This was an exercise in lighting a character, specifically to create a horror vibe. How do you go about doing that? Do you show the thing you’re supposed to be afraid of, potentially ruining the suspense by giving form to your fear? Or do you merely suggest its presence by highlighting certain parts, maybe creating a bit of a silhouette? If the latter, what part/s of the Alien character are distinctive enough to tell the viewer, “you’re looking at the Alien” and not some other monster?
A few of these renders are from mid-2021, right when I first got my hands on a rigged Alien/Xenomorph model. Here they are:
The rest are from February or March of this year:
Let me know which of these renders you prefer, if you think showing or suggesting is more effective for creating a horror vibe, and if there was anything I could’ve done differently to improve my work. 