Making of “Tales of Mystery And Confusion” with Clemens Ascher

“In this series, I show mystical figures from a vaguely remembered tale performing cryptic gestures and ominous rituals.” – Clemens Ascher.

Collaboration with Clemens is always an extraordinary journey. In this series, retouching combines CGI with fine art.

The concept was to have the look of a 2D collage, with fabric and other props produced in 3D and then combined with the figures which were shot in the studio.

As CG artists, normally we are purely concerned with getting an image as close to reality as possible. In this case, Clemens wanted a combination of photo-realism with perspectives that are just a little ‘off’, to give a surreal, disjointed feel. This is a fine line to walk in post-production, and an exciting challenge for us, with a huge amount of creative freedom and input. The details of our renderings and lighting were very much an integral part of the artistic process.

For instance, the floors for some images are correct in 3D space for shadows etc., but their texture is applied almost like a 2D collage, without much depth in the perspective depth happening. “Amber Queen”, below, is a very good example for this effect.

Conceptually this references medieval art with its odd sizes and perspectives, which is also referred to in some of the props we created like armour and shoes. These tensions of opposites are present in many aspects of the series, producing the effect of strangeness that Clemens wanted.

Technical Process:

We began each image by setting up a CG space as a match for the camera and model, for shadows, indirect light and reflections.

Clemens provided a sketch for each figure, and from this, we began to block out shapes, exploring forms and thinking about the silhouette. With every element, we started with reality.

“Amber Queen”

Here for instance, for the armoured dress, we looked at real armour, how it’s made and jointed, and how this would wear – before working with the shapes to give it uniquely unreal, skewing asymmetry.

Substance Painter gave us the possibility to create a realistic, used appearance for our materials, and we then used our virtual lighting rig, adjusting the original settings to make them work for the completely different properties of armour.

 

We had previously developed our own system for making realistic amber with flaws, shapes and colour all generated from our own observations. Using this ultra-realistic natural material to make a hat was typical of the tension between reality and unreality that Clemens was looking for.

“EXORCIZE”

We generated the amber again for this image and also a mysterious mountain range to set the figures in.

For “EXORCIZE” we used Houdini again for the pink hair, inputting geometrical parameters to produce a true natural feel – a great opportunity to push this software in an unusual environment.

“MELANCHOLY”

We built this tutu in a completely different way, as if this was a real life fashion project with the correct crinoline construction underneath it. We tested this with different materials such as lace, bringing our machines very close to their computational limit!

Working like a fashion designer would, we tried many different fabrics to get the rich, ruffled texture that we wanted, to complement the severe geometric shape of the skirt itself. Here you can see two other options in lace and chiffon.

With the final decision to use a light tulle, we achieved the affect we wanted: a solid block of fabric with a light, foamy texture, that tension of opposites working again to destabilise perception. Zoom in for the details that make the difference

Grading

With the series complete in structure, the files went from Germany to Recom Farmhouse London for Creative Supervisor Kate Brown to fine tune the compositing from all the different applications, and colour grade the images.

For the grade, she took inspiration once again from paintings – ranging from medieval icons to renaissance masterpieces in oils. A simplified, painterly treatment, giving the sense of collage whilst bringing detail out of the blacks, and enhancing the sense of archetypal forms. Here’s a view of the full process from original sketch to finished image.

We’ll leave you with some thoughts from Clemens Ascher:

“Seeing these naturally raises some crucial questions:
What is their message?
Can they protect us?
Will they guide us in our search for salvation?
And can we even trust them? – Probably not.
But you can worship them, let them take important decisions or cure your agonised bodies – good luck! “

 

See the whole series on our site here and on Behance here

Photographer: Clemens Ascher
Creative Director: Kate Brown / Recom Farmhouse London
CGI Artists: Sebastian Schierwater, Richard Jenkinson, Dennis Brinkmann / Recom Stuttgart
Post Artists: Jonas Braukmann, Stephanie O’Connor / Recom Berlin

Making of “A Hypnotic Journey” with Alessandra Kila

“Through the mechanical and perpetual movements of diamonds, malachite, tourmaline and pearls the viewer is taken from a rational state of mind to a trance-like hallucination where both image and colours react to the altered state of mind. Jewels are real, but they are also a sub-conscious reality that exist as a state of desire in our mind.”

