TIGAER-DESIGN.COM_.v5

TERRAGLACIES

This one is a failed experiment from 2009. I remember playing with Vue and it’s displacement options for materials. I had no specific picture in mind. I was just playing around. Then suddenly the preview render was showing me a rather cool, kinda abstract, looking landscape shape. It immediately reminded my of my 2005 ‘Astounding’ piece somehow. Then I tried to render it bigger and bam… no chance. I don’t remember the exact time Vue told me but it was astronomical. I started to try my usual workarounds but nothing helped. I guess the material and the dispacement mapping ate up all the memory and when it was full the render just crashed. I managed to get out a, for me, low quality render and worked with that one. Even if I’m not entirely happy with the result I still think the pic has a certain appeal to it. I hope you think so too! =)

Regards

It got quiet with Mel Gibson. After that strange telephone call thing that got through all the media it seemed he took a time out. Looks like he got some problems but to hell with it… we all have our problems. Only difference is that we don’t have psychos who record our phonecalls. Now this movie ‘The Beaver’ was the first one Gibson was in after the media buzz the phone thing caused. A movie directed by Jodie Foster who also plays one of the main characters in the movie. She’s also a good friend of Gibson and may have thought “lets give him another chance!”. That’s what friends do and she did not get disappointed for sure.

The movie is about a Walter Black (Mel Gibson) who is the manager and head of a toy company that is sort of on a downward spiral. Right from the beginning of the film we notice that he’s not on top of his game and it feels and looks like a big depression. We see how everything slips out of his hands. First his job, then family and last but not least his own life. When he tries to kill himself some switch gets on and suddenly a handpuppet of a beaver starts talking to him. Now the puppet on his arm he starts to climb out of this big hole of a depression he’s in. Sometimes we all need someone who seriously kicks our ass to make us understand or do something. For Walter it’s this puppet. Walter doesn’t really understand what is happening but we as the audience can see how the puppet is helping him finding back on track again. While we watch him getting back in contact with his family and job we also notice that the puppet cannot be the ultimate solution. At some point the puppet has to go away. We also notice that it me require some heavy measures really get rid of it.

The movie not only shows what Walter has to go through. It also shows how a family can go down because of all the things a depression comes with. Walter’s son, played very awesome by Anton Yelchin, has the most problems handling the situation. He lives in constant fear that he might become too much like his father. He also doesn’t understand the whole thing with the beaver and distances himself even more from Walter. Now there is a younger son too. He of course has no problems with the beaver. He easily finds a connection to his dad again through this puppet. Walter’s wife (Jodie Foster) is happy about how things slowly get back to normal. But she can also see that if this puppet thing continues… things will fall apart again. And who knows if there is a second chance. Jodie Foster’s performance works really well since she manages it to make all the inner conflicts visible.

So what does the movie want to tell us here? Yes, depression is quite a serious subject. The movie tries to make the audience understand that it can be a very complicated dealing with these things. All the things with the beaver is a little weird but, at least for me, understandable. I think when you’re in a situation like this one you try to hold on every little thing that might help you to get out of that mess. So is the movie a success for what it wants to be? I think yes.

Mel Gibson. Well… start to give that guy jobs again! Please! He is a good, very good, actor. He may have a complicated private life but hell… who are we to judge that? That’s not our business. We as an audience should only judge Mel Gibson for what we see in his movies. May it be as an actor or director. I love both roles of him. He can create quite some epic movies. And yes, I say ‘Passion of the Christ’ is an underrated and misunderstood movie. But that’s a review I still have to write some time. Anyway… I can see Mr. Gibson as a new Clint Eastwood. He’s a champ in both disciplines.

So yeah… final words… well… sometimes it literally needs a clear cut to solve some personal problems.

7.5/10

The Beaver on IMDb

LAETITIA CAELIA

We previously discovered this world with ‘The Undiscovered Country‘. Laetitia Caelia, what means something like ‘joyful heaven’, demanded to be explored a little deeper though.

