Ron Bowman's Demo Reel

London Underground shot:

I created the matte painting of the city in the background of this shot. A 3D modeler then created
geometry to match it for projection and a compositor projected it in Nuke. Another matte painter
worked on the foreground inside the underground station.

Window shot:

I collaborated with another matte painter for this shot and worked over existing 3D geometry. I
was entirely responsible for the painting of the bus, cab and most of the props in the shot, as well
as the damage to the building.

Cave shot:

I was entirely responsible for the matte painting for this shot. It's entirely 2D.

Hoodoo Plains shot
I was entirely responsible for the matte painting for this shot. It was projected by a compositor.

I was entirely responsible for the matte painting for this shot. Motion effects were subsequently
added by other artists.

I was entirely responsible for the dmp for this shot and projected it using Cinema 4D.

Aerial shot (3D shot):

I was entirely responsible for the matte painting, 3D construction, lighting and projection for this but about half of the 3D assets were created by other artists.

I modeled and textured the wall and foreground buildings, docks and most props.

The ships and background buildings behind the wall were created by others and then integrated by me into the shot.

I created a work-in-progress version of the rotoscoping and compositing of the shot for my own reference in Nuke, but it was then finalized by a compositor.

Basra Building:

I was entirely responsible for the matte painting for this shot. It's a combination of 3D geometry and 2D matte painting. I did all the modeling, texturing and lighting for the 3D elements.

Valley of Pyramids:

I was entirely responsible for the matte painting for this shot. It's a combination of 3D geometry and 2D matte painting. I did all the modeling, texturing and lighting for the 3D elements.

Coronation Street: Aerial view of Weatherfield (3D shot)
I was responsible for nearly all work on this shot. It's consists mostly of 3D elements.

I first designed the layout, then modeled, textured and lit nearly all the elements in the shot. Only the train platform and cars were modeled by another artist (though I projected the train tracks on the top of the platform). I then projected 2D enhancements throughout the shot.

All in all it took 6 weeks to create this shot and several variations (which required separate 2D projections).

Coronation Street: Tram Crash:

These are two typical examples of the many dmp enhancements I made to numerous shots throughout the show. I was responsible for all dmp work applied to the plates of the shots. They were a combination of 3D geometry and 2D matte painting. I did all the modeling, texturing and lighting for the 3D elements.

Background architecture in Medusa’s lair (2.5D shot)

I was entirely responsible for the dmp for this shot. I projected it Maya using Framestore's proprietary projection tool.

Cliffs on the Ocean (2.5D shots):

I was entirely responsible for the dmp for this shot. I projected it Maya using Framestore's proprietary projection tool.

Petrification by Medusa (2.5D shot):

I was responsible for all the dmp work on this shot. It was projected by a compositor in order to achieve a complex effect.

Victorian London:

I was responsible for all the dmp work on this shot but integrated some 3D assets were created by another artist. I created 2 views of Victorian London for an episode of Primeval.

They're a day view and a night view of the same shot, which is nearly all 2D dmp except for one small area of action plate. I used rough 3D models, created by another artist and modified by me, for the distant buildings, then created the closer buildings in 2D.

Blast in Road:

This is a typical example of many shots I’ve created for Primeval. I was entirely responsible for the dmp in this shot. It was entirely 2D.

Space station hangar (3D shot):

I designed and created all 2D and 3D elements of this shot with the exception of the space ship, which was modeled by another artist. This shot is primarily 3D. I first designed the environment, then modeled and textured it using Cinema 4D. I then finished it by projecting 2D enhancements.

Alien Topiary:

I was entirely responsible for the design and dmp for this shot. I was once again allowed a great deal of leeway to design the topiary in this shot based on a very loose description by the director, which made it a particularly fun shot to work on. Once some designs were approved I created the dmp on about 20 layers and projected it onto 3D cards.

Medieval Venice Cityscape:

For this shot I was given the massive task of recreating the city of Venice in the 1400s within the space of 14 days (tight deadlines for television). They wanted a vintage, sepia postcard look to the city rather than strict photorealism.

I created everything in the shot from scratch – all the architecture and ground as well as the sky. The one solid constraint was that the church in the center of the image had to look exactly like the actual church in Croatia where filming for the episode took place. I started with a perspective grid, then used photomontage and painting.

Medieval Venice Along a Canal:

For this shot I added dmp to footage of a Croatian town in which the shot was filmed in order to make it look like Venice in the 1400s and to remove undesirable elements. I created everything above the waterline. The moving water and boats were subsequently added in comp.

Explosion at Baker Street:

This is a representative sample of several matte paintings I created for Sherlock. This shot is entirely 2D. All dmp was created by me.

Set Modification:

This is another representative sample of the kinds of enhancements I had to make throughout the three episodes I worked on. This shot is also entirely 2D. All dmp was created by me.

Approaching the island of the Wild Things:

For this shot I created the actual island from scratch based on a general shape that the art director gave me. There was no actual island in the original footage.

Because of the fact that the shot was a daylight shot, I actually painted the island in full daylight so that the compositors could grade it into a night shot along with the original plate. However, I had the extra challenge of giving it a very vertical lighting to match the lighting it would have with the moonlight and lightning strikes.

Fort interior Set Extensions:

I was responsible for all the dmp in these shots. These are just a couple of examples of many fort interior extensions I created.

Ira’s Tree House:

I was responsible for all dmp for this shot. This structure would have been quite difficult to make safe for actors to use, so they decided to create it in matte painting instead. The actor was positioned at the proper height using a crane and I created the treehouse based on photos of concept models.

Library Scene (2.5D shot):

This is the establishing shot of the Castle’s library. I was responsible for all the dmp in this shot, as well as for its projection. I decided to do the whole painting in one overscan projection, which made it necessary to paint a distorted image as I moved from the center. Quite a challenge! Note that the shot is edited to take less time in the reel.

Giant books in the library (2.5D shots):

I worked on a series of shots in which Despereaux interacts with giant books in the castle’s library. I arranged the page graphics, projected them onto the books in Framestore’s proprietary 2.5D software, rendered the resulting scenes from Maya, then painted over the render and re-projected
the final matte paintings back onto the geometry so that it could be animated.

Mig’s farm (2.5D):

These are examples of several similar backgrounds I created for the “Mig’s Farm” set. I started with some basic 3D geometry and a rough colour key. Several of the shots were 2.5D projections.

Views of the kingdom of Dor from castle ledge:

For the first shot I created town in the town buildings in the foreground based on a rough colour key. The background was created by another artist.

For the second image I created town in the background on the left of the image and enhanced the the render of the castle wall and ledge, which comprises the rest of the image, adding detail and wear and tear.