– Alessandra Kila

 

Follow Alessandra Kila into a world of hypnotic machines that enthrall through their perpetual movement. Working closely with our London studio, a triptych of full CGI videos evolved, each featuring a piece of Chanel jewellery functioning like an entrancing device: a necklace oscillates like a pendulum, a ring repeats the pattern of a spinning machine and a bracelet echoes the circular movements of a gyroscope.

How we made it:

Starting with a moodboard of references drawn from architecture, fashion, textures and art,  Alessandra Kila created a world with a highly  curated and very distinct slant on Art Deco.

The jewellery was recreated in CGI from the  original pieces, with great attention paid to the texturing of surfaces and the properties of the precious stones. Detail is everything…

For the animations Alessandra and our 3D artist Anna Toropova tested and observed the movements in real life before imitating them on screen. For instance, repeatedly dropping and filming a pearl or a ring, then replicating its motion in CGI.

At times that meant working frame by frame to achieve the most realistic flow. Clay renders below show the careful, precise progress of  the work.

The simplified set design and colours subtly harmonise with the Art Deco style of the jewellery pieces.

The sets are particularly inspired by ideas around vitrines and the display of precious objects.

Glitchy psychedelic interruptions jolt the viewer from their reverie, creating dramatic dissonances.

Initial tests show wild experimentation for colours that have just the right qualities.

The final colour grading and sound design pull all the pieces together – blending these two aesthetic worlds.

 

View all three pieces together on our website.

 

Director: Alessandra Kila
Concept, Look Development: Alessandra Kila
Full CGI Motion and Stills: Recom Farmhouse
Editor: Zoe Alexandrou
Music Composer and Sound Designer: Manuel Pinheiro
VFX: Alessandra Kila
Compositing: Felix Baesch / Recom Farmhouse
Modelling: Tanguy Koutouan / Recom Farmhouse
Texturing and Shading: Joe Carney / Recom Farmhouse
Animatics and Lighting: Anna Toropova / Recom Farmhouse
Color Grading: Christoph Bolten / Recom Farmhouse
Still Retouching: Aljaz Bezjak, Maria Luisa Calosso / Recom Farmhouse

The Recom Fearhouse

WELCOME BACK TO THE RECOM FEARHOUSE

October hasn’t been the same since our sinister 80s slasher film collided with a thousand-year pandemic. Sorry, multi-year pandemic. A thousand years of this might be too scary, and that’s saying something since we escaped a psychotic Axeman in a forest to a dusk-lit, desolate town, some years prior.

Although, it’s up for debate whether we escaped our most vicious foes after all. I suppose we may have “overlooked” remote work being as debilitating as it has been. With New Yorkers primarily still working from home, and the fun months of banana bread making behind us, we face the difficulty of living in The Recom Fearhouse. Conference calls disrupted by barking dogs, spilled coffee from tripping over children’s toys, ordering pizza in a trance of perpetual snacking…

…not getting enough time to play may have made us all a little “dull.”

This essence of insanity from too much vacationing at home was manifested to match that of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a cult classic, and a Recom NYC favourite. An avid appreciation for the film spurred numerous easter eggs and tie-ins to the 1980 hit.

A closer look will reveal all… BUT BEWARE! What you see may frighten, perhaps even scar you!

Unable to view the Overlook Hotel in person, we recreated it in CGI from movie references. We matched the lighting, props, and composition from those of the screen grabs.

Once our foundation was set, our team of horror fans began compositing items from our home offices into the scene.

We embellished the truth a bit, making the “real” Recom Fearhouse from children’s toys, cold coffee, and stale pizza to sell that aspect of homegrown insanity. And ya know, a little whiskey for… improved focus… hehe.

Once we’d decorated the room with our aromatic décor, it was time to collect our sheets of sprawled paper with our twist on “All work and no play.”