By exploration I mean the creative process. Originally this was an attempt at participating at this years E-On Software Environment Competition 2011. So I seriously invested a ton of time into creating a scene that looks like something. All Vue… no post work allowed. I had a really hard time being restricted to Vue alone. The resulting scene was ‘something’. But ultimately nothing with a chance to win. However… I learned a few more things when doing this scene. Especially technical aspects of Vue.

No matter how the results of the contest were, I created the pic with the plan to do my usual Photoshop stuff on it anyway. Now I know the winners were much better than my attempt. However… can’t throw all the work and render time away, right? And there was some render time. Phew. At the hottest time of the year. They should seriously consider holding that contest in the winter months. Seriously. I mean my machine was stable all the time! (Which is a true wonder!) But the temperatures it created in my room here were beyond… there’s no word for it. Evil it was. The final render took probably 40hrs.

For the weird rock formations I used Zbrush. These were fun to create. Less fun was it to import them into Vue. Very heavy models. And yeah, absolutely… I’m no modeling expert and don’t know anything about efficient modeling. These models put my machine on the edge but it worked out. Good enough for me. Like I previously said the rendering phase was a pain. In Photoshop then I had quite some fun adding additional textures. The scene already had a great depth and Photoshop helped me to push that even more. The lighting received a nice push as well. Overpainting helped me fixing and extending certain elements.

I had a real hard time finding the right color grading for it. I, in fact, have tons of test versions lying around here. Even with this final one I’m not 100% happy. At some point you have to mentally stop thinking about it though. Or you’re going George Lucas about it… never stopping to change stuff. (Stop to ruin your movies George!)

Again I imagine this picture is showing a world/planet that was just discovered and is now being explored. It must be a great feeling sitting in one of these jets there… just having fun with the environment. Diving through the canyons and enjoying the views no one has ever seen before.

A camera mapping try on this was not planned but done anyway. Quite some time that went into this too. But I refreshed my knowledge about the techniques and again learned a few new things there.

Hope you can gain some inspiration from it all.

Vue – Zbrush – Photoshop – After Effects – 5000px wide

Exploring Laetitia Caelia – 720p/Sound – Video – On Vimeo

Exploring Laetitia Caelia – 720p/Sound – Video – On Youtube

Laetitia Caelia – Quicktime/720p/Sound – Video (50mb)

Regards

My frst review in 2012! But anyway… the story for this one is told in 5 seconds. “Adventurer gets trapped in a cave and has to cut off his right arm to survive.” And yes, I don’t consider this a spoiler since it’s really no secret. But the gross moments of this movie aren’t the ones that make this movie. They play a role in the solution of the story but that’s all.

The movie is about Aron Ralston. A person that actually exists and who really had to go through all the things this film shows. In the beginning of the movie we see him take a break from his city life and job. He’s an adventurer who likes to explore landscapes. Mostly alone. And that’s what’ll haunt him through this movie. Aron is out having fun in the desert, surrounded by canyons and deathtraps. The movie does a great job also showing the beauty of the landscape and nature itself. Almost establishing it as a character of itself. James Franco, who plays Aron Ralston, does a nice job here. You can see in his face how glad and happy he is to be out there. Pure freedom. Then when he tries to climb down a, pretty harmless looking, canyon… he slips. Falling down along with him there is a rock. When both hit the ground Aron’s right arm gets caught between the cave wall and the rock. He’s trapped. That’s the moment where you sit there thinking “how unfortunate can one be?!”. James Franco is great in that moment. Since the camera is pretty much always straight up in his face you needed an actor who can really work with his face. James Franco is one of those. In that particular scene, when he realizes he’s trapped, you can see a hint of panic in his face. At the same time you can see how a thinking process begins to start. “How am I going to get out of this mess?”. You can read that off of his face and eyes. Nice job with that Mr. Franco. From there on we’re captivated. Even if we already sorta know how the story will end. We want to know what all happens on the way.

Technically the movie is very well made. Keeping in mind that most of the movie happens under these close quarter conditions. A lot of Danny Boyle typical cuts bring in some diversion. Flashbacks and hallucinations of Aron fill in certain parts we need to know about him. The Make-up department did a nice job too. Later when Aron’s body starts to sorta give up. The Make-up really made all this visible. Which helps the audience to understand how bad things are for him. The specific “cut off arm” scenes are intense. But not because of the blood. They actually don’t show too much. Which is good. Often enough a simple sound generates the pics automatically in your mind. Far more efficient than blatantly showing it all. They never go too far and keep it all as, what I think, realistic as possible. There are nonetheless plenty of moments where you possibly let out an “Ouch!”.

