Ryder cup 2014 (updated)

Earlier in the year Chris Walker and I designed some more hospitality suites for Byrom plc.  The World Cup visuals posted earlier in this blog were also for Byrom.  This new project was a pitch for the Ryder Cup in 2014 being played up in Scotland.

I produced a series of visuals for this pitch.  All were modeled out in Sketchup and then painted over in Photoshop.

Tight deadlines make this type of work quite challenging.  I have found out through numerous sleepless nights that high quality photo realism is not possible within my normal sub 24 hour deadlines.  Designing at pace is an organic process and long render times make changes impossible.

Stylizing my renders helps me get the images out of Sketchup and into Photoshop quickly.  Once in Photoshop I work in a painterly fashion that lets me make changes on the fly and delivers a more balanced and interesting final illustration.

My final render of the Hospitality suite exterior.

A close up of the balcony area.

The basic Sketchup setup including a tent model kindly supplied by the chaps at C6(n)

National Geographic - Gospel of Judas

In 2005 I was lucky enough to Art Direct a National Geographic documentary out in Tunisia.  It was all good fun although it would have been easier if it wasn't being filmed during Ramadan.  The Tunisian crew battled through but working in extreme heat with an empty belly did take its toll on the chaps.

My technical drawing of the main element of our build.  While I generally use 3D and CAD now so its nice to pick up a pencil when drawing beautiful period architecture.

This is the build before the painters have started working up the finishes.

Here is the finished build.

Home office - Set design

Earlier this year I once again teamed up with Christopher Walker on a new pilot for the BBC.  The 'home office' is a sit com being filmed at the new BBC studios over in Salford.  Below is some of the art work and technical drawings I produced during the design of our studio build.

These early visuals helped communicate the layout of the set...the dressing completely changed.

A second view of the set.

My technical drawings that went of to Bob and John at WRFCS Ltd.

The studio/dressing plan.  This was a real pain as BBC Salford kept supplying the wrong studio plans (anyone else building in there beware).

Ready, Steady, Go!  Cameras descend on the completed set.

Another angle of the set.

The front door had the match an exterior location in Wilmslow.

The dinning room table proved to be at the heart of the action.

Another shot

The living area - notice the jazz theme.

Architectural Visualization

A couple of years ago I helped out a friend with his planning application by producing a visual of his proposed building project.  They supplied me with a shot of the existing barn with a set of plans and I spent a day producing a 3D model of the build.  I then dropped the model into the visual below.  Despite it being a delicate build on a protected property they got the planning permission. 

The final visual

My 3D model (with one very detailed bump map)

The supplied photo of the existing barn and build site.

Mount Pleasant series 2 - Set Design

In January I was lucky enough to start Art Directing 'Mount Pleasant'.  This was a nice long six month project with some nice studio set builds.  Christopher Walker was our production designer and the set was built by John and Bob over at WRFCS Ltd.

An early 1:50 model of the set build for discussion purposes

The first of many pages of technical drawing

Another page of technical drawing that was passed onto construction.

My 3D model of the reception desk.

The finished reception desk (notice the sign moved to behind the desk)

The kitchen area within the set

A shot of the interior of the set

A shot of the opposite direction

'Jekyll' - Casket

This is another piece of prop design I worked on during 'Jekyll'.  Just like the Restraining chair in a previous post the guys over at Aztec built this prop...and two smaller child sized versions.

My final concept design.  The team bounced around a number of concepts before settling on this version.

One of the pages of technical drawing that went off to Aztec the model makers

James Nesbitt trying a rough casket for size.

The casket as a work in progress.

A second shot of the Aztec guys working on the casket.

A photo of the casket on set (I was just off camera nervously operating the lock hydraulics).   Kellie Waugh took this photo.

Another of Kellies Waugh's brilliant photos and great lighting by the DOP.

The Bank Job - Set Design

Earlier this year Production Designer Patrick Watson asked me to help out on a new game show - 'the bank job'.  I had to produce a series of concepts for the production buyer to use when dressing the 'waiting area' of the set and concepts/tech drawings for a commercial promoting the show.

Kye Smith Macintosh had worked up the game area so I painted my waiting area concepts over his Sketchup model.

This was a slight layout change to the original design.

This is the waiting area as seen in the show.

This is the first concept for the commercial.

This is the construction drawing to accompany the first concept.

This is my second concept for the commercial.

This is the construction drawing to accompany the second concept.

Home Office - Action vehicles

The location work on 'the home office' revolved around the main characters unusual company car.  The company car started out as a car shaped like a pencil but financial realities put an end to that.  We ended up building the below and clamping it to a pretty cool looking VW Beetle.  I made the pencil out of old sheets of MDF and lots of body filler.  Top prop man Alastair Brauders painted the pencil and produced the rubber from an old bucket.  We then used a old roof rack to mount the pencil on the car.  Total cost of the build was £75 - a bargain at twice the price.

Marker sketch illustration to help work out what we were doing.

The assembly of the pencil.

Ahhh...the final screw.

Fully painted...just need to add graphics and were ready to go.

The finished pencil in all its glory (photo taken by Christopher Walker and yes that is Russ Abbott in the passenger seat).

World Cup 2014

Last year I worked with Christopher Walker on a pitch for a new concept for hospitality at the World Cup in Brazil.  The idea was to build a temporary structure with each of the world cup stadiums that would host the MD's of sponsorship companies.  Below is some of the work I produced during that project.

This is the entrance to the VIP area.

This would be the view from the VIP area.

This was an illustration of the high tables that would have been 'pitch side' of the VIP area.

This is a plan of the proposed space within the existing grounds.