We wanted to create a series that highlighted our marrying of photography and CG elements with a narrative that was encouraging to girls to pursue their dreams. Our approach included a styled photography session in our studio, coupled with backgrounds we created in Maya, with key props (the bees) created in ZBrush, and composited and finished in Photoshop. 

The inspiration moment, the spark that spurs Cassie, our heroine, to action. The background was a reframe of our larger bedroom scene (below) with wallpaper details and themed posters. The glass is a combination of CG glass, with a reflection shot practically in the studio, and water droplets. The bees were modeled in ZBrush and rendered in Keyshot, then composited in Photoshop. The wooded scene out the window was captured on location. 

Moving through inspiration to creation. The background was created in Maya and rendered using Arnold to take advantage of the volumetric lighting systems. The render passes were composited in Photoshop and finished with hand-drawn details. Again the scene out the window was the same image shot on location, but this time projected on a plane in Maya and included as part of the render pass.

Testing the design. This time we used Maya's XGen instancing to create the bulk of the grass, and detailed it with additional Paint Effects grasses and flowers. The mech bee drone was sculpted from scratch in ZBrush, textured in Keyshot, and composited in Photoshop. And lucky for us, Tank (the dog) works happily for treats. 

Recognition. This is more of a practical shoot, shot against the curtains, and with digital remastering of the ribbon to read properly to our concept. The ZBrush mech bee textured and rendered in Keyshot.

And here's a side-by-side of the two versions of CG sculpted bees. Both were created in ZBrush and rendered out in Keyshot. 

All in all, we really enjoyed the process and outcome. The talent (Cassie) was spot on in her enthusiasm and wonder for the different concepts. Our wardrobe stylist Margaret kept our theme strong with her color combinations and quirky details to craft an intelligent and creative young woman. And the fun details (like cute little freckles) of the hair and make up team lead by Jihyun gave us the icing on the cake. 

Production: Ransom & Mitchell

Creative team: Stacey Ransom & Jason Mitchell

Photographer: Jason Mitchell

Digital Artist: Stacey Ransom

Lead HMU: Jihyun Kim

Wardrobe: Margaret Grace

HMU Assist: Selene Yebra

Talent: Cassie

And here are some additional detail photos: