High poly modeling

I was always curious on how to produce high quality models for movie and cinematic purposes. I was introduced to a new features in Maya that I never though of using.

We started modeling a knife. We have used a plane with a picture displayed on it as a base for the model. Using simple primitives we started building the knife. The first thing that we tackled was a handle. It was quite challenging to get used to at the beginning but as I went deeper and deeper I got more comfortable with the technique. By pressing 3 on the keyboard we had a preview of a smooth view. At first it looked very unpleasing but as you go along and add additional edge loops it gave a nice curved edge.
I've also learned about topology. It is very important to make your objects flow with the item you're modeling. If I was to do a face model I'd create my topology based on the muscle flow which would add a lot of realism to the model.