destro 0.6

i chose to model destro, the arms dealer from g.i. joe.  i knew he had a metal face, which looked really cool.  research on wikipedia revealed that this was a metal mask that he wore.  so he's human underneath it.

modeling a fictionalized character is a two-edged sword: there's no official look for him, so it was difficult (impossible) to find a standardized model.  but that also means that i had some artistic license in how my model would look.

i found a variety of references:

these last two actually became my goal.  it's a seriously awesome looking mask (for nerds who really want to have their own, although it was never produced due to low pre-order numbers) that both looks human-ish but also definitely steel.

ultimately, this is what i want my model to look like.

i'm not there yet....

i heart lighting

it's still strange getting used to lighting in the computer.  i know the possibilities are limitless, but i'm still feeling restrained by the rules of 1s and 0s.
someday, i will command them as the gods command the waves of the sea!

in related news, i have no real clue why my shadows weren't completely black....

the godfather

marlene deitrich (a shame he has no nose...)

 

the evening news

frankenstein

 

45 and 45

90 to the side

shoot the shadow side

nice interview lighting

kind of blah

side profile

light on the opposite side

lighting on background only

happy clusters

vold talks

the many faces of tom riddle

i decided to give voldemort a few expressions that he doesn't make in public very often (modeled off of my own goofy faces that i make in the mirror or when talking to friends on a regular basis.)

neutral

frowny voldemort

looking quizzical

watch him move!

voldemort: where's my nose?

reference pictures:

and what i made:

hard shading:

and smooth shaded:

i think harry's going to kill this guy.

antonius block

for our first assignment, we are to make a face using only primitive shapes: circles, squares, and the lot.  we can squash and stretch them but no getting funky with the verts.  extrusions are definitely out.

i decided to use max von sydow's character from the seventh seal.

since his face is naturally very angular, i attempted to do it using only manipulated cubes; no circles except for the eyes.  it didn't hurt that the character's name is antonius bloch.

i'm not sure how successful the experiment was.

front

three-quarter

side

looking at it now, he kind of looks like sloth from the goonies....

if i were to animate this guy for a sort of "bergman meets dire straits" video twist, the paremetrics would be as follows:

• eyelids open to close
• eyebrows raise and lower
• lips raise and lower for speech
• perhaps giving movement to his lower jaw for speech

this has me wondering, now: with such an abstract character, would more controls (jaw movement, cheek muscles, etc.) make it look more bizarre in a sort of reverse uncanny valley effect?