Designing and constructing the Starlight Falls Motel was weeks of reference gathering, architectural research, and obsessive detail work. I consulted my father, an architect and builder who constructed homes during that era, on period-accurate aesthetics and structure. My brother-in-law David, also an accomplished architect, contributed additional feedback on authenticity.
Every element was modeled and textured to an extreme level of detail, down to the keys hanging outside each door. I designed custom concrete tile privacy walls and period-specific sconces for the exterior. The vintage neon sign was built from a logo I designed myself. For the roof shingles, I used photographic textures sourced from my childhood home in Chadds Ford, PA.
The vintage metal Griffith chairs and tables I had envisioned for the sidewalk in front of the rooms didn't exist as 3D models anywhere, so I built them myself, complete with years of wear and tear. A payphone, ice machine, vending machines, and other period details were added until the location felt genuinely lived in, all the way down to the chewing gum and cigarette butts on the sidewalks.
To achieve the most realistic final results I used photogrammetry, custom modelling and photographic textures, rendered the scene in Blender 3D in Cycles Render Engine and final compositing with blue screen photography.
The Starlight is built to withstand extreme closeups of any surface, any fixture, any doorknob. It can be relit, recolored, weathered, or set on fire and used again the next day. No location fees. No permit applications. No schedule conflicts. Once you build it in CGI, you own it completely and permanently.
That kind of creative freedom is, honestly, one of the most exciting things about this work.