 Of course, the typewriter alone wouldn’t be enough of a tribute to the pop-culture, trendsetter source material. Pulling out our digital pocketknives, we carved the famous “Redrum” into our tabletop, and we placed them right beside our matching twin VW’s Beetles. Our twins are still in one piece, though…

To keep the spirit of our veneer-sided Jeep Grand Wagoneer and its many frivolous adventures alive, we added it into our finely tuned monitor before calling our latest Recom Fearhouse a closed case.

Maybe next year we’ll dust our Fearhouse Mobile off and see where it takes us. Hopefully somewhere quiet…

Credits:
Creative Direction: Richard Levene, Steven Orts, Andrew Coleman, Robert Russ, Luke Burke / Recom Farmhouse NYC
CGI: Luke Burke / Recom Farmhouse NYC
Retouching & Editing: Steven Orts, Andrew Coleman, Robert Russ / Recom Farmhouse NYC
Sound Compilation: Robert Russ / Recom Farmhouse NYC

Recom Farmhouse is on InstagramFacebookVimeo and Twitter!
More work at recomfarmhouse.com and our blog madlove.net.
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Making of Frame Magazine Covers with Thomas Brown and Andrew Stellitano

Frame Magazine assigned photographer Thomas Brown and set designer Andrew Stellitano to create visual interpretations of four themes for their four latest issues – they always work in series for their covers, which they treat as an art project in themselves.

This way of working was an ideal fit for Thomas and Andrew, who enjoy the process of creating a thematically coherent series with colour and abstraction as the central concepts. The only stipulation that Frame made was that the images should be colourful, and there should be an environmental, spatial feel to the images, with architectural depth.

Having worked often together before, they took the initial proposal as a framework but built on it as the work progressed.

One of the most enjoyable parts of this project was the discovery of new ideas to try, as they arose from the initial concepts. It wasn’t all chin-stroking….there was a lot of laughter along the way, as these behind the scenes photos show – enjoy!

Nº 1 of 4: Doubt.

This was inspired by the idea of image as deceptions – thinking about the current geopolitical situation, fake news, the difficulty of knowing what is actually real.

“For the cover of this issue, we created a spatial experience that is all in the mind. The world seems to have flipped on its head, and nothing is as it seems. A tunnel that extends off into the distance is, on close examination, made out of a modular toolkit of materials”  — Thomas Brown and  Andrew Stellitano 

 

‘Using wood, paper, watercolour, acrylic, glass, organic materials and glycerine, …[they] built a multilayered world that hovers between fantasy and reality. Aptly titled Doubt, it’s their first cover in a series of four’

—  Frame Magazine


Nº 2 of 4: Ephemeral.

Exploring the idea of temporality and events such as fashion shows that are hugely involved but fleeting. Flashes in eight different colours captured blocks falling around the static forms.

“Inspired by the speed at which the world is changing, we wanted to create a sculpture that is more than the sum of its parts and that can be captured only as a photograph. With our camera, we compress time.” — Thomas Brown and  Andrew Stellitano 

 

“Using stroboscopic lighting in combination with long time exposures the photographer captured moving elements around a static object, creating a feeling of impermanence.” —  Frame Magazine


Nº 3 of 4: Environment.

Here, the duo considered the environment in conjunction with illusion and image-making. It’s full of opposites – bringing the outside inside, gravity defying rocks, objectifying the natural and slicing the outside into contained bars in the background.

“We were inspired by a Diane Arbus photograph taken behind the scenes at Disneyland. The image shows huge boulders on wheels against the vast Californian landscape – an artificial backdrop at second sight. It’s a spellbinding scene that puts our expectation of reality into flux. ” — Thomas Brown and  Andrew Stellitano 

 

“An outdoor environment that doesn’t play by the normal rules of physics. Rocks become easily transportable objects, and panels function as portals to an alternate reality” —  Frame Magazine


Nº 4 of 4: Food.

For the final image, they chose the theme of food. Though it’s ubiquitous, it’s not often an environmental element. The can is revolutionary – its invention changed our relationship to food completely. Its reminiscent of a bitmap, modular, reactive with its simple silver surface which both renders it invisible and responds to the environment around it with reflection and distortion. The shallow water below joins the elements by rising to the right height to make the cans appear to unite, and the projection of Kyoto adds yet another layer of texture and colour.

