Watch the video below entitled “Above Everything Else” by Alex Roman and then recoil in disbelief when we tell you the entire thing is computer generated. Everything. Looking at the masterful cinematography, lighting, and texture you’d be forgiven for thinking it was shot with a camera using actual fruit—with lemons tumbling, sliced apples turning brown at the edges, the delicate interplay of shadows, and the glass-like shattering of the fruit. The photorealism incorporated into this animated work is incredible.This isn’t the first time we’ve been duped by Roman, who creates these hyper-realistic films using 3ds Max, V-ray, After Effects, and Adobe Premiere. Last year we were equally misled by his architectural art study “The Third & Seventh”. For that piece (video below), Roman re-created existing architectural spaces but modified them with surreal and abstracting techniques while maintaining his photorealist style, making for a mind-bending viewing experience.We think it’s safe to say that Pixar has got nothing on this guy. And for the rest of us, it appears that the essential gap between being able to discern what’s real and what’s digital just got a few million pixels smaller.
Advertisement