Freelance contract for ‘Neverstop’.
Interior visualisation for a rebranding of ‘TopShop’
Month: December 2017
Virgin galactic
Freelance contract for ‘Start Creative’.
Visualisation of Virgin Galactic’s proposed spaceport
Luella tourbus
Visualisation of Luella Bartley’s GO! tour bus, created in SketchUP. The old ‘Routemaster’ buses were being sold off by TfL, and the idea was to host a mobile fashion boutique inside one.
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Bawadi
Freelance contract for ‘FlamingCGI’
Visualisation of the Theatre District in ‘Bawadi Square’, a proposed district of Dubailand.
KAEC 2
Freelance contract for ‘FlamingCGI’
Aerial Timelapse of ‘King Abdullah Economic City’
KAEC 1
Aerial views of ‘King Abdullah Economic City’, Saudi Arabia – the industrial valley, King Abdullah port, and the educational zone. Base render by others.
Arch-viz software
Concept temple 1
Illustration commission for ‘ImagineFX’ magazine. My initial sketch used a regular model T Ford (though still with the Gorilla in the back seat) – but this was thought to ‘Not be Sci-Fi enough’.
Concepts temple 2
Vehicle design in SketchUp. The tool is not an organic modeler, nor an animation tool – but it is surprising how far it can be pushed. The characters are rigged and posed entirely within SketchUp itself.
Noah’s Ark
Noah’s Ark concept – pitch for Rushes
Concept Scylla 1
‘Scylla Attacks the Odyssey’. Entry to the CGSociety challenge ‘Steampunk Myths and Legends’.
Concepts Scylla 2
Painting progression of ‘Steampunk Myths and Legends’
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Concepts Scylla 3
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Sketchup models constructed for ‘Steampunk Myths and Legends’. Was published in ‘Creer avec SketchUp’, a french-language book that showcased the different uses of SketchUp in various industries.
Concepts – software
My concept work tends to start in SketchUp for basic massing and perspective, and is finished in a combination of Painter and Photoshop.
Recently I’ve been experimenting with alternatives – Affinity Photo instead of Photopshop, and Krita instead of Painter. Both seem pretty promising.
Concept trailer
Trailer park interior for ‘PaintingPractice’. Based on an idea by Dan May.
Concept swamp
Swamp house concept, based on a base render from ‘Vue’.
Concept town square
Town square checkpoint. Done for an art test that subsequently turned out to be a scam (sigh), but it produced a painting I’m quite happy with.
Concept skimmer
‘Skimmer’
Leap year castle
The largest castle set extension
Leap year castle approach
Approach to ‘Ballycarbery Castle’. Plates were shot at the (much smaller) castle ruins at Rock of Dunamase, and significantly extended with matte paintings.
Leap year landscape
The view from the top of the castle tower. As with the rest of the film, there have been some VERY major liberties taken with the geography of Ireland…
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Leap Year Boston Night
Night shot of Boston Harbour, all digital. Was meant to have a ‘magical’ look, but wasn’t really in keeping with the surrounding shots, and ultimately never made the final cut.
Leap Year Marina
Boston Marina – another shot that could have been filmed on location, but was actually a greenscreen in Ireland.
Leap Year Software
Cinesite was a Nuke-based facility, and I’d been using Fusion for several years. I had to switch over very quickly!
Leap Year Park
Boston Park
Despite the entire opening sequence being a relatively uneventful Boston commute, neither the crew nor Amy Adams (the lead) ever went there. All the backgrounds are digital, and most required the addition of slushy snow.
Leap Year Apartment
Boston Apartment Skyline. The script called for the apartment (despite being on a higher floor) to feel crowded by the surrounding buildings.
MPC Software
At last count, there were 29 different tools in use within the department, but these are the ones I was instrumental in bringing into the company, or integrating into the pipeline.
MPC – Sully
Sully – 2016
I came in at the end of this show to create only a few paintings – the biggest an aerial shot of New Mexico. The base is a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) rendered in Terragen, with significant paintwork over the top.
MPC – TFH
The Finest Hours – 2015
I was again lead artist on this show, as well a HoD of the whole of the Vancouver environments department. I created several coastline matte paintings for this show, as well as some skydomes. This is one that I worked on at a rate of about 1hr/week for the duration of the show – a fully digital grass bank, blowing in the wind.
American Sniper 2
This was the one matte painting I did for ‘American Sniper’ at the very end of the show, along with Laurie Kindiak. The base render was the same city model created for the aerial shots, and the MRAP and wall were rendered by the lighting department.
MPC American Sniper 1
American Sniper – 2015
I didn’t lead this show, but (along with Scott Eade, the head of layout), I supervised the construction of Sadr City, Baghdad as a fully digital environment. The 9km² that was required for this sequence was laid out using Modo replicators, and rendered using Modo’s native renderer.
