The Cowgirl Project: Where It All Began

From a Single Image to a Handmade World

Some ideas creep in quietly and stay put. The Cowgirl began like that. Just an image that got stuck in my head: a girl in a cowboy hat, sitting by a lighthouse, with a dark cloud behind her. I didn’t know why it meant something, but it did. It felt simple, strange and oddly true. Something about fear, and how it stops us from making the things we want to make. And what it takes to turn round and face it.

Because the idea felt personal, the world needed to feel handmade. Something delicate but a bit rough round the edges.

Cardboard, Paint and a Cloud the Size of a House

From the start, we knew this wasn’t about polish. We wanted texture. Character. Things that looked like they’d actually been made, not in a studio but on the bedroom floor. Cardboard buildings with ripped corners. Papier mâché horses with wonky eyes. Cactuses with toothpick spines. It was never meant to be a neat version of what a child might make. It needed to feel like something she’d actually done herself.

But we didn’t want the characters world to stop there.

That’s where Racquet Studios came in. Using Unreal Engine and virtual production, they helped us scale the world up. Suddenly the papier mâché cloud could float over an entire city. The cactuses could fill the skyline. What started as bits of glue and paint became a full-blown cinematic landscape.

The aim wasn’t realism. It was to keep the spirit of the handmade while giving it room to breathe.

Collaboration at the Core

This project worked because it was collaborative from the start. Plume Films looked after the physical side; model making, cutting, sticking, painting, building a world from the ground up. Racquet took those models, scanned them, and rebuilt them virtually so they could live inside something bigger.

It wasn’t about one way of working replacing the other. It was about two very different processes meeting in the middle.

We didn’t want a world that looked perfect. We wanted one that looked like it had been built by a ten-year-old with a stubborn streak and a slightly chaotic imagination.

One Image is Enough

Starting from a single image changes how you make a film. Every decision comes back to that moment. Casting, camera moves, lighting; it all points back to the original idea.

And when you build that world by hand, you’re working with emotional logic. You’re not just asking what looks nice. You’re asking what belongs. What feels like she might have made it.

That’s the power of combining physical craft with virtual scale. Two ways of working, brought together to turn a small, stubborn idea into a world big enough to hold it.

Curious how hybrid production can elevate your story?

Explore our portfolio, or get in touch to discuss your next idea.