Case Study - Pompeii: Secrets of the Dead

Buried in volcanic ash since 79 AD and we are still finding new treasures.

The Chariot

Recently, in a building buried for almost 2,000 years archeologists found the remains of an uncommonly ornate chariot in the ruins of Pompeii. It was still half buried in ash and pumice but they knew it was an exceptionally rare find. A fantastic subject for a documentary. One of the most respected names in non-fiction story telling reached out to me with an amazing challenge that I couldn't pass up. Working with the archeologists in charge, he wanted me to rebuild this chariot for his show. He wanted to show viewers why this was considered the Lamborghini of its time. So, of course I asked when he wanted to fly me to Italy. He likes a good laugh. He sent over the images taken from the dig site and put me in touch with the experts who would have the best idea of what this would have looked like in it prime.

This was the main image I had to recreate this one of a kind chariot. Using it was was able to start modeling what I hoped it looked like and luckily the academics could tell me where I was missing the mark. We needed several shots explaining how it functioned and maneuvered in the tight streets of Pompeii as well as a fully textured model to show it in all it's glory and only a couple weeks to do it. I should have been terrified, but I was too excited to get started to worry about the tight deadlines. After several rounds of storyboards and mockups we finally landed on what we thought this chariot looked like when it was put into this building shortly before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The modeling, texturing and animating where all done in Cinema 4D and After Effects.