Wednesday 1 August 2012

LA Noire & Production Design

"Logic will take you from A to B, but imagination will get you everywhere" - Albert Einstein

A quote L.A. Noire production designer Simon Wood likes to use around programmers. Simon hosted a BAFTA masterclass at The Hospital Club last night and walked an enthralled audience through the process of creating a digital world that would take the players of Rockstar's acclaimed game back in time to the classic Los Angeles of Film Noir.

Simon's team created an impeccably detailed and highly filmic World using hundreds of reference images sourced from Hollywood studios, Archives and some crazy guy who took aerial photography of millionaire's homes in order to sell it to them!

Did you know that images from the game hold up equally beautifully in Black & White? This was intentional. Simon believes that images get their quality from light and if you get that right then the picture will work - colour is the second thought.

Aside from this L.A. Noire was considered revolutionary in its use of motion capture for facial animation. Have a look at this behind the scenes video: