3D Lighting Reel Breakdown

• Persepolis (0:05 - 0:11) 
  This is a shot from my friend Jessica Kiaei's thesis film titled "Persepolis." She asked me to assist her with the lighting in this shot and provided the references for me. Given how prominent the volumetric lights were in the references, I started lighting this shot with a Skydome HDRI and setting up the volumetric lights as the base. To accentuate the columns, bull, and other details on the ceiling, I added warm rim lights where the light would be hitting them. Then, I added cooler rim lights on the opposing side of the main light direction for color contrast and ambient lighting. To add more contrast to the overall shot, I added light blockers towards the bottom portions of the scene, the ceiling, and the walls in the foreground.
   

• Leblanc (0:12 - 0:15)
  This project was for me to learn and try out Lumen lighting in Unreal Engine 5. As I am currently obsessed with "Persona 5," I decided to use one of the scenes from the game and light it as practice, using this sketch by Airi Pan as inspiration. The mood and vibe in the reference is a warm and comfy late afternoon. To mimic that, I first set up the Environment Light Mixer, changed the Directional Light angle (or the sun) to a warm late afternoon as the base, and added Area and Point lights to accent certain areas like the counter's edge. 
   

• SNOBBISM (0:16 - 0:22)
  A recreation of a scene from a song MV "SNOBBISM." As the reference is minimal in detail, I got creative and played around with the lighting. I wanted the LED to be the focal point and the main lighting in the scene. To achieve that, I made sure that it was the brightest light source, while everything else was in a purple-toned shadow and ambient light to complement the LED's yellow lights. After having everything textured, I added fill lights to brighten up certain areas, then yellow rim lights to further indicate the light intensity and direction in the scene. To have more color contrast and variation, I also added cool rim lights on the objects on the sides opposing the LED lights.
   

• Gas Station (0:23 - 0:25)
  With most of my lighting practices having used 2D artworks of interiors as a reference, I was advised by my mentor, Amanda Sparso, to change things up by referencing a live-action exterior shot that I got from Kenshi Yonezu's MV "LADY." For the first version, the primary light sources are the lights in the ceiling. To avoid using mesh lights due to their noise issue and long render times, I used three different lights for each light bulb to create the effect:
   

  1. Bright circular area light with no volume on top of the lights, pointing downwards.

  2. Not as bright circular area light below the lights with volume to create a glowing effect, also pointing downwards.

  3. Bright circular area light with no volume pointed up towards the ceiling to mimic the glow of the lightbulb hitting it.

I also added some colored lights in the foreground to indicate ambient lighting from the streets surrounding the gas station.

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​As for the other version, I went for a different time of day where the light source is natural instead of artificial. I used a different HDRI Skydome and directional light as the base before adding yellow rim lights on the pillars and the top of the gas station's ceiling to emphasize the light direction in the scene. 
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• Outsider Thesis Film (0:26 - 0:28)
  For my thesis film, I wanted the overall look to be dull and moody due to the film's vibe, so the lighting is simpler and flat. For this shot, I had a directional light for the main light source, then added rim lights–that are keyed to follow the characters' movement–to separate them from the background and indicate the light source in the scene.
   

• Yoruwa Honoka (0:29 - 0:32)
  A recreation of a scene from a song MV "Yoruwa Honoka." Besides recreating the lights from the reference (mostly red filling the entire scene with the primary source being the volumetric light from the window and some overhead ones), I added some green fill lights to contrast the overwhelming red.
   

• Melty Land Nightmare (0:33 - 0:36)
  A recreation of a scene from a song MV "Melty Land Nightmare". Given the reference’s simplicity, I got a little creative with the lighting. Similarly to the prior project, I made the main light source volumetric and coming from the window. To create visual contrast and separation between the foreground and middle ground, I put both levels in shadow, but the foreground darker before adding rim lights to the objects. As the scene is primarily saturated pink, I made the highlight and rim light on the focal point, the character, to be the brightest color and value in the scene with less saturation than other areas.
   

• Candy Shop (0:37 - 0:39)
  For this, I wanted the overall vibe to be soft and cute, so unlike most of my other works, there is less stark of a value and color contrast in this one. I had the main, warm yellow light coming in from the top left direction and added rim lights to the character and objects to indicate that. I added some additional fill lights to show off the subsurface on the gummy bears, but only a little to not draw away the attention from the character.