the painting that turned the clear prop into an opaque black device that gave off a slight futuristic glow.

Fathom was able to produce the working prop for the film in less than two weeks, and 3D print and assemble the final design in only two days time. I recently spoke to Preeya Singh of Fathom at last months Inside 3D Printing Santa Clara conference about the Zero Theorem prop and Fathom’s cool studio space in Oakland:

fathom studio 3d printing
Fathom’s massive production studio in Oakland, California.

Terry Gilliam’s (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) The Zero Theorem is about a computer programmer who is tasked to discover the meaning of life – or the Zero Theorem –  but discovers instead that he may be asking the wrong questions. The film stars Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon and Tilda Swinton and is widely considered the third and final part of the ‘Brazil Trilogy’ of Gilliam’s surreal science fiction films.

The 3D printed prop created by Fathom and North Design Labs is the device that allowed Christoph Waltz’ character to interact with his supercomputer called The Neural Net Mancive and is seen on screen quite a bit. The need for the device to read as a real object within the film was pretty important, and if you’ve seen the film – I have, it’s wonderful – then you’d most likely agree that it was a job well done.