Bryan Ray, Visual Effects Artist

August 13, 2009

The Ruined Valley

My Visual Effects Field Production class is attempting to recreate several shots from the trailer of The Mutant Chronicles. (Great trailer, lousy movie.) This is a photographic composite intended to replace this shot:

5_1 ELS Cliff Moon Soldiers

And my version (Click to enlarge):

Ruined-Valley

The night sky, some of the midground mountains, the refinery, and the rocky arch were provided by cgtextures.com and are used in accordance with that site’s license.
The bridges were provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Original photo entitled “Bixby Canyon Bridge” by Cpt Albert E Theberg, NOAA Corps (Ret) is in the public domain.
I photographed all the other elements myself along the Peak to Peak Scenic Highway between Blackhawk and Estes Park, CO.

Looks like YouTube nixed the trailer for a Terms of Use violation. Too violent, I guess, though it really wasn’t even as bloody as an episode of CSI, in my opinion.

June 24, 2009

Photoshop Colorization

Mike Fraley, Great Plains Renaissance Festival, July 2007

Mike Fraley, Great Plains Renaissance Festival, July 2007

I liked the composition of this photograph, but the camera’s autofocus liked the girls in the background more than Mike. I colorized the image and put a big blur on the background to try to make Mike the focal point. Obviously, taking the picture right in the first place is better than fixing it in Photoshop.

Mike Fraley, Colorized

Mike Fraley, Colorized

(303) 547-5744
xa_bryan@sbcglobal.net

330 E 10th Ave, Apt 602
Denver, CO 80203