CINEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY
For this task we will be looking at different cut scenes from films and re creating them as photographs.
We will be looking closely at sets, lighting, costuming and props.
I have chosen 3 cut scenes from horror as my main genre because the genre is very intriguing and illusive so it can be interpreted in many ways.
I chose this cut scene as it is very simple yet powerful so I wanted to recreate this with someone who is blonde and is angry but in a domestic environment like my house for example.
Here I chose a scene from Annabelle as it is a really scary film and I feel a doll would really bring an eeriness to the whole image so I wanted to make it in my house as it is a domestic set.
I could use my parents as my models as it is a parent based scene and it has a lot of strong emphasis on children and maternal instincts.
The lighting could be natural from a window and shine with a light on near her head to give the more sharp facial features and the emphasis on strength and a horror feel.
I chose this scene from the film Purge as it is eery and dark and the context is vague yet it kind of shows the ideas of the film.
The picture can be re created by a studio light on top of the head and a more darker almost night environment and then having others separated in the background whilst the angle is above so the face is seen really strong in the image.
This could be done in college as all I need is a wall on either side to emphasise the face.
Production and recreation
Original stills from The Gallows
Productions and Final Results
For the photo shoot I wanted to recreate stills that were more dark and more complex to do in the production and editing so I decided I would choose stills from the film 'The Gallows'.
The genre is horror and I felt that would still link into my photography skills and use of technology.
I plan to recreate the stills to the left in college as the atmosphere of the original theme is kids who are trapped in school whilst a ghost of a tragic accident was lurking in the halls.
We plan to use red gels to put over LED lights to create a dramatic red effect and therefore making it easier to edit on photoshop.
We also will look for props like rope and some makeup to get rope burns to make the horror image more believable and get the point across.
The LED lights will be positioned above the head in the first image and then the second image will have a LED in the back hidden from the cameras view and then we will have an LED at a distance to the left of the camera looking down on her face to give a semi lit face on the left hand side.
The shoot will not involve natural light and will be cancelled out using the LED lights and camera settings that change the aperture to allow less natural light in.
The photo shoot overall went very well but we did have a few issues with some props and some items needed to create the photograph.
The first photograph we tried to recreate was the one where the girl is sat on the floor scared and we wanted to use gels throughout the whole process to create the red light effect but the gels were already taken and we could not use anything else to create the red light effect.
The photograph was then posed to be similar with facial expressions similar to the original from the still image I found.
The next photograph we went to create was the portrait of the girl with a rope around her neck but we could not find rope on the premises so we decided to use a belt that had a woven look to it and wrapped it around the neck of the model. We then could not find anything to create the bloody neck so we decided to leave it out of the productions till our second reshoot.
The lighting was set up the way I planned for it to be and I decided to put the light directly onto her face.
With the editing for the stills I went with a really easy tool of colour balance and colourized the image to change to different tones of red.
We adjusted the hue of red to be very dark and sinister as the overall genre is strong in its use of colour to portray a good effect and scenario.
The only thing I feel that needs to be changed is the use of the big white light on the wall as it is way to light compared to the original image so maybe adjusting the curves and levels to allow highlights to be more dark and less vibrant.
I really like the positioning and the facial expressions as they are really similar to the original image.
This image was good with expression but I feel it came out quite wrong because the image does not look like a rope around her neck so we had to make do with a belt but we also did not have the accessibility to create the open wounds on her neck so we just wanted to get the basics down.
With that said I liked the facial expression and the use of colour over the face as it definitely looks very horror like.
The overall shoot went successful no matter the minor issues we had as we did get the overall red effect and the positioning and intention across to show it was all horror based. Also the way our model looked similar was successful as we did not need to do much to change her to create the image.
Genre Analysis
Crimson Peak// Horror
Burlesque// Musical
Mise En Scene// Science Fiction Lighting Re-creation
With this I wanted to analyse the stills from the overall film and use the skills taught from 'Mise En Scene' and show how these can be created through just purely photography. The photograph above and the film is all horror based and with the overall setting is during Victorian England and America. A mix in cultures and social norms and contexts.
The overall effect of the top image is to give a sinister look and feel towards the scenario, the lighting of this image is very central on the girl in the middle as the edges of the image and the framing is dense so that all concentration is leading towards the centre.
