Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Mother's Shrine Keyframe (2019)

I was lucky enough to have a short stint on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a movie I absolutely loved. This is probably one of my favorite images I've done for any film, the moment that Shang and his sister Xialing share at their mother's shrine. Big thanks to my old friend Andy Park for trusting me to "reinvent" myself within the Marvel Vis-Dev world, from the hard-surface design guy to the guy who does touchy-feely emotional keyframes! What's a guy to do once they kill off Iron Man? (Oops! Sorry, spoiler alert :D)

I'd originally imagined their father would have laid out clothing for them, to bring them back to the traditions they've both strayed from. The background is key as well, as in the early script their mother's tending of the courtyard garden, pond and tree was symbolic of the love she had brought to the Mandarin's compound, and now it is all dead and neglected. Even the flowers on the altar are story driven. In the early script it's spelled out that their mother's favorite blooms were narcissus tazettas and Yunnan camellias. I also wanted to contrast the moment of intimacy and warmth shared at the altar with the coldness waiting for them outside.

The compound model was provided by the Art Department, if I'm not mistaken modeled by Richie Mays. There's also an absolutely spectacular bas-relief (you can just see the end of it behind them) sculpted in Z-brush by someone in the Art Department, I wish I knew who. If anyone knows, post it in the comments and I'll update to credit them.

Final image, updated with Meng'er Zhang's likeness. When I'm changing a likeness, I'll usually start by liquifying the original face to match the new features, then painting over.

Final image, updated with Meng'er Zhang's likeness. When I'm changing a likeness, I'll usually start by liquifying the original face to match the new features, then painting over.

Color thumbnails. These are the kind of roughs I'll do to get a sense of the shot. Mood and lighting are very important at this stage, as well as point of view.

Color thumbnails. These are the kind of roughs I'll do to get a sense of the shot. Mood and lighting are very important at this stage, as well as point of view.

My first pass at Xialing (then called Mei) before the role was cast. This is an invented face, kind of a composite of my favorite Chinese actresses. I had more time on this original pass to really capture the emotion.

My first pass at Xialing (then called Mei) before the role was cast. This is an invented face, kind of a composite of my favorite Chinese actresses. I had more time on this original pass to really capture the emotion.