Haeun Kwon - Lighting & Compositing Showcase

Hello! I am Haeun Kwon, a recent graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design with a concentration on 3D Lighting and Compositing. This post is a collection of my lighting and compositing work that I am proud to share, and feel free to check out my demo reel and my other social media if you are interested to connect or see more of my work!

Persimmon Red

Persimmon Red is a senior capstone film that I had the opportunity to collaborate as a Lighter and Compositor. This film was set up, lit, and rendered in Unreal Engine 5.2, and the shots were later composited in Nuke X using the renders with the Post Process Volume effects. 

Here are the links to the team's official post and their social media, so I encourage you to check them out and see all the hard work they have poured onto this film! 

Social Media: Instagram , Youtube

Rookies Post: https://www.therookies.co/entries/31053

Official Trailer

Shot Breakdowns

Here are some of the shots I have worked on. The breakdown includes Detailed Lighting Pass, Final Lighting, and Final Compositing.

Shot 06

For shot 06, my main goal was to perfect the placement of the directional light, as it was going to be the key light for the shot. I went through multiple iterations to make sure that there are enough areas with shadows in the scene to balance out the brightly lit center areas, while also shaping the ground to direct the viewer's eye to the crow's landing point. 

The compositing for this shot was kept to minimal, including slight adjustments to the overall contrast level of the shot, increased saturation of the blue shadows, glow to the areas where the directional light hits the strongest, chromatic aberration, and lens distortion. 

Shot 13

Shot 13 was a dynamically interesting shot, as it had a clear distinction between the fore, mid, and background, and I had a lot of fun lighting this shot to fully depict its depth! With the midground being the center of attention, I concentrated the key light to the main tree and the arrows to make sure it stands out from the busy background. For the buildings at the background, I placed a fill light at a grazing angle to accentuate the textures on the roof and added a rim light to the columns to match the intensity of the key light.

For compositing, I changed the hue of the key light to a warmer tone to match the reference given by the directors, which was set to be around 4-6 PM. Also, I increased gain and saturation of the grass to enhance subsurface scattering and light wrapped the objects in the key light, like the tree, arrows, and plants, to make it stand out from the rest of the environment. Finally, I finished it off by adding a vignette, chromatic aberration, and lens distortion. 

Shot 21

For this shot, my main intention was to direct the viewer's eye to the fireflies and the main building at the center, while also creating a rich and saturated sunset atmosphere. To achieve this, I used a strong key light with less fill lights to increase the contrast of the shot as well as a heavy god ray to create a spot light on to the fireflies. Also, I added a strong glow using the light wrap node in compositing to enhance the intensity of the key light and evoke a sense of nostalgia. 

The MenHeim Clinic

The MenHeim Clinic is another senior film that I participated as a Technical Director, Lighter, and Compositor last year. This film was set up, lit, and rendered in Unreal Engine 5.1, and the shots were later composited in Nuke. Since this was my first time lighting in Unreal, I had a lot of ups and downs with the software. But regardless, I think the amount of time spent researching was invaluable, and I appreciate that I was able to grow so much by the end of the production!

Here are some of the still shots that I lit from the film.

Shot Breakdowns

Shot 36

Shot 46

Pushpop

Pushpop is a personal project that I did in collaboration with the animator, Dakota Drake, where I was responsible for set dressing, lighting, and compositing. When I received the initial playblast, I immediately thought of the corridor shot from the movie Turning Red, where Mei falls in love with Carter.

I wanted to recreate the dreamy and almost comedic compositing they did to illustrate the butterfly Mei is feeling by layering multiple effects like bubbles and sparkles on top of a pastel-toned background. Also, to add a more dramatic effect, I keyed the camera in the second shot and added an extreme zolly. 

This project was set up and lit in Maya, rendered with Arnold, and composited with Nuke. 

Here is the original playblast I received from Dakota.

References

AOVs - Material & Light Groups

Here are all of the material and light group AOVs I have used to compile the final render.

Lighting & Compositing Breakdown

Attic - Day & Night

This project is another one of my personal projects, where I explored how much lighting can affect the mood of a scene with the same environment. I divided the project into two versions, day and night, and aimed to depict two very different atmospheres. I was responsible for lighting and compositing along with posing the characters and a little bit of set dressing. 

This project was set up and lit in Maya, rendered with Arnold, and composited with Nuke. 

Environment from Alex Mateo's Attic Studio

Character Rigs from ProRigs

1. Day

Reference

For the day version, I wanted to recreate the times when I used to play with my older brother after school when we were young. So, I gathered references that are set around 4-6 PM, where the sun is not at its brightest and maybe just began setting with a hint of warm hues. Also, I wanted the scene to have a prominent god ray to evoke a sense of nostalgia.

AOVs - Material & Light Groups

Here are all of the material and light group AOVs I used to compile my final render. 

Lighting Breakdown

Compositing Breakdown

2. Night

References

For the night version, I was heavily inspired by the attic scene in the film, Coco. When I watched the scene for the first time, I remember being mesmerized with the beautiful balance between purple and yellow, and how cozy the scene felt. Therefore, I aimed to recreate that atmosphere by placing candles in the scene to create the yellow/orange lights and a strong moon light to add the purple hue. 

AOVs - Material & Light Groups

Here are all of the material and light group AOVs I have used to compile the final render.

Lighting Breakdown

Compositing Breakdown

Conclusion

Compiling the breakdowns to prepare for this post was a great opportunity to reflect on all the work I have produced since last year. Looking back, there are definitely areas that I wish to improve and build further upon, but I am happy with the progress I have made so far, and I look forward to continue learning and diving deeper into this field! 

If you have any suggestions or notes, feel free to leave them in the comments, and again, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or ArtStation! 

Thank you for reading this lost post, and I hope you had fun!