Shallow water was just below to join elements

“Photography can be a wasteful business, but the contents of all the cans on this issue’s cover were either donated to food banks or turned into amazing corn bread, corn curry and corn fritters. We never want to eat corn again”

— Thomas Brown and  Andrew Stellitano 

 

“To round off their series of four covers, designed to explore materiality and space [they] … chose food packaging as their medium. Stacked to form primary shapes, the tins create an intriguing landscape.” —  Frame Magazine


Client: Frame Magazine
Photographer: Thomas Brown
Art Direction: Studio&
Set Designer: Stellitano Studio
Post Artist: Aljaz Bezjak / Recom Farmhouse London
Photographer Agent: Webber Represents

 You can also see the final images on our website and on Behance

Recom Farmhouse is on InstagramFacebookVimeo and Twitter!
More work at recomfarmhouse.com.

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Volume of Light by Thomas Brown

Volume of Light is an innovative and interactive project, created in the studio by our friend and regular collaborator Thomas Brown. Beginning as a small series, it extended in scope to become a four year mission.

In an intriguing new approach to the way art is marketed, an online campaign encouraged people to adopt one of 469 images. We adopted image № G_150204_0097 – Just been thinking.

Recom's image

As an adopter, you receive the book which is a directory of all the images. The book comes with a print of your adopted image, which is a limited edition of one, just for you. Each image is also shared on Instagram and Twitter with its newly bestowed name.

The project culminated with exhibitions in London and New York, and the recently published book.

It’s a beautiful object, with iridescent cover and rainbow foiled type – the video shows the lovely textures and colours.

Thomas explains:

“The assigned titles will forever be linked to the image.  Volume of Light wants to know what you see, how you see it and begin to understand why certain choices are made. It is an exploration and investigation of semiotics, the phenomenon of Pareidolia and authorship….Each image represents the record of an action, a passage of time and a movement of light…In their abstraction they represent no thing but leave space to become everything.”

 

“I can’t say VoL offers a new way of experiencing art…people are visually assessing the world every second of the day, but maybe for some people it causes them to think a little bit more about what they were looking at, or to reflect on their experience of looking. It certainly offered an interesting way to interact at the exhibitions.”

Volume of Light Exhibition

With all the images on display as small postcards the viewers were encouraged to take them from the wall to get a closer look and move through the space, breaking the conventional gallery environment.

You can adopt an image of your own at https://volumeoflight.com and see more of Thomas’ work at http://thomasbrown.info

100% : Virgin Broadband

Cable specifications! Some might say it’s strictly of interest to your more hardcore nerd, which of course we are. But this is what brings everyone the high speed internet we all love. So we thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of creating Virgin’s DOCSIS®3 Tech cable for a multi-platform campaign – both still and moving assets for print and video adverts.

One of the main challenges was creating a photo-realistic cable. This sounds a lot easier than it is, because when you look at a seemingly smooth metallic material in extreme close-up, it is never perfect. The minute imperfections are actually what gives metal its particular character. In previous campaigns, the cables were photographed – setting the bar high.

We developed custom shading networks including microscratch details giving them the imperfections of the real materials.

Virgin_materials

The braiding of the cable housing is perfect, right down to the compression of the snipped ends in the wires.

cgi_by_recomfarmhouse_for_Virgin_2_braid

A myriad of tiny details were included, such as the champfering of the cable housing shown here.

cgi_by_recomfarmhouse_for_Virgin_3_cable

Every bend and kink of the copper wiring was faithfully replicated

cgi_by_recomfarmhouse_for_Virgin_1_copper

For flexibility in animation we developed a rig with which we could quickly adjust both the shapes and the timing of the cable’s growth.

Virgin_roll_animation_625

We made three executions of the idea – Home, Gaming and Video versions.

