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Ferrari: a hobbyist’s vision

The Ferrari job is pure test piece, pure opportunist. Hobbyist.

I did it in earlier in the year to coincide with the start of the Formula 1 season. It was an idea I’d had for a while: play around with a Ferrari on a backplate, shot on another job. Learn from it. Use it. Maybe get work out of it.

The backplate was shot on a Volvo job in Chicago, just outside the famous Chicago Hall theatre. I shot an HDR light dome, came back to the UK and left it on the servers till I was ready to use it. With the F1 season starting, I thought I’d chance my arm and have a little fun.

So I started with the backplate. Stretched it. Moved it. Tickled it. You can extend a lot of backgrounds, but it largely depends on the material. For example, you can convincingly extend trees and foliage but it is much easier to play with a brick wall.

We then put in the Ferrari 3D model. Came up with the angle, took it into 3D max, did a greyscale, rendered it out. Then put a video together to show the making of the job, so you can see the whole process.

Again, we had a lot of fun playing with techniques. Put a bit of motion blur out. Put a spin on the wheels, and made it look like it was raining.

Once completed, I sent it out and had a hugely encouraging response; people loved it and I got a lot of work out of it. So, I guess, it was a hobby that paid.

I always treat hobbyist pieces as seriously as I do any other job. They have to interest you and they have to have certain technical challenges. There’s no point doing it for the sake of just doing it. Each piece I do I try to learn something.

I can then apply that to my next job.

The making of F1 Chicago

To download the Ferrari Backplate & HDRi click here