MPC – Monster Trucks
Monster Trucks – 2015
I didn’t have a lot of involvement with this show until the very end. As is often the case for a HoD, I got involved with some of the ‘stragglers’ – the problematic shots that hang around at the end of the show, or the shots that have large, last minute notes.
MPC – ROE
300: Rise of an Empire – 2014
I was lead artist on this fast-turnaround sequence, the sacking of Athens. I created two panoramas of the city – one during the day, and one at night.
MPC – FF6
Two quick matte paintings for ‘Fast and Furious 6’ (2014) – a tunnel set extension, and replacement of the road and lights at Wembley Stadium.
MPC Jersey Boys 2
Another of the few shots I completed myself for ‘Jersey Boys’ – a Matte painting / set extension of Coney Island amusement park. Wheel and roller coaster were rendered in Modo, with models and textures by Corey Sewell and Aline Nordmark.
MPC Jersey Boys 1
Jersey Boys – 2013
This was my first show as CG supervisor, working with Greg Butler as VFX supe. I oversaw the creation of around 120 shots, which wasn’t a large number – but were split across around 20 sequences, with only a handful of shots in each. This is one of the few shots I worked on personally – the bowling alley sign which gives the band it’s name.
MPC Seventh Son
Seventh Son – 2013
The first project I lead from the beginning. The bulk of the shot work I did on the show was a single 800 frame shot – a 50 year timelapse of the Alberta Badlands. I created the timelapse clouds in Terragen, texture variants for the landscape, and also rendered HDRI spheres for the lighting department to use.
MPC Elysium
Elysium – 2012
While Image Engine and WhiskeyTree did the bulk of the work on this show, MPC was awarded the shuttle crash sequence. This is the most substantial matte painting, based on a Vue render. Around this time I was made HoD of 3DDMP and Environments as MPC Vancouver.
JGK farmhouse
Jack the Giant Slayer – 2012
I created the FG forest in ‘Vue’, as well as projected matte paintings of Jack’s farmhouse.
MPC Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows – 2011
I was made lead artist for the first time mid-way through this show, when the existing lead left. I set up the WPP (world position pass) projection templates for the cliffs, as well as the Liverpool docks skyline. I also created the cliff-top as a matte painting, and used a script to re-create a Vue forest ecosystem as a card setup in Nuke.
Neverland stone bridge
A lot of the work on this show was turning exterior shots (from Ireland) into the fantastical landscapes of ‘Neverland’. Many of the forest shots were supposed to contain deep canyons with natural stone bridges, but were simply shot with cones or small pieces of bluescreen on the ground.
Neverland ha long bay
Rocky islands DMP, done in collaboration with Rose Wang. Concept obviously inspired by Ha Long Bay.
Neverland Software
This is probably the fastest-paced show I ever worked on. Most matte paintings were done in less than a week, and many in only a couple of days.
Neverland forest gorge 2
One of many forest interior matte paintings, based on Vue renders
Neverland spirit colony
Matte painting of the Tree Spirit colony on fire. Flames and smoke were added by the FX artists.
Neverland white wood water
Another matte painting of the ‘White Wood’. In all the concept art, the tops of the trees were never seen (even in the distance), which wasn’t practical in this shot. Tree renders done in ‘Vue’.
Neverland forest edge
Edge of the ‘White Wood’. Was meant to be an ‘epic landscape’, but the plate was rather limiting.
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Neverland forest city 3
Concept art for the initial view of Fludd’s city – every building is meant to be formed or grown out of giant trees.
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Neverland forest city 2
Establishing shot for Dr. Fludd’s city
Neverland Forest city
Concept art for Fludd’s forest city. Model and base render by Gavin Jung and Remo Weiland.
Neverland white wood 1
First shot of the ‘White Wood’ environment. The simple sets and the odd design for the forest made these shots very tricky to create.
Neverland ship 1
Sky replacement and horizon extension. I didn’t create the ship, but did composite it for this test shot.
Neverland forest
Concept and DMP for the forest in the opening sequence
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Sanctuary skyline 1
London skyline for the final sequence of Episode 1, seen from the rooftops of Victoria embankment. Time was meant to be around 1900 – and unusually for an aggressive TV schedule, I had the time for some historical research. Blackfriars bridge is on the left, and straight ahead is what is now the ‘OXO’ tower.
Sanctuary skyline 2
Another angle of the London rooftops, with St. Pauls Cathedral in the far background.
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Sanctuary skyline 3
London Skyline reverse angle. I didn’t realise how defocused the final shot was going to be, and put in a ton of detail that was never seen. Base building geometry by Remo Weiland.
Sanctuary lotus headquarters
Lotus Defense Corps Headquarters from Ep. 2 ‘Uprising’.
Architecture of the main buildings is loosely based on the old ‘Apple’ campus.
Sanctuary graveyard
Graveyard DMP for Will’s vision in Episode 6.