CGI by Recom Farmhouse for Virgin Broadband - Cable
CGI by Recom Farmhouse for Virgin Broadband - Cable
CGI by Recom Farmhouse for Virgin Broadband - Cable

 

The ads were shown all over the UK in an enormous variety of formats, all working well due to the extremely detailed CGI.

virgin_insitu

Credits:
Made in Maya
Rendered with V-Ray
Animation composited in After Effects
Stills retouching in Photoshop
All by Recom Farmhouse London

Making of : Exogenesis by Alessandra Kila

RecomFarmhouse_A_Kila-3

Alessandra Kila is a photographer and close friend of ours. She pops in and out of the studio nearly every week and when she asked us to help her with her new series of images, we were as usual very happy to collaborate on her fantastical voyage to another planet as her work is just unlike anything else. And it’s stunning!

In this series called Exogenesis (or Life Outside of Earth) Alessandra ventures to unfamiliar territories looking for life forms beyond our planet. In her pictures the carefully constructed sets are overturned by the surprise of the unexpected. Alessandra is indeed an avid collector of oddities. All of the organic matter encountered in her still life comes from places she travels to – from the Atlas mountain of Morocco to the slate quarries of Snowdonia.

RecomFarmhouse_A_Kila-4

When she goes on a trip she always takes with her empty boxes and rucksacks that she then fills with stones, rusted metal wires, seeds, flowers and everything else she stumbles upon. She then re-assembles everything in her studio creating new juxtapositions which are both evocative and surreal.

RecomFarmhouse_A_Kila-5

We helped her in creating the lush colours of these fantastical worlds by refining the strong tonalities of her pictures and by blending together the many layers that form these not-so-still still life photographs.

Photography and Concept: Alessandra Kila

Styling Assistant: Francesca Oletti

Post Artist: Pepe Alram, Kate Brown / Recom Farmhouse
Photography and Concept: Alessandra Kila

Styling Assistant: Francesca Oletti

Post Artist: Pepe Alram, Kate Brown / Recom Farmhouse
Photography and Concept: Alessandra Kila

Styling Assistant: Francesca Oletti

Post Artist: Pepe Alram, Kate Brown / Recom Farmhouse

Below you can find the making-of of one of the images together with some snaps from Alessandra’s studio.

 

 

 

CREDITS:

Concept and Photography: Alessandra Kila
Styling Assistant: Francesca Oletti
Retouching: Pepe Alram, Kate Brown / Recom Farmhouse

Making of : Duckstein Beer by Markus Mueller

Duckstein_Wolken_main_FinalArt1

For the new Duckstein campaign, photographer Markus Mueller was asked to visualise two men drinking on top of a pint of beer with the foam spilling out and blending into a cloudscape. For this surreal scene Markus contacted CGI director Thorsten Jasper Weese at Recom because he needed to create most of the image in CG. Markus provided us with lots of backplates of real clouds shot during the numerous flights he had taken to photograph the other images for the campaign. We ended up using his shots for the clouds in the distance, and the ground visible through the gaps of the CG clouds. We then developed together with Markus the visuals for the foreground clouds in CGI.

layoutBoxes

The boxes above are called ‘Bounding Boxes’. They effectively define the boundaries of each of the clouds’s volumes that we have created in CGI.

Image converted using ifftoany

The wire frame above explains better the geometry that our CG artist Richard Jenkinson has used for the making of the clouds.

He also created different passes to help our creative retoucher Jonas Braukmann in making the content of the pint look real.

cloudTest04_12_cloud_001_light1

The render of the white cloud pass is the light and shadow created by the sun. The red one has been used to mimic the sunset warm light. The last render is a ‘World Normals’ pass. The colours indicate the direction of each of the tiny parts of the fluid, which all together, make the cloud. This allowed our retoucher to fine-tune the light and shadow.

And this is how Jonas did it.

Client: Duckstein Photographer: Markus Mueller CGI-Director: Thorsten Jasper Weese Post-Artist: Jonas Braukmann CGI-Artist: Richard Jenkinson

CREDITS:

Client: Duckstein

Photographer: Markus Mueller

CGI-Director: Thorsten Jasper Weese / Recom

Post-Artist: Jonas Braukmann / Recom CGI-Artist: Richard Jenkinson / Recom