Palm Springs location, CGI vehicle
No, it is not. It is not even a mechanical namesake of a real live Jaguar but an exercise in a stylized CGI rendering of a virtual vehicle, to fit into a scene.
I am a great believer in the principle that to create an illusion one needs to use realistic cues and use them liberally. This XJ was rendered in a number of virtual 360 degree HDRI environments, some actually captured at the very location where the background image was photographed. Further, I rendered it using a number of digital procedures which extended levels of realism and this resulted in hugely extended processing times. There were few cues which were not available for use in composing the final image into the scene and it is especially hard to abandon visual treatments which have consumed a lot of time . But in the end, given that I wanted to create a scene which was finely balanced – - on the edge of being photographic and yet something more akin to a Richard Diebenkorn painting, I chose to leave them out. The result leaves me slightly uncomfortable.
I could have stylized the background more and god forbid even used a faux oil paint post process on it. In visual terms I don’t like taking the easy way out and that certainly would have been a quick route to ‘filling the brief’. I revel in trying to make images which are neither one thing nor another. This I find, when it works, lends mystery to an image and that in turn is reflected in the longevity of interest in it.
It must be said that this picture is fairly coincident with the ‘toy car’, ‘over retouched’ look which has been de rigueur for car manufacturers during the last few years. No one likes that look, neither in the advertising world and least of all the general public, but we have all had to pay lip service to it, whether we create images in the studio or in the computer. Most of us have an sense of an idealized level of visual dynamism which is being reached for, but getting this particular enhancement just right is hugely difficult. Few images make the grade and those that fail will be a laughing stock in due course. The question I ask is ’how long can the advertising business continue with producing such a high proportion of goofy looking ‘also ran’ images, when a mere change of style could vastly change that balance?’. More to discuss on this later.
Thus far the reactions I have had to this particular image have been ‘immediate rejection’ followed by a warming phase which has occasionally been quite enthusiastic. It seems that we are all trying to figure out what to do next with automotive imagery and this has been a small exploration. Lets see if it tarnishes quickly or not.
