Building sets and creating atmosphere with basic materials in the studio (Low budget!)
Building sets and creating atmosphere
It all started with the many ideas I sketched out in my notebook. The more and more I looked at my sketches, I realized that in almost every single one of them, some sort of set design was involved. So, I started looking for materials to build some landscapes for my "staged photography" class.
To my surprise, I actually found a lot of useful stuff at home, so I didn't have to spend money at all. I knew beforehand that I wanted to light the set in the studios at school because I could hide a lot of the "cheapness" using and shaping light.
After building the set I added some finishing touches. I used water to create some reflections, and some cheap haze spray to introduce some atmosphere into the shot. By doing this in-camera, I had to do less work in photoshop, yay!
My shots were based on the tv show "Fargo" because the assignment stated that we had to use a show or movie as our reference point. I'll show the screenshots on which my images were based first, followed by my shots.
Screenshot 1, Fargo S1EP1. I used this scene because it's more than just a landscape. The car introduced a human presence, without showing a person directly. It's also quite dark, which made it easier for me to hide the "cheapness".
My interpretation of the screenshot shown above. It's a more exaggerated version, which I like very much. I didn't want to create a 1:1 replica of the chosen scene. So instead I've opted for a more personal route.
Screenshot 2, S1EP3.
As you can see, just like with the first image, I made a more exaggerated, rugged version of the base material. I just liked the differences in height and textures more, than the relatively flat screenshot.