Behind the Scenes: The Punisher (Patreon)

Sometimes I find real gems in shows or movies that fly under the radar. Not that The Punisher was a small time, but I feel like it didn't get the attention it deserved.

It's got a real edge on the other action shows with the quite realistic depiction of violence and gunplay. The main protagonist - Frank - gets quite messed up whenever he's out there serving vigilante justice. So even if this is a Marvel comic book series, don't expect mild and dry thumps and thuds when the hell breaks loose.

But it definitely has some true comic book elements, like the vigilante duo hideout, where Frank and Micro - the classic hacker archetype - plan and operate from.

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I really loved, how the Netflix adaptation handled all of this. It definitely has some comic book flavor, while keeping it grounded and believable at the same time (it reminds me of how Nolan handled the Batman in a believable way). Frank's Battle Van is a down-to earth matte black Ford Econoline with some improvements like the ride-height, tires and lighting, but nothing over-the-top.

But the special kudos goes to the choice of the basement. Really cool old place with barred alcoves to place all the Micro's gear. I went ahead and searched for as much image material and angles on the place, as I could get.

The place turned out to be pretty large in scope and I became to worry if I can capture the atmosphere of the show in a single top-down view diorama.

That's why I always grab a pencil and sketch some layouts first. And as I mentioned many times before, it's not about the sketch quality. It's about what the sketch can teach you before you go into modeling.

With the pencil in hand, I thought about what's really important here to get it right. I definitely wanted that steel barred alcove and the stairs with the cool curved railing. Also, I wanted the computer gear to be visible and the van had to have its prominent place as well.

I kind of split the composition into thirds and placed the vehicle on the lower third, while reserving the upper two thirds for the alcove. This kind of cut-out allowed me to show these elements in detail and deliver the vibe of the place without actually modeling the whole basement layout.

You can watch the process video on Youtube