Summer Breeze

For my final project in my Visual Effects MA program, I aim to create a summertime scene inspired by the cinematic style of acclaimed director Hirokazu Koreeda(是枝 裕和). Koreeda's films, such as 'Our Little Sister', 'Nobody Knows', and 'Still Walking', are known for their poignant portrayal of family dynamics against the backdrop of Japanese culture. I intend to capture the essence of his style, characterized by bright tones and the evocative use of sunlight. 

In my scene, I envision a young woman lying on a tatami floor, her hands cradling her face as she enjoys the gentle breeze from a standing fan. This image is reminiscent of the intimate moments often depicted in Koreeda's films. To bring this scene to life, I will leverage my skills in modeling and texturing, and incorporate elements of simulated animation, such as the realistic movement of hair and the gentle fluttering of fabric around the neckline. By doing so, I aim to create a visually compelling and emotionally resonant homage to Koreeda's distinctive cinematic aesthetic.

The sculpt the character from scratch in Zbrush. Next, I utilized Wrap to generate the skin texture detail and UV for my character derived from a 3D scanned model.

I rig and paint the skin weights for the posing character in Maya.

In the meanwhile, I modeled and UV mapping my environment scene.

I started working on cloth simulation. Working on cloth simulation in Houdini is better, as it is faster than Maya.

 I completed the hair grooming in Maya Xgen. I used multiple clumps, noise, and coil modifiers to achieve a realistic look. For the hair shading, I utilized ramp and noise nodes to introduce slight color variations to the black hair. This effect simulates the red-brown coloration that occurs when black hair is damaged and overexposed to the sun.

Combined the character into a scene, and did the post-processing in Nuke.

Here is the final result with the breakdown.