Marathon Man, Engineering Physiology
In the synthetic project Marathon Man, my primary focus was capturing raw emotional states, specifically the duality of total exhaustion and post-run euphoria. Beyond the overall mood, I explored how AI interprets physical exertion, paying close attention to heavy sweating, skin texture changes, and physiological stress.
The protagonist and environment were developed using the same proprietary workflow I’ve successfully implemented in previous projects, though it has now been tailored specifically for endurance sports. This framework is highly modular and can easily be adapted for any subject matter. The key technical shift in this project was moving our tech stack from Krea Nodes to Figma’s Weavy. Weavy proved to be significantly more robust and far less prone to the bugs I previously encountered with Krea. Most importantly, Weavy supports JSON handling, which allows for structured, hyper-precise prompt instructions, representing a true game-changer when working with models like Nano Banana 2. Alongside this migration, I also pushed my experimentation with virtual camera rigs and lighting setups across various scenarios, resulting in five distinct visual styles:
The first approach, Neon Velocity: The Midnight Marathon, emphasizes the high-energy contrast between kinetic light trails and static, heavy architecture. To achieve this look, the prompt utilized action night street photography with marathon runners in sharp focus, using a 35mm f/2.8 lens and a 1/10s shutter speed with slow-sync flash. This created long dynamic light trails and motion blur on limbs against a brutalism architecture background filled with neon red and golden bokeh streaks, all styled as if shot on a Leica M11 with vivid artificial lighting, high contrast, raw photo texture, subtle film grain, and 8k resolution.
The second variation, High-Noon: The Desert Flash, highlights a harsh, 90s-inspired flash aesthetic and “overpowered” desert lighting. The prompt relied on a high-contrast direct on-camera flash that cast harsh, dramatic shadows directly behind the subject, resulting in overexposed skin highlights with rich saturation. Mimicking a Leica M11 with a 35mm f/2 Summicron lens, the settings called for an aperture at f/8 for deep depth of field and maximum sharpness, a 1/125s shutter speed, an authentic vintage 90s aesthetic, subtle film grain, a Kodak Portra 800 film simulation, and a raw photo finish with ultra-detailed leather textures and fabric fibers.
The third setup, Panning the Pulse: Urban Kineticism, focuses on the technical mastery of the panning shot and the rhythmic energy of the runners. The prompt framed a professional action shot of marathon runners using a 35mm f/5.6 lens and a 1/60s shutter speed with a panning technique. This yielded a heavy lateral motion-blurred foreground and background while maintaining a sharp focus on the central athletes. The scene was set on an urban city street under overcast soft lighting, simulated on a Sony A9 III with a Fujifilm Superia 400 look, authentic raw photo texture, subtle film grain, and 8k quality.
The fourth exploration, Medium Format Glow: The Soft-Fill Study, leans into a high-end medium format look and the delicate balance of natural and artificial light. The prompt specified a shot on a Fujifilm GFX 100S with a 63mm f/2.8 lens for a natural field of view, utilizing settings of f/5.6 for a balanced depth of field, a 1/1000s shutter speed, and ISO 100. The lighting combined natural sunlight with a subtle off-camera fill flash to soften facial shadows, delivering a warm urban color grading, a Kodak Portra 160 film look, a high-end magazine texture, and hyper-realistic skin and fabric details.
Finally, Shadow Geometry: Brutalist High-Sun serves as a nod to the interplay between a brutalist backdrop and extreme high-shutter contrast. The prompt called for a sportswear shot in a high-contrast setting with hard direct flash lighting and sunlight creating sharp, dramatic drop shadows, deep blacks, and vivid textures. Designed around a Sony A7R V with a 35mm f/1.4 lens, it used an aperture at f/8 for maximum detail and a 1/2000s shutter speed to completely overpower the ambient light, resulting in crisp skin details, subtle film grain, cinematic color grading, a raw photo quality, and a high-end commercial aesthetic.