Common Art - Spring - Lighting Workshop Module 3

 Final

Ref

Analysis + Creative process

My creative intent for this piece is actually not to make a heavily stylized environment. Instead, I want to create a natural, fresh atmosphere with a subtle sense of Chinese philosophy. For this “Lost Temple” scene, I’m aiming for an early-morning sunrise in a mountain ruin, when the mist hasn’t fully lifted yet. The fog won’t be exaggerated or overly stylized—I just want to convey a calm, everyday morning in a forgotten temple.

In the first image, I placed the entrance of the lost temple. Its worn-down, decayed state suggests that it’s an ancient place with no people around. The overall environment is relatively dark, but the brightness at the entrance is meant to draw the viewer’s attention—my goal is to guide the audience into the world of the scene through this inviting focal point.

In the second image, you can see a strong backlit setup. This is meant to communicate the time of day and the overall lighting condition of the environment. The third image reinforces what the first two are establishing: the ruined atmosphere and the sunrise timing.

The fourth image is the core shot. You can see that I didn’t add an overly dramatic top light to “glorify” the Buddha, because this is a damaged, weathered statue. I also don’t want the scene to feel overly artistic or theatrical. What I want to express is a sense of quiet plainness—despite the decay, the Buddha returns to simplicity and blends into the everyday world.

That said, I still tried to suggest a sense of sacredness, even if it’s subtle (because I don’t want it to be too exaggerated). I added a warmer rim light on the Buddha, and compositionally I framed the statue from the right looking toward the left. So in the lighting, I made a small deliberate choice: cooler light on the left side and warmer light on the right side, to hint at a gentle, warm radiance.

You can also see that I added fog to the environment. Unreal’s built-in fog effects couldn’t achieve the kind of sunrise atmosphere I wanted—where the mist hasn’t fully lifted yet—so I implemented my own volumetric fog to create that mood.