Editing Last Exile (section)

===Art design===
[[File:Last Exile art chessboard.jpg|thumb|Complex [[chessboard]] design by Makoto Kobayashi. All episode titles utilize terminology from chess, and the game appears throughout the series.<ref group="Note">See the [[List of Last Exile episodes|list of ''Last Exile'' episodes]] for details on specific chess terms that are used.</ref>]]
Conceptual designs were created by [[Range Murata]], who was given complete freedom to create the setting. He began drawing detailed [[Sketch (drawing)|sketches]] of machines and everyday objects from a daily newspaper. His research was given no constraints with the exception of production deadlines.<ref name="Cycnos"/> Gonzo initially intended for ''Last Exile'' to be shown in a space setting, but producers did not want the characters to wear sterile [[space suit]]s. Murata believed the design took "the course the story had laid out".<ref name="ANN Murata">{{cite news | last = Mays | first = Jonathan | title = Interview: Range Murata | url = https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2005-02-28 | publisher = [[Anime News Network]] | date = February 28, 2005 | access-date = August 4, 2009 | archive-date = September 1, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220901125408/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2005-02-28 | url-status = live }}</ref> His character conceptualization included a great amount of time spent on [[costume design]]. Wanting to portray each character's personality more fully, he "tried to draw in the kind of material that would have been used in creating their clothes and try to represent the stitches connecting the fabric." In contrast to crewmembers of the battleship ''Silvana'' who wear modern and utilitarian uniforms, other characters wear traditionally aristocratic attire.<ref name="Cosplay Murata">{{cite web | title = An interview with Range Murata | url = http://www.cosplaylab.com/articulation/rangemurata/ | publisher = Cosplay Lab | access-date = August 4, 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090817234611/http://www.cosplaylab.com/articulation/rangemurata/ | archive-date = August 17, 2009 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> High amount of attention was given to character animation. Animators especially experienced difficulties with [[List of Last Exile characters#Alexander Row|Alex Row]]'s hair and flowing cape.<ref name="J LHLS">{{cite web | last = Mayerson | first = Ginger | title = An interview with Range Murata | url = http://liheliso.com/buzz/archive/00000401.htm | work = The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society: Miscellanea and Ephemeron | publisher = [[Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California|Lincoln Heights]] Literary Society | date = July 4, 2005 | access-date = August 6, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181508/http://liheliso.com/buzz/archive/00000401.htm | archive-date = March 3, 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Production of ''Last Exile'' relied heavily on [[3D computer graphics|3D]] [[computer animation]]. Of the 350 shots used in the first episode, more than 200 included computer-generated animation. In comparison, Gonzo's previous work, ''[[Vandread]]'', used an average of 40 to 50 computer-generated shots per episode.<ref name="Newtype">{{cite magazine| title = Into the borderless skies... | url = http://scans.hisdivineshadow.net/newtype/aug03/ntusa.aug03.le.jpg | journal = [[Newtype USA]] | date = August 2003 | pages = 30–31 | access-date = August 1, 2009 | archive-date = July 23, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110723143615/http://scans.hisdivineshadow.net/newtype/aug03/ntusa.aug03.le.jpg | url-status = live }}</ref> Animation was also supplemented with [[Victorian era]] flourishes.<ref name="Detroit News"/> In order to combine hand-drawn animation with computer-generated ones, the production team used a technique for [[non-photorealistic rendering]], which could not be used for ''Blue Submarine No. 6'' because of a stylistic conflict.<ref name="ANN Murata"/> At the 2003 [[Anime Expo]], Maeda, who also worked with [[Studio Ghibli]]'s production of ''[[Castle in the Sky]]'', commented that "[''Last Exile''] is very advanced in how it will incorporate the two mediums".<ref name="Video Store">{{cite magazine | last = Wolf | first = Jessica | title = Director Maeda Blends Mediums in 'Last Exile' | magazine = Video Store | date = July 13, 2003 | volume = 25 | issue = 29 | page = 28}}</ref>