Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1109293
5 8 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 9 1 8 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 9 A. EXAMPLE OF THE SOFT TORCH LIT INTERIOR LIGHTING DESIGN. STILL FRAME FROM HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3. B. 3D CONCEPT MODEL OF THE WARLORD'S ISLAND BY PHILIPPE BROCHU. C. STILL FRAME FROM "ROMANTIC FLIGHT" SEQUENCE IN HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3. A B The Lighting Roger Deakins joined the first movie; turning upside down (in a VERY good way) most of our preconceived ideas on what an animated movie should look like. Strong black shadows, soft character lighting. Most of the references were photography-based, gathered in a very detailed document called The Time of Day document. In this, sequences were grouped by very specific images describing color, atmosphere, light direction, weather conditions and, of course, time of day. Visual effects supervisor Dave Walvoord, head of lighting Pablo Valle, and I supervised the lighting production. Having completed Dragon 2 together, we used the same process inspired by Roger's use of photo references. One big change happened on The Hidden World, DreamWorks finally got a powerful renderer, which proved to be a real game-changer. At last, it was possible to render images with so much more detail and complexity. Artists in lighting were able to do what they excelled at, aided by a groundbreaking technology that supported their talents. The same held true when it came to surfacing, enabling Pablo De Guzman, head of surfacing, and his artists to design incredibly complex environments. I was able to realize all the design subtleties I had once only dreamed of. Working on a franchise is a fascinating experience in world-building. It is a long journey, but having the opportunity to explore and expand the limits of a world is an incredible experience that endures far beyond the end credits of the films. When I look