Ultimately the movie is about learning of the importance to not always do things on your own. That it’s never wrong to let people know where you are and what you’re up to. Don’t be an egomaniac for the sake of being independent. It’s hard to believe but yes, there is a certain breed of people who really are that way. I met the one or another person who is that way.

So yeah, this is a good movie. Not one for a ‘just for fun’ evening though. It’s not a party movie. There are parts that are a little hard to sit through. But it’s worth it. A movie with a message. Can’t be wrong can it?

7.9/10

127 Hours on IMDb

Hey Folks,

I wish you guys a merry christmas and a very happy new year! I hope your 2012 will be one of the best years evarrrr! Keep it up and thanks a lot for all your support through 2011! Hope to see you again next year! With some nice new worlds and inspirations!

Regards

Today we have a nice interview for the 3D Art Direct Magazine. Paul Bussey and Mickey Mills invited me to do one and therefore a thanks to them. The magazine is pretty much what the title says. In this issue the mag covers some nice examples of 3d fantasy art as well as interviews for the respective artists. Some good inspiration to find there.

Buy the Magazine here for only £3.95.

Regards

LAKE FIREFLY

This picture was a submission for ‘The Luminarium‘ Artgroup. Their topic was ‘Asylum‘. My interpretation of the meaning can pretty much be seen in this picture. It’s a more peaceful approach. Here we have two people on a field trip to find some peace. But the environment looks a little different don’t you think? Of course I wanted to put in a little Fantasy/Scifi component. So our two friends here are either in the future on a distant planet or in an alternate universe. But that’s a taste thing. =D

Technically this picture was the first one I created with the Vue10 release. The random rock creator works really nice and is a good addition to the tool. The huge wing like mountain thingies were created with XenoDream. A very interesting tool that I might explore a little more in fhe future. Of course a lot of post work with Photoshop again. I even played around with creating some alien looking trees there. Maybe that was the christmas spirit coming through a bit. Just a little bit. =D This may also be the last piece of art for 2011 and I think it gives a nice conclusion with its mood.

Vue – Photoshop – 5000px wide

Print Detail
Plates and Parts

Regards

Here it is! ‘Asylum‘ is the topic of the latest Exhibit release by The Luminarium Artgroup. It’s #16 now and there are some interesting submissions in this pack. I recommend checking it out. There is a collection of digital art, abstract, digital painting, music and photography work. So, pretty much something for every taste and profession. My personal submission can be found here. Check it out for some good inspiration.

The Luminarium: Website – Deviantart – Shadowness

Regards

Holy smoke where do I start? First of all I have to say that I absolutely don’t get it. By that I mean all the cash this series made. I can understand that someone goes to see a movie to have a fun evening with friends and doesn’t care much about the movie. And yes, I can see how the series has a certain appeal and entertainment value to it. But man… parts of the series are an insult to my intelligence. I’m sure other people would agree but simply don’t care. They just wanna see big robots ruining whole cities while they’re fighting for… I don’t know anymore. And there we have one of the biggest problems.

All three movies are more than two hours long. And half of the time we don’t even see robots because we follow the plot of that Shia Lebeauf character. And some other pretty much useless people. Ok, I agree… they’re just there to give us a human point of view. The robots on the other hand are there too, yes. But they’re nothing more than ‘supporting cast’. If that term can be accurate. I don’t know. I use it anyway! So half the time we see Shia running around, doing things… things we mostly don’t care about. Especially when his parents come into play. Turn your brain off or you’ll end up drooling yourself while bouncing around in a padded cell. There’s also ‘the girl’ factor in these movies. Part one and two had Megan Fox. Now in part one lady Fox was stunning. I mean… sexy as hell. Of course Michael Bay knows how to put sexy women on celluloid. In part two then, I don’t know. I’m fairly sure that Megan Fox had some surgery going in her face. I may be wrong but I felt she looked different. Which was a little turn off. She was stunning to look at in part one. And that’s the only reason why she was in the movies. To look sexy. Now in part three they dumped lady Fox because she refused to to work with Mr. Bay again. Apparently he must be quite the a**hole and treating women not very gentlemen like. Good for her. It was a ballsy decision to say no and it deserves support. Now the new girl (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) they casted was visually less my taste. But! She gave her character more life. I felt she had more screen presence and is, from my pov, the most likable character in TF3. Unbelievable! Shia Lebeauf’s character is a total idiot in this movie. Up until the last 45 minutes of the movie. Then he kinda got his shit together somehow. Anyway…

