James Shaw – Blog

As well as the original movie that we were all wowed by (found here http://vimeo.com/7809605 or here http://www.jamesshaw.co.nz/blog/?p=285 with teasers), by Jorge Seva, aka Alex Roman I found some of the making off which have some interesting shot breakdowns including compositing below and the 2nd, more interestingly, the original sourcing, modeling, texturing, lighting and finals etc on his Kahn’s Exeter short film.

Very interesting stuff. I love the comments online that he must be doing something amazing technically, and am pleased to see he likes to keep things simple. So less about the technicality of it all and more on the artistry. The approach of visualization as a photographer is one I can relate to, but one that is all to often forgotten in archviz work.

Compositing Breakdown (T&S) from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Exeter Shot — Making Of from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Granted this is an existing building he visualizes so easier to identify compositions that work, as these are the ones that have already been photographed by professional photographers. Often it is hard given a sketch by architects to visualize where the good compositions might lie.

We have some great debates at work whether this type of work is creative given it is an existing space and it is a facsimile of what already exists, or whether creativity lies in visualizing the non-built to this level. Is it a technical exercise in bringing archviz work in line with photography? Many architectural colleagues I have shown it to fail to see the point with the comment “why wouldn’t you just go there and photograph it?”, which is a good point. The technical brilliance is lost on them.

To this end there is a really interesting aspect of CG work evolving that we will see juxtaposed over the coming years (although has run through many creative industries over many centuries). Creativity and technical brilliance working hand in hand, and splitting of some awards in this manner (Avatar and 2012 spring to mind; dubious stories, but awarded technical marvels). I’m going to sit on the fence on this one as I can see valid points for either side. Needless to say I find Alex Roman’s work inspiring on a number of fronts, which is surely a part of artistry in itself?