Page Last Updated: 23/11/99
	'Horror'
	Time to trace: 27 hours 44 minutes 1 second (99841 seconds) Image Description When the 'Horror' topic was announced, I was reading Martin Gilbert's history of the first world war (ISBN: 0006376665). I was so shocked and horrified at the scale of the loss of life in the war that I knew instantly what my image would reflect. In the end I decided to produce a scene showing one of the many cemeteries where the dead from both world wars are buried. The final image is based on an image on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission web site (http://www.cwgc.org/). That image is included in the zip. Thanks to Glenn McCarter for kindly allowing me to use his rose model from his 'The Drama of Cinema' IRTC entry. As usual, there are many things I would like to tweak, given the time. The first would be to add inscriptions to the headstones. Second, replacing the rose with a poppy would be a little more appropriate. Other minor alterations would be to improve the lighting, soil colouring and headstone texture. Image Notes Starting from the top... Sky: The sky was based on Jaime Vives Piqueres' sky ideas first seen in his Canyon image. Instead of his single cloud layer, I created three layers at various heights, with different textures to try and create different cloud effects. Trees: The trees were produced from Laurens Lapre's LParser. Headstones: The headstones are CSG objects which are created, textured and placed by a macro. There is a significant artefact when performing the CSG operation to remove the cross which I can't seem to fathom... I think I can feel a question to the IRTC mailing list coming on. Rose: As already mentioned, the rose model was created by Glenn McCarter and is used with his permission. See his text file for his 'The Drama of Cinema' IRTC entry for a description of how it was created. Soil: The soil is created from 2 heightfields, with the second a mirror image of the first. 10 of each type and joined together and textured to form each strip and then placed in the scene. Grass: The grass is based on a macro created by Giles Tran. There are 2 different types of patch which are randomly rotated and placed so that patches are only placed where they can be seen. Each patch of grass contains 625 individual blades of grass... helps explain the large object count for the scene (279748). Each blade of grass is a mesh object. Comments There were some very useful comments submitted for the image: From cdsi26@bupers.navy.mil: The idea of the cemetary from a historical reference is notable. The point you are trying to make is lost on being able to see only the first row and evidence of a second. Perhaps an elevation of 3 meters, a wide angle lens and a focal point about midway would have helped. The stones and the grass are excellent. there is a macro for adding random tilting and placement (in small degrees) that would have added to the realism. One of the things I wanted to add to the image was engravings on the headstones of the names of real people who died in the war. I think this would have given a greater personal connection to the horror and make it more immediate. Without this, I think I agree that showing more headstones would have been better. Thanks for the comments about the stones and grass. The grass is based on work done by Giles Tran, so is not really down to me. As for random tilting and placement, my placement macro does that! From daffyduckx@hotmail.com: The horrors we invent in our stories are never as terrible as the things we actually do to each other. I couldn't think of a 'traditional' horror image that I would have been comfortable submitting for this round. From timk@jtse.com: The cloudy sky is out of place with the sunny lighting. Is it overcast or not? The soil, grass, and trees are impressive. A more sparsely populated sky, with the sun clearly illumating big fluffy clouds painted on a blue tapestry, might have emphasized the surrealism and emotion of the scene. I was disapointed with the lighting, but the general sky was close to what I wanted. From ameede@madmac.com: I feel that this is an important subject to draw on for the theme of horror. The fact that you added social commentary about the subject of war and its effects is great. The addition of the rose shows that war extends beyond the individual who lost their life and into the lives of the living was done successfully. My negatives towards this piece is that it has been done in similar fashion before. I would have liked to see not a description of a book, but your interpretation to the moment when loosing ones life to war. You reported well in your image, yet the sterility of the image lacks your expressive thoughts about the subject. Tolstoy was really good at presenting the thoughts that go through a persons mind at the time of death, perhaps you have already read "The Death of Ivan Illich." Thanks for your comments. I know other people have done similar images, but this is the first time I have tried. If I had more time and skill, maybe a better, less sterile image would have resulted. From mark_poole2000@yahoo.com: You may have conveyed the enormity of the numbers of the lost by lifting the camera a little and shooting diagonally across an entire field of headstones. Was the randomness of the placement of the crosses intentional? It may have been better to have the height of each the same, but move the headstones ever so slightly. As I've mentioned, given the state of the image, more stones would have been better. The placement of the crosses was intentional. Looking at pictures, the symbols are randomly placed. From robertsc@accn.org: I liked this picture. The sky was realistic, as was the grass and dirt around the headstones. Thanks. From jake@snafu.de: Super idea, awesome grass!! Thank you again, but I can't take real credit for the grass... From jrcsurvey@aol.com: Nice idea, make homage to a simple and sobering reminder. By focusing your technical skill you focus our attention. By keeping the composition simple you engage the comtemplative. There are a few more things I would have liked to add to the image which would have added more, but still kept the image mostly the same. From dwallace@lynx.dac.neu.edu: The headstones are incomplete Yes. They need names and regiment insignia and maybe some other text. From tina@ripco.com: I understand the artistic uses of starkness but this seems just a little /too/ stark; with the fairly bright white regularity of the grave markers it ends up a little sterile. I do like your idea and the basic layout. Alternating religious symbols is nice. Again, I agree that the image has ended up a little sterile. Maybe by completing work on the headstones and personalising the image, the effect would be less stark. From ericf@foothill.net: Although this is a nicely designed image, I particularily like the overcast sky and the leafless tree, it seems too bright. Given that it is overcast, shouldn't it be a bit darker? I think it would give it a more somber tone, in keeping with the image. The other problem it that although war is a horror, this image does not evoke that feeling. Sadness, respect, but not horror. As I've mentioned, I am disappointed with the lighting. From gmccarter@hotmail.com: Very good cloudy sky seems quite realistic. The rose is a good focal point, but it makes the image itself seem to be more about "remembrance" than "horror". The horror becomes only a distant subplot here. I know what your headstone CSG problem is... let me know if you need help. Good macro work. Thanks. From sjlen@ndirect.co.uk: There's one of these in almost every round of the IRTC. The image looks good especially the textures on the soil, grass and grave stones. Though you put a lot of effort into the clouds my first impression was that they looked very flat (don't worry, nobody does good clouds really). I can't imagine where that render time comes from, I haven't read the source, but the head stones furthest away from the camera don't need the crosses differenced out of them as that level of detail can't be seen at that distance, and I hope you only used two rows of them because that's all I can see. Hope to see more of your work in later rounds. There are two similar images in recent rounds - '20c Rip' by Richard Morton in the History round and 'Monument' by Kevin Lancy in the Landmarks round - but this is the first time I have tried to do such an image. The render time comes from the grass. Each patch of grass you can see in the image is constructed from individual blades, even the grass in the distance. The construction and placement of the headstones counts for very little compared to the grass. Without the grass, the image renders in under an hour. From file: This picture is far too sterile. Try to put some life (or death) in it. eg. a bird, a different stone, ... anything! The rose is a nice touch, but not enough. Yup, the image needs more.