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FREDERIC DURAND
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EA GAMES - Lighting case study

It is quite rare to have the opportunity to show a before and after example, here are some I think show
what efficient lighting can do: enhance the visual impact and tell the story !
The top view show the shot as a first look, all shaders are attached, lighting is added, no technical errors visible but the shot is somewhat flat, the lighting only "document" the shot, describe the action without taking sides, no involvement in the story. Story that can be told as: the RedSkin player is running toward the camera, the Cowboy player is trying to stop him, the red skin player will prevail !
The second take is with the lighting reworked to serve the story better, first of all, even if the stadium is lit from multiple directions, the main source of illumination, off camera but with its glow visible come from the left, so I have moved a key light to the left and made it brighter than the secondary keys.
To get to the story and serve it development: The Redskin is passing the Cowboy, I made sure that the redskin shadow is placed on the Cowboy when he is passed. Simple and straight to the point.

THUNDERCATS - CASE STUDY

Picture
Thundercats was a teaser for a film/game that never came made at Digital Domain in 2009. The interesting thing for me was to use a real-time rendering engine. Being able to get the final quality immediately was great, i would feel like a real DP for a change, but the basic lighting rules still applies !
I have tried to use the concept of "separation" using light sources, to create depth visually and use
shadows direction to enhance the look and tell the story subliminally.

CAPRISUN - BEFORE AND AFTER

Here is another example and how sometimes lighting can save the day, or at least minimize the trouble, Whoever work on this packshot was not very inspired, I cannot blame him/her. 3 glossy pack of juice in front of a dramatic sunset in fire, totally back lit... being creative with such material can be difficult.
Here is the rsult after half-day of work, not goegeous but at least the packs looks like aluminium and they now belong to the environment.