For lighting, I used a warm edge light to simulate the desert sun and bounced a single diffused light off my white vaulted ceiling to create a soft ambient daylight feel across the subject. The ceiling bounce gave me the same quality of light you'd get from multiple overhead china lanterns on a large stage, just with one light and one room. Simple solutions, invisible results.
Alexander's wardrobe came from a combination of what he already owned and an affordable leather vest I sourced on Amazon. That's the hybrid advantage applied to production design as much as to CGI: you solve the problem in front of you with whatever gets you closest to the image in your head, then the environment, the lighting, and the compositing close the gap.
For the desert scene, I placed Alex and Hamlet on the open road, Hamlet riding shotgun in the sidecar in his AC/DC shirt, wind in his ears, ready for whatever came next. For the garage, I pulled from my extensive 3D asset library and built out the space with period-appropriate detail: vintage tools, oil stains, worn surfaces. I created several custom enamel wall signs including one that reads "Beware of the Pig." A vintage boom box went in because Alex and I are both musicians and no self-respecting garage is silent. I added a Pabst Blue Ribbon can on the work table. Although I've been sober since 2004, Pabst was my favorite beer ever since the first time I saw David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Dennis Hopper became my favorite male actor as well, and he was in Easy Rider, which was another inspiration for this shoot. Full circle stop.
Hamlet himself required little customization. VFXGrace are top-tier animal model creators and their piglet is flawless out of the box. The subsurface scattering was dialed in to make his adorable ears glow with the setting sun. Having a great asset allowed me to spend more time posing the pig to give it personality. Some assets you improve. Some are ready to rock.
