Virtual Settings Continued ...

Virtual setting for presentation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw

This environment includes a "skeletal" raftered roof above and a looming moon overhead. It is very minimal and stark, and what few props are present are very specific to the tale. I cannot take credit for ther "lighting" as it were in the lower picture.  But the photographer immeditately seized on the feel I was going for and chose these settings, much as a good lighting designer would have.  I couldn't have been more thrilled!

Interactive environment from "Anything That Is Wild!" - selections from "The Yosemite" by John Muir

These shots were from a recent presentation of Naturalist John Muir's writings on the Yosemite Valley from 1912.  The pictures in the setting have links to related websites: about John Muir, The Sierra Club, the paintings of Albert Bierstadt.

One of my favorite quips from my technical production days involved the only person I ever worked with who could build a decent looking theatrical tree: "Props are made by fools like me, but only Tim can build a tree."
It occurred to me that THAT is not one of the challenges I face when building virtual sets. The Muir set was built in 2 hours with stuff all "out of stock" in my inventory. It would have taken nothing less than eight weeks in the "Real World", with a full crew, and a whole HECK of a lot of hullabaloo and discussion surrounding the working waterfall and its attendant issues. Someone along the way would have kept hammering home how we needed to keep it under budget. Oh the meetings! Just the thought of it makes my brain hurt.