Steven Messing Steven Messing is a concept illustrator and visual effects matte artist who worked on . Among his concept work for this film was the creation of the surface of the Ketha Province on Qo ' noS and the red forest on Nibiru . In 1998 , Messing worked as intern during the production of the mystery film " Frog and Wombat " which featured Ronny Cox . In the 2000s , he started to receive credit as digital matte artist while working for the companies Matte World Digital and Digital Backlot on projects such as the sport drama " Invincible " ( 2006 ) , the science fiction film " The Last Mimzy " ( 2007 ) , the crime drama " Zodiac " ( 2007 , art direction by Keith P . Cunningham ) , the superhero sequel " Spider - Man 3 " ( 2007 , starring Kirsten Dunst and James Cromwell ) , the fantasy adventure " The Golden Compass " ( 2007 ) , the sport drama " The Express " ( 2008 ) , the action drama " Body of Lies " ( 2008 ) , the television drama " Grey Gardens " ( 2009 ) , and the television series " John Adams " ( 2008 ) . In 2009 , Messing worked as digital matte artist for CIS Hollywood on the comic adaptation " G . I . Joe : The Rise of Cobra " with Rachel Nichols and as matte artist on the science fiction film " 2012 " and the drama " The Road " . For his work on the science fiction blockbuster " Avatar " , Messing received his first Excellence in Production Design Award in the category Fantasy Film from the Art Director ' s Guild in 2010 . Further credits as concept illustrator and digital matte artist , mostly for the company Crazy Horse Effects , include the fantasy film " Alice in Wonderland " ( 2010 ) for which he received another Excellence in Production Design Award nomination in the category Fantasy Film in 2011 , the fantasy film " Clash of the Titans " ( 2010 ) , the sequel " Transformers : Dark of the Moon " ( 2011 ) , the science fiction prequel " Prometheus " ( 2012 ) for which he earned another Excellence in Production Design Award nomination in 2013 , the fantasy adventure " Life of Pi " ( 2012 ) , the fantasy films " Oz the Great and Powerful " ( 2013 ) and " Jack the Giant Slayer " ( 2013 ) , and the science fiction film " Ender ' s Game " ( 2013 ) . Following his work on " Star Trek : Into Darkness " , Messing worked for Pixomondo on the science fiction film " After Earth " ( 2013 ) , as visual effects art director on the remake " Godzilla " ( 2014 ) , and as concept designer on the superhero sequel " X - Men : Days of Future Past " ( 2014 , directed by Bryan Singer and starring Patrick Stewart ) and on the sequel " Transformers : Age of Extinction " ( 2014 ) . He was senior illustrator on the fantasy drama " Exodis : Gods and Kings " ( 2014 ) and matte artist on the Disney production " Maleficent " ( 2014 ) . Between 2010 and 2014 , he worked first as digital matte artist and later as visual effects art director on the crime drama series " Boardwalk Empire " and between 2014 and 2015 as visual effects art director on the television series " Black Sails " . His work on " Black Sails " earned him a Primetime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Special and Visual Effects in a Supporting Role in 2014 . Messing also worked as visual effects artist on the fifth season of the television fantasy series " Game of Thrones " in 2015 . Further projects he worked on include the television series " True Detective " ( 2015 ) , the fantasy sequel " The Hunger Games : Mockingjay – Part 2 " ( 2015 ) , and the science fiction film " The Martian " ( 2015 ) for which Messing won an Excellence in Production Design Award in the category Contemporary Film in 2016 . More recent projects as visual effects concept designer include the science fiction television series " Westworld " ( 2016 ) , the superhero sequel " X - Men : Apocalypse " ( 2016 , also directed by Bryan Singer ) , and the science fiction sequel " Alien : Covenant " ( 2017 , written by John Logan ) . " Star Trek " award . ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards nomination . Messing received an ADG Excellence in Production Design Award nomination as Set Designer in the category Fantasy Film