Finally have something to show ;D

Hi!

Some folks here might remember my little project of combining fashion photography with movie-like stages.

Kendall kindly provided me contacts inside Sigma, so I could try my luck to present them this little project.

I don't think I can do this in the proper time frame to grab their interest (Foveon FF is already on the corner), but anyway, I'm having an amazing time with my SD1 M.

This past Sunday, I've shot my first theme within this project.

Everything you're about to see was self financed, a labor of love which doesn't involve clients.

I'll be honest with you guys, inside amateur domains (which technically I am right now),
I doubt there's anything close to that happening in the world at the moment.

It was a journey of at least 3 or 4 months.

Everything started very small, on a few paper drawings

Since earlier this year (March, April, May?), I've been learning how to build these sets, by sheer trial and error.

I knew nothing about building such things not too long ago, but it's been an amazing, delightful ride.

me

Designs and supervising is all done by myself, but off course I've had help from friends, and from people that work in my house and at my actual dayjob haha

This is how my "studio" looks right now.

It's been resembling an workshop for quite some time now.

Junior is just awesome

Lovely ladies, couldn't do it without their awesome assistance.

2 mummies were built, with very simple materials but a ton of realism.

The next step:

The whole thing had to be transported to a different location, so I could have more room to compose, light, etc.

I know my ways in 3d software (been doing visual effects work since teen days), so I planned the whole shoot in a 3d environment.

4 months of hard work later, we were finally ready to make it happen.

350 kg of sand...

Feeling very proud haha

Model Hevi Silveira, looking like Rick O' Connel himself

@oheverton_

Styling by Aline Gonzales.

@gingeraline

Absolutely lovely, GORGEOUS Letícia Paola

@foxxpaola

A bit of action ;D

A very proud crew

Again some credits:

Directing, concept, photography, editing:

Márcio Napoli @marcio_user

Models:

Letícia Paola @foxxpaola

Hevi Silveira @oheverton_

Styling:

Aline Gonzales @gingeraline

Beauty artist:

Leícia Paola @foxxpaola

Video making of:

Ygor Barbosa @ygbarbosa

Assistants:

Josélio and Ruiter

Here's a very quick preview from the SD1 M.

Image quality is atrocious here because it's from a phone shooting at my workstation screen.

And to make things worse, I've transferred from my phone to my email using "low" quality mode due to small dayjob internet connection.

Reason why all of these images look like it came from a potato...

But it's just for now, to tell you guys this little story.

I'll post with proper image quality later on when I have some edited shots.

Shots below are jaw dropping gorgeous on my pc monitor.

The SD1 M's rendering is absolutely amazing!

This is not the final composition.

She'll be shooting mummies on the foreground with a gun.

I also have 2 more compositions as well, one which was shot on my Phase One, and the other one also on the SD1 M.

Needless to say, the SD1 M performed flawlessly.

IQ is just about the very best I've ever seen, it simply obliterates (ultra boring) stuff like my Nikons (D3x, D800, D700...)

There's just nothing quite like Foveon.

As long as you properly light, it offers the very best IQ in the industry, second to none.

Well, that's it for now guys.

I'll post better images when I have something edited.

This is the first of a series, when I'm combining photography with movie-like productions.

I wouldn't be too surprised if this is indeed among the most ambitious amateur projects happening in the world at the moment.

At least it is, if we're talking about Brazil.

And I'm super, super proud to do it with my SD1 M. Couldn't be any happier with my purchase.

Sigma / Foveon are downright amazing.

Best regards,
Marcio Napoli

Bom dia, Marcio,

Excellent work!

Thanks for showing us the setup and the work that went into it, a really nice setup for doing some different creative shots!

Interesting read Marcio, and the potato comment made me laugh.

Thanks for posting all this I look forward to seeing the final image(s).

marcio_napoli wrote:

Thanks dlj, Ted and Kendall for the super kind feedback

Super thanks!!!!!!!

I've been in a hurry since Sunday to retouch these and post something here, went as far as 4 a.m. this morning having fun in Photoshop. (not really sure if that's fun... haha)

This set is actually part of a much bigger, much more interesting stage which will be the interior of the pyramid.

But I've been holding the crew's interest for so many months, that I was kinda afraid they'd lose interest, so we went for this set which is a simpler version than the final pyramid set (that one I hope to be ready in about 2 months).

One thing I’ve learned during these past months is that you can go really, really far into this thing of building pseudo Hollywood sets, just by understanding how to glue things, how to use cement creatively, styrofoam and welded metal frames.

