Matte Painting: Star Wars Opening Night in London

Digital Insanity crafted some amazing projections for the opening of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS in London. It was an incredible event - and I jumped on board for some of the matte painting of the projection backgrounds for the main stage.

You can see the artwork in the background here:

Props graphic design: Song of the Kraken

Prop graphic design: 

I designed this book that our main character Niko is reading in feature film The Winter. 

We've even had a few people ask where they can buy it to read it.  

'Song of the Kraken'

Short Film Storyboards: Twist-Tie

 Working up the storyboards for my short film project. It's a comical, quirky film, so I'm finishing with some colour to give them character.

Short Film Production: Twist-Tie

At the moment, I'm working on a load of storyboards for TV (October Films' Barbarians Rising for the History Channel) and lots of TV pitch art.

Meanwhile, I'm about to shoot my first (live action) short film in the director's seat:
'Twist-Tie' is a quirky comic/fantasy short, featuring an uninvited house pest from an expected source.

Working it out as creatively as possibly on a modest budget, it's a sweet little story, and I'm excited to get shooting!

Sketchbook: Tudor portraits

A lot of writing and shooting lately, between matte painting, but I finally got a little time in for ink drawing.


Nearly finished:
Jane Seymour
Tudor Portaits gel ink and ballpoint pen
Inspired by: Holbein's painting of Jane

Matte Painting - Kingsman: The Secret Service Premiere Projection Show

Worked with the fantastic team at Atomic Arts on the premiere projection show for Kingsman: The Secret Service. The whole front of the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square was lit up for the red carpet event, and live concert by Take That.

The film's great fun.  I worked on the matte paintings and background design of the projections, and created texture files for animation.

Matte painting is strikingly similar to theatre backdrop painting for me, just it's all digital. (Much less mess, which is nice, and you swap out the buckets and brushes for a wacom pen.)
Watch the show live here.

Theatre Projection Design: The 12 Trials of Hercules

The 12 Trials Of Hercules - projection design at the Pantheon, Greece from Konstantinos Koutsoliotas on Vimeo.

The 12 Trials of Hercules
Pantheon Theatre
Athens, Greese

Projection Animation by Melancholy Star
Collaboration with Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, Janet Lennon
Role: Shadow play design and matte painting