Sanctuary Icebreaker
Establishing matte paintings of the eponymous ‘Icebreaker’ in Episode 7, stranded in the Bering Sea. Base renders of the ship were provided, and the surrounding icebergs were scattered in Vue.
Sanctuary Software
When I started, Anthem had one very old license of Vue, but were kind enough to upgrade it for me, and I made VERY heavy use of it during my time there.
Icebreaker dawn
Icebreaker at dawn (the ‘hopeful’ shot at the end of the episode). I don’t think this made the final cut.
Arctic panorama
Cyclorama for all the icebreaker interior shots
Sanctuary hotel
Concept for the Buenos Aires hotel in Episode 10 ‘Acolyte’
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Triffids big ben
Concept for destruction of the Elizabeth Tower (‘Big Ben’)
Triffids battle
Concept for the Triffid battle in parliament square
Destroyed London
Concept for post-destruction London. Final matte painting was done by RodeoFX.
Triffid orchard
Concept for the Triffid ‘Orchard’. Based on initial artwork by the art director, Dan May. I wrote a script for SketchUp to transfer cameras into Vue, so the camera lineup could be done using SketchUp’s camera match feature, and the final renders could be done with Vue.
Triffoil refinery 1
Another angle of the Triffoil facility destruction. Build architecture is inspired by a water treatment plant close to Heathrow airport.
Triffoil refinery 2
Post Triffid outbreak DMP
triffoil refinery 3
Triffoil refinery establishing shot. Source renders of the main refinery building provided by others.
LVK Titles
LVK rushes logo
Freelance contract for ‘Rushes Film and TV’
Not a high-brow project, but very good fun to work on. All the artists had a lot of creative freedom, and the director (Phil Claydon) was great to work with.
LVK town street
Stages of the ‘Town Street’ illustration for the Film’s prologue. The sequence was meant to have a comic-book feel, so these illustrations were used as backgrounds in the actual film, rather than concepts for a more photo-real painting.
LVK alchemy
Only direction given was ‘a Crazy Alchemist’s Lair’, so I had a lot of creative freedom.
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LVK arches
SketchUP has it’s roots as an architectural modeler, so creating the vaulted ceilings was easier than I expected.
LVK software
All of the illustrations were done using a combination of SketchUp and Painter. The aerial forest matte painting was given to me as a challenge – it was far larger than anything I’d ever done before. I learnt ‘Vue’ in a weekend, and then came in on a Monday to do the shot.
LVK Forest Track
Forest track illustration, also for the title sequence
LVK Jimmy illustration
Illustration test of Matthew Horne as ‘Jimmy’. The director was hoping to have a fully illustrated poster commissioned, in the style of the old hammer horror films. This was my pitch for me have a go at it.
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LVK poster
Concept for the movie’s poster
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LVK storyboards
Storyboards for the final shot
LVK aerial forest DMP
‘Cragwich Forest’ aerial shot – the first time I used ‘Vue’ in production, as well as the first full establishing of my career
Human body title
Blood SEM
One of the key ‘looks’ of the documentary was to use Scanning Election Microscopy (SEM) images for any shots within the body. As SEM images are basically depth maps, I used them as displacement maps within ‘Fusion’ to create pseudo-3D scenes. Combined with extreme depth of field and false colour effects, the results were very effective.
Human body Rushes logo
Freelance contract for ‘Rushes Film and TV’.
Human Body: Pushing the Limits was nominated for an emmy for ‘Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series’ in 2008
Human body marketing still
Main marketing and publicity image. Needed to be 6K, so I up-resed the textures used for the bones and muscles on the hero human model, as well as scattering the smaller rocks. I then painted over the final renders, adding detail to the rock surfaces, as well as the background and dust.
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Eye SEM
More shots using the SEM displacement technique I developed. Close-up of the fovea (the most sensitive part of the eye), and the spinal cord.
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Human body logos
‘Shake’ had just been discontinued, and Rushes decided on eyeon ‘Fusion’ as a replacement. I made heavy use of Fusion’s 3D compositing functions on this show, including particle systems (for the Tornado) and displacement (for the SEM effects).
Spider vision
Texturing for the ‘Spider Vision’ in the spider bite sequence.
Cave mouth
Cave mouth DMP. Shot in Bourne Woods, near Farnham in the UK. It’s such a popular filming location that there were lots of set pieces from other shows handing around – the random junk in this plate was from ‘Band of Brothers’.
Tornado aftermath 2
Second ‘Tornado aftermath’ matte painting. Classic (read: cheesy) backlit DMP sunset.
Tornado aftermath 1
Tornado aftermath – corn field and sky extension.
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Cliff Edge
Cliff edge set extension for the ‘Rock Fall’ sequence
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Tornado concepts
VFX storyboards for the Tornado impact sequence in Episode 1
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Tornado field supercell
‘Supercell’ matte painting for the ‘Tornado’ episode. Miniature trailer from ‘The Model Unit’. Source photo for the supercell from ‘Extreme Instability’