With these very simple and affordable materials and a bit of basics in art direction, you can go really far.

When I first started this project, I was unsure of a ton of things.

Which glue to use, does cement glue to styrofoam, how resilient these materials are, how do they hold together, etc.

But by trial and error, you start to learn which is the right method for each task.

I was timid in the beginning, quite afraid things would collapse in no time haha

Now, essentially any sets you ask, I know how to build and it’s not that hard or expensive.

I'm doing an Indiana Jones set which is 3.6 meters wide, 3.6 m long, and 3 m tall.

That one will be awesome!

Guys, if anyone wanna experiment building similar sets, it's really not too expensive.

It does require lots and lots of time and manual work, that it sure does. Lots of.

If you wanna experiment and wanna know methods and techniques, feel free to ask, I'll be glad to help.

Best regards,
Marcio Napoli

Cool. This is really interesting stuff Marcio. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I plan to get a welder soon (and some cutting tools, like a band saw, a grinder, and a drill press), so I"'ll be joining you in the set building world some day.

Great work on the set, Marcio.

Looking forward to seeing the finished work.

marcio_napoli wrote:

Thanks dlj, Ted and Kendall for the super kind feedback

Super thanks!!!!!!!

I've been in a hurry since Sunday to retouch these and post something here, went as far as 4 a.m. this morning having fun in Photoshop. (not really sure if that's fun... haha)

This set is actually part of a much bigger, much more interesting stage which will be the interior of the pyramid.

But I've been holding the crew's interest for so many months, that I was kinda afraid they'd lose interest, so we went for this set which is a simpler version than the final pyramid set (that one I hope to be ready in about 2 months).

One thing I’ve learned during these past months is that you can go really, really far into this thing of building pseudo Hollywood sets, just by understanding how to glue things, how to use cement creatively, styrofoam and welded metal frames.

With these very simple and affordable materials and a bit of basics in art direction, you can go really far.

When I first started this project, I was unsure of a ton of things.

Which glue to use, does cement glue to styrofoam, how resilient these materials are, how do they hold together, etc.

But by trial and error, you start to learn which is the right method for each task.

I was timid in the beginning, quite afraid things would collapse in no time haha

Now, essentially any sets you ask, I know how to build and it’s not that hard or expensive.

I'm doing an Indiana Jones set which is 3.6 meters wide, 3.6 m long, and 3 m tall.

That one will be awesome!

Guys, if anyone wanna experiment building similar sets, it's really not too expensive.

It does require lots and lots of time and manual work, that it sure does. Lots of.

If you wanna experiment and wanna know methods and techniques, feel free to ask, I'll be glad to help.

Best regards,
Marcio Napoli

.

Congratulations Marcio.

“Every journey starts with a single step.” – Lao Tze

.

Still here doing what I do ..

.

Outstanding to see a vision and passion come into reality.

Excellent work and motivation.

I need to kick myself for not even completing drastically smaller dream images in the macro microscopic world.

Good luck in wrapping it up and turning your next dream into reality.

marcio_napoli wrote:

Hi,

Quick update, it's 4 am here

Above is another shot with the SD1M, but 1 outfit was shot with my Phase One as well.

To be honest, I'm not that happy with this shot.

It looks too photoshoped, which it really is.

Most of the background had to be edited out, and the 2 foreground mummies had to be inserted in (guns as well).

It's almost half CGIed, not sure if I like that.

Well, super hard work, definitely not easy to put that all together, but having tremendous fun at the same time.

Best regards,
Marcio Napoli

Do you dream sometimes with zombie mummies?

bizi clop wrote:

marcio_napoli wrote:

Hi,

Quick update, it's 4 am here

Above is another shot with the SD1M, but 1 outfit was shot with my Phase One as well.

To be honest, I'm not that happy with this shot.

It looks too photoshoped, which it really is.

Most of the background had to be edited out, and the 2 foreground mummies had to be inserted in (guns as well).

It's almost half CGIed, not sure if I like that.

Well, super hard work, definitely not easy to put that all together, but having tremendous fun at the same time.

Best regards,
Marcio Napoli

Do you dream sometimes with zombie mummies?

Yes I do dream with Zombies. I also typically have a 5mL syringe as a weapon. Probably as I use those the most.

But I think you were asking Marcio.

Back to the update. It looks like at least 50% of the time will be on post. Just like in the film days. So have fun with your project. That also not far off Hollywood films. Some take 2 years after months of shooting to nail everything down. That part of the AI retake software push, so they don't need to reshoot a scene a year latter when an actot may have changed weight or facial scars.