The Days the Earth Stood Still

“When you consider that at any one moment in the history of this planet we call home, over six billion individual members of the human race with their own priorities and concerns are going about the daily business of living their lives, you would think that it would be impossible to suddenly stand in front of them all and ask them to stop. Indeed as a single individual you would be right, but there have been moments in the human history of this earth where the world has indeed stood still, where the attention of an entire species has been focused on a single, monumental event. In my own lifetime I can vividly remember two such occasions and myself and members of my generation now speak of "9/11" and the Challenger launch in the same way my parents speak of the defining moment of theirs, when on November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated whilst travelling in his open top motorcade. Iconic moments in history who's very mention will forever incite the question "where were you on that day?". This is the premise behind my intention to create 6 images based around the most shocking moments in Human history. Events so incredible that the whole world, regardless of race, religion or background literally stopped in order to take in the enormity of the event. This blog exists to show my progress, struggles and eventual final product through work in progress images and tales of research.

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January 23rd, 2011
So today I have been working on the WFC as seen to the left of the 9/11 shot.  As always it’s been a struggle to scale and get decent measurements from the internet so it has made for some slow progress.  The WFC building number 1 is closest to the camera and as the entire south elevation falls outside of the scope of this image I was thinking I had dodged a minor bullet by not having to model that side.   Then i realised that the Marriott across the road is made up almost entirely of glass windows.  Glass having reflections, especially in the sort of strong sunlight in which this image is based.  I was a little unsure what affect this would have on the need to model the WFC south elevation in its entirety and so I set up the attached test.  As you can see the reflections will add a substantial amount of work to now model the side i thought would be unseen plus perhaps any further buildings that might creep into shot. Theres also the Hudson River/Jersey Shoreline out in the background to consider.  Oh well I wanted detail, I guess i’ve got it. 

So today I have been working on the WFC as seen to the left of the 9/11 shot.  As always it’s been a struggle to scale and get decent measurements from the internet so it has made for some slow progress.  The WFC building number 1 is closest to the camera and as the entire south elevation falls outside of the scope of this image I was thinking I had dodged a minor bullet by not having to model that side.  

Then i realised that the Marriott across the road is made up almost entirely of glass windows.  Glass having reflections, especially in the sort of strong sunlight in which this image is based.  I was a little unsure what affect this would have on the need to model the WFC south elevation in its entirety and so I set up the attached test.  As you can see the reflections will add a substantial amount of work to now model the side i thought would be unseen plus perhaps any further buildings that might creep into shot.

Theres also the Hudson River/Jersey Shoreline out in the background to consider.  Oh well I wanted detail, I guess i’ve got it. 

December 19th, 2010

A question of detail.  

How do you create a piece of artwork that only induces the viewer into feeling the exact feelings you have tried to convey?  

In my eyes the only way to do it is to strip away all other thoughts that might approach them.  In CG this means removing all doubt about the image.  There is always the danger that the viewer will be distracted from the overall image by a part of it that does not appear right.  

It is a problem that has plagued CG from the very start, most notably in creating realistic eyes.  Humans are used to seeing natural eyes and their movements and expression every day and the slightest “dead eye” in a scene can ruin the whole moment.  In film and especially character animation this has become known as the “Uncanny Valley.”  The model and the animation might be perfect in every way but if the eyes can’t sell the scene then the whole thing is recognised as fake.

The viewer isn’t even aware they are drawing on this vast knowledge of eyes but they can certainly pick a bad one almost immediately.

I am intent on not allowing the viewer to be distracted from this or lose the impact of any of these images and so i am taking as many measure as possible to detail as many models as i possibly can no matter how small they might finally appear.

The two images attached are an example of this.  The first shows the level of detail i have put into the top part of a flag pole attached to the Marriott Downtown Hotel and the second image shows just how small and unnoticeable the model actually is in the grand scheme of the image.

Is this too much?  Perhaps, and theres no doubt it will certainly push my equipment to the very limit as the image develops but i’m prepared to take that risk to maintain the emotional and visual impact to the viewer.  Hopefully once it’s finished your eyes will not flag that any part of the image is not absolutely true to life.