Arbor Low

The prehistoric site of Arbor Low, in the Derbyshire Peak District,
provides a more unusual take on a stone circle.

Arbor Low is a recumbent stone circle, with the stones lying flat and
arranged in a kind of clock-face, with four stones at the centre. The
whole is raised up on a low platform and surrounded by a turf
enclosure, open at both ends.

You can read more about it here.

Although not a more traditional stone circle, with uprights that provide
strong image elements, we nevertheless had to find a way to both
illustrate Arbor Low and convey some sense of the mystery and age of
the site.

  
             
 

On the left is a screengrab showing the 3D model.

Nice and straightforward in shape with distant low hills,
we chose to start the shot high-up, looking down at the
'clock-face' then gradually crane down to look across
Arbor Low and out across the ancient landscape.

Although the 3D model appears smooth, and by and
large is smooth, we used layers of texturing to give the
appearance of rough heathland, and a low light from the
left to accentuate the shape of the banks and the central
platform.

Finally, how to achieve that mysterious sense?

Stone circles are often associated with the sky, the
passage of Sun and Moon, the stars and seasons.

Time-lapse photography of the sky is a great way to
show the passage of time, something out of the ordinary,
and it so happens we shot a time-lapse last summer
(2006) that we thought might work well for this.
     
 

The section towards the end of the time-lapse seemed to
work well with the perspective of the shot, so we lined it
up in the compositor and gradually faded it in as the
camera comes to rest.

 

Click Here for The Final Shot