u/Whitelock_Design

Working out this colossal fight scene was a huge collaborative effort between the Art Department, Visual Effects, Stunts and Special Effects. It all starts with my set design in Sketchup. This is then turned over to the VFX department who take my model and create an animatic story board where all the beats of the fight are worked out. This then comes back to us where we are able to work out which walls, ceilings, floors etc need to be destroyed in camera and which walls are a Visual Effects break away. We use a physical card model to pinpoint each beat and colour code it correctly. The colour coding refers to which wall is either a real Special Effects breakaway or a Visual Effect added later. We then bring in the Stunt Team and the Special Effects team to work out (via the shooting schedule) which walls need to break away on which days and whether a stunt man is on a wire going through a wall or if it's just a SFX cassette that can be blown out with air cannons. This is a very organic process with lots of meetings and constant changes so you have to be on your toes at all times ready for changes that can throw the whole process into disarray. Thankfully we pulled it off pretty well. Feel free to ask questions about the process below. #spidermanbrandnewday #setbuild #sketchup

Working out the opening shot of Peter sat upside down on an iron girder was complicated for what looks like a relatively simple shot. Due to the camera corkscrewing through the set on a gimble attached to a crane arm. The difficulty lies in the camera movement that pivots around him. So I had to work out parts of the set (real steel ibeams) that could be bolted in place and unbolted for the move to allow the crane arm to move through the set unencumbered. I had an animatic from the VFX dept and I set about recreating their camera movement through my SketchUp model. Yes it's crude (if you want to see the animated video it’s on my Instagram page) but it was invaluable in being able to foresee any problems with camera getting stuck in the architecture or in Toms stunt wires.
Blocking it out with the SketchUp model was great because this was a set we were actually building whereas the model VFX built was quite different. The shot came off pretty good and I was so pleased to see it open not only the trailer but the film too. What did you think of this shot?

Hey thought some of you might like to see the set design work I did in SketchUp for Spider-Man Brand New Day. This model is for the DODC (Department of Damage Control) over 100’ long and 80’ wide this was a huge set that took up the whole of stage 3 at Sky Studios (Elstree) in the UK. Huge team effort to get this over the line, late script changes based meant designing this from scratch over a 6 week period with an overlapping 8 week build. So much detail it was crazy. Love to hear what you guys thought of the movie. I’ve got lots more details pics and videos on my instagram page if you’d like to check it out. My handle is whitelockdesign

I've worked on Avengers. Inception. The Batman.
Ghostbusters.
Nobody showed me how to get in. But I'm going to show you.
From Art School to Avengers: Breaking into Film - live on Zoom, Friday 12th June. 90 minutes covering my full journey, what a Film Art Department really looks like from the inside, how to build a portfolio that opens doors, and my honest take on what Al is doing to the industry right now.
If you're an architect, interior designer, or set designer who's ever wondered whether your skills could take you somewhere bigger - this is for you. Film pays well, the work is extraordinary, and your existing expertise is more transferable than you think.
Live Q&A at the end. Ask me anything. Full recording included.
And because I want as many people in the room as possible - every ticket comes with my Beginners Guide to SketchUp completely free. That's a full seven-hour professional course worth £50. Yours just for showing up.
Places are limited. Friday 12th June. 8pm BST.
Comment Free below and I'll send you the details or click the link to grab your seat.

https://www.whitelockdesignlimited.com/aneveningwithlukewhitelock

The first render I ever attempted. I think this was V-Ray but I remember being super proud of this when I did it back in 2014. It’s Bruce Banners lab from Avengers: Age of Ultron. I still don’t really do as much rendering as I’d like to, there’s never any time but maybe I’ll run some of those old models through and see what I can do.

I love using Layout for all my construction drawings. I like sharing my knowledge too, if you’d like to learn more about Layout I’ve put a free video on my website

https://www.whitelockdesignlimited.com/opt-in-Freevideomasterclass

All the drawings above were made in SketchUp and Layout and I get so many people asking how I’m able to use LayOut without it crashing or being super laggy. Well the answer is in good modelling behaviour. So if you’d like to pick up some tips on best practices that I use check out the video and feel free to ask me any questions.