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"Portrait of a Dead Man" Short Film
September - April 2021.
Nuke 12.
This project was my first time supervising on a set due to COVID, and I'm really grateful to the crew for making it such an amazing experience. I got in contact with the director, Simon Swofford, in Fall 2021, gathered assets using the film's budget, and joined the set in February as the VFX supervisor. After that, I was able to finish the shot in Nuke by April and transfer it to the colorist for the final edit. The VFX shot is the final shot of the film, a climactic moment when the main character sets her own childhood home on fire. It's funny to talk about this film with other people because I have to be careful when I casually mention that I set a house on fire...
Director's original concept sketch:
Unfortunately, the actress was unavailable for a green screen shoot so we decided not to include her in the shot.

On-set photos:


Comp Layer Breakdown:





For this shot, I created my own alpha masks in Photoshop to cut out the plants/awnings and to create grunge/decay on the roof:




To see more process, check out the full process blog pdf here:
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