ANTIQUES

For my second Demo Reel piece, I aimed to create an intimate tableau that would showcase a pair of hero props which I had previously created - namely, an antique gramophone, along with an archaic eighteenth-century hand mortar. Both props were modeled and textured based on extensive photo reference, with additional weathering sculpted in Zbrush. The most obvious examples are on the stock of the mortar, where I applied spots of greater roughness to areas of the wood that would be most often coming into contact with the user’s hands, namely around the trigger guard and neck.

I knew that I wanted a close camera angle with extreme depth of field, meaning I could afford to cut corners and work fast when it came to building out the environment. I quickly assembled a modular paneling kit that I could apply to both walls as well as the ceiling. The addition of a simple door and an open window frame helped to break up the background, as well as providing opportunities for volumetric lighting later in the compositing stage.

To fill out the foreground, I set to work creating a few more simple props, namely a candle holder, a jewelry box, and a teacup with saucer. Many Victorian props, including chairs, ottomans, and jewelry boxes, all feature stylized lion-like feet, while chinaware from this era tends to feature painted floral patterns, which I sourced from photos of antiques for sale on eBay.

This piece’s identity was fully realized during the compositing stage. From the get go, I knew I wanted two contrasting light sources - a warm, flickering candle in the foreground, and cool rays of moonlight in the background. During the composite, I decided to amp up the volumetrics with a thunderclap to imply a dark, stormy night. I made sure to increase the intensity of the various compositing elements like dust motes and lens dirt, as those would reflect the light of a lightning strike outside the window.

The final shot takes advantage of the material work on my hero assets, while leveraging the lighting composition so as to make the most of a limited background built from modular assets. Overall, I feel that this piece is a good example of the benefits of working smart and prioritizing attention in specific places so as to maximize the power of a scene.