CGI film Dead Head by Johan Kropp captures the sensory character of combustion-era cars
Through Dead Head, Berlin-based artist Johan Kropp articulates a long-standing captivation with automobiles as mechanical achievements and cultural objects.
The project situates high-performance vehicles as milestones within human industrial development, tracing how the automobile advanced in little more than two centuries to become a symbol of progress, speed and engineered intent.
Johan Kropp follows the combustion engine as a defining acoustic signature of that evolution, presenting it as a violent marker of ignition, torque and propulsion.
Dead Head communicates the physical immediacy of combustion, describing fuel igniting and pushing machinery forward as rubber meets asphalt and motion becomes force. For Johan Kropp, that process held a vivid fascination from childhood—an experience rooted in sound, vibration and sensory immersion.
The project preserves that memory before a cleaner technological horizon arrives, positioning the combustion engine as both a personal imprint and a historical technology approaching transition.
Dead Head also functions as a practical demonstration of Kropp’s generalist approach. He handled the CGI animation, compositing, editorial process and surrounding workflows himself, using the personal project to test methods and refine production strategies.
Kropp describes an interest in learning new toolchains and expanding technical adaptability, treating software as interchangeable as long as it is designed with clarity and efficiency. Research and development serve as foundational steps within his methodology, allowing new systems to integrate into the pipeline without hesitation.
Johan Kropp’s broader experience across five years spans stylized 3D environments, motion graphics, post-production pipeline building, lighting, texturing, animation, and final compositing. Clients have referred to him as a Swiss Army knife, an observation he interprets not as versatility for its own sake but as the outcome of refusing to be constrained by a single role.
His technical base extends into color management, VFX pipeline coordination, sound, graphic principles and troubleshooting under production pressure. He has also configured and maintained small-studio render servers, emphasizing efficiency and system stability when workloads intensify.
That combination of emotional subject matter and infrastructural awareness gives Dead Head its character. The piece becomes a record of internalized impressions while simultaneously demonstrating the practical skills required to materialize them. It expresses a belief that curiosity and efficiency remain essential as industries shift and cleaner automotive futures emerge.
All images courtesy of Johan Kropp
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