Now the third movie starts and we learn that all things we learned in the previous movies were for nothing. Fu** continuity! Thanks to you, overpaid hollywood writing talents. Did I say talent? Anyhoo! In the first 1 1/2hrs we follow Sam Witwicky and his weird shenanigans while he’s trying to find a job. He’s unemployed and lives in a flat that probably costs $10.000 a month. Well, yeah… his new girlfriend apparently earns quite a paycheck in her job – nonetheless, everything around that guy screams ‘money’! How can he afford all that? Makes no sense.

We also have to witness some of the weirdest timed comedic scenes in movie history. Especially John Malkovich. What exactly is the reason he’s in the movie?! There are more well deserved actors in this train wreck of a movie. I guess they just wanted to have some mindless fun. Can’t blame them. They surely knew it can only be hilarious when they read the script. And they indeed had fun. You can almost see it in the movie. Except for Shia Lebeauf. There’s rarely a minute where I thought he enjoys to be in this. Will be interesting if he’s in the fourth movie too. And yes I would bet my brain that there will be a fourth one. No doubt! And so far it looks like Mr. Bay will not do it. So it could be interesting to see what a different director will do with that material.

If you survived the first hour the movie slowly begins to speed up. Things start to happen. Things blow up while giant robots do their graceful waltz of destruction through the windy city of Chicago. Now that’s where the movie can turn the tide a little bit. It shows the Decepticons killing people and destroy the city. The movie makes us side the Autobots in their fight. And that fight surely is some of the best VFX work ever put on film. I cannot even fathom how much work went into all the stuff that happens in the last hour. Quite some stunning moments. Too bad it all went into a movie that delivers such a poor story and unsatisfying ending. And yes. With such a vfx overkill it soon starts to become uninteresting. “Yeah another explosion! *Yawn*” – something like that. It, nontheless does look great. Then the last ten minutes of the movie feel as if they wanted to wrap up the whole storyline (if you can call it that) of the three movies. It all happens very fast and whoop the movie is over.

In a recent review I read that the opinion was that Michael Bay should stop being a director. He should do more pure cinematography. And I couldn’t agree more. His movies look absolutely amazing. The way he establishes shots. His lighting, composition and style in general are top notch. So the conclusion can only be that his specific directing skills are below the level useful. Unfortunately. I don’t know to this day how he managed to make ‘The Island’ such a decent movie.

So Transformers 3 can be an entertaining flick when it comes to certain points. Throw all hopes for logic over board and be younger than 14 years old and you would surely be perfectly entertained. For everyone else skip the first half and only watch the visual effects benchmark demo reel part. That’s honestly very impressive material there.

6.3/10

Transformers 3 on IMDb

A few weeks ago I got asked to write a short tutorial on how to insert/replace sky elements in pictures. No matter if photo or painting. It was on rather short notice and a tight deadline. Especially when there were other things planned already. Nonetheless I sat down and tried myself on it. I used the render plate I had from my “Hadley’s Hope” project. So it ultimately became sort of an alternative take on my original project. I worked pretty rough though since there wasn’t much time for a too detailed approach. Anyways… the short tutorial in the magazine covers how to place a nice sky, that complements the cityscape, into the scene. It’s partly manipulated with photos and partly painted. I had a more photo manipulated approach at first but the magazine requested more painted parts. I hope I managed to cover the basics about it. At this point I also have to thank Adam Smith who had the bad luck to edit my gibberish. =D He was quite a help.

Advanced Photoshop Issue #90 is available now! Check it out!

Regards