Skull Island

This is a personal project we worked on at STARNO.net during our spare time, in between several other ongoing projects. The project centers around a pirate-themed matte painting, designed as an exercise in integrating various elements within Photoshop, refining our import/export workflows to and from Nuke, and honing our compositing techniques. The video footage was captured with our brand-new Blackmagic Pro 4K camera during a trip to the Dominican Republic. This project not only allowed us to explore creative visual storytelling but also provided an opportunity to test and improve our technical skills in a real-world context, seamlessly combining multiple tools and workflows to create a polished final piece.

We took advantage of the beautiful landscapes and unique lighting conditions of the Dominican Republic to shoot the base footage, and then, back in the studio, we carefully integrated additional elements using Photoshop for the matte painting, while ensuring smooth compositing with Nuke. The process included experimenting with different techniques for environmental blending and dynamic lighting, as well as working on realistic shadows and reflections to make the final composite visually cohesive.

Through this project, we not only had fun but also gained valuable experience working with complex tools and processes that we can apply to future professional projects. It was a great chance to push our skills further and explore the creative potential of combining practical footage with digital art.

Skull Island Matte painting and compositing work. Visit us: www.starno.net