The costuming in this is very period based and seems to match well to the overall colour schemes of blues and greens. The costumes seem to be very 1800's and at that time silk was a necessity to high class people so from this information I feel that we are supposed to see these people as quite high statused in society.
With this particular still it is very mysterious and quite scary as we see a dark set with a few broken parts in the wall and to my left of the frame we see the subject of the image which in this case is the lady.
The lighting is seeming to come from above and seems to be lit from an angle of about 45 degrees then this creates the woman's face to be more defined and create good shadowing which seems to be forshadowment of the horror-esque story line.
The camera angle is very low to get the woman to look down on the camera to get the horror/murder mystery feel.
The overall feel here is to feel afraid and scared of the woman's portrayal.
In this still we see the camera is on a tilt and seems to angle upwards once agin to the centre of the cameras focal point and the subject is seeming to be the lady.
The image is showing us the woman walking down the stairs and she seems to be in a night gown which shows the time of day we are meant to see here is night time and therefore the light is dimmed down to show the quite and less noise in the still.
The set is showing a manor house with regal stairs and an over powering balcony above the stairs.
The dim light we see is seeming to light up the shot and is looking to come from the right and hits the stairs and all the left side but does seem to be diffused but the set is very textured and does create alot of random shadows but we can see the light is not the cause of shadows.
The woman is made to be small in the set as the set is supposed to be very large compared to one person so the camera angle plays into effect here.
The overall feel of the stills from the horror genre is to give a dense look at the story line and creates alot of foreshadowment in layout. The colouring of every still is blue hue and seems to give a misleading 'calm' effect when the storyline and the context of the image is completely opposite.
With this genre the overall feel is supposed to be very sexual and alluring using the colour schemes and outfits in particular. The context is supposed to be 2000's take on burlesque and the sexual dancing that originated from France and early french colony times.
The still above seems to be very hued in red as this inferences the overall scene to be sexual as red is a sexy,loving colour. The angle is square as the scene is opened as a curtain opening so it is cropped to be a square. The costuming is very high waisted skirts and just bralettes or in some cases short dresses which give off the sex appeal in the overall context of the film.
This still changes its hue to be gold and the effect is to be gold to create a shiny spectacular look and to give the camera more to focus on in one hue in particular.
The outfitting here is supposed to be sexual once again but we see a red lipstick on the centre model and a lot of makeup design done on her face which is to give the dramatic effect which most musicals and films need.
The layout of the camera and its angle is to be a little less of the models we see in this hot so the angle is just slightly below the middle models chin line and is looking straight on to get the whole body and figures into the frame.
The context of the image is overall to show sexy but accomplishment so we can infer that the people have achieved something quite spectacular such as 100 shows or even ,like the films shows, them getting money to clear the company debt.
The still we see to the right is very strong in light and hue like I said before and here we see it as red and a hint of pink so I feel here it is once again to show the women as sexual and quite alluring.
The overall layout within the lens is the light hitting the middle model and lighting her up with a sharp harsh light but it does seem to be a bit more diffused so it does not create dark dense shadows on her face.
The overall layout is aligned to be two rows of women and they are posed dancing as the overall feel of 'burlesque' is dance and sex merged into one so it is quite easy to infer.
The set is very staged and posed as we see mirrors in the back on a stage set up as we see the studio lights above the heads of the dancers and they seem to give off the red light I was first speaking about.
The set is also lit in the back in little bulbs around the mirrors to give off the ambience of a dance club and style.
The still above is centred on the model in the centre in lingerie and sailors cap on to create a very random sexual nautical theme. The light is centred on the middle person as well as the background light to show that the background is also a main attraction to the eye. The costuming is also of a sexual nature and revealing in places showing a lot of skin.
Overall the theme of Musicals and Films are very good with regards to the lighting and the costuming but a prominent thing that stands out throughout is the way hues create the atmosphere of the film.
The still above seems to be very concentrated on facial expression and the body language of people as the theme is Science Fiction. The still is made to have a strong metallic feel and very futuristic in style as he is wearing a plated body armour suit whilst the set is made to look like a huge strong hold and seems very mechanical. There is a yellow hue that goes all over the set and this is caused by tungsten lights and not LEDs as the LED light is often blue in tone. The time this is set is futuristic so it is in the distant future and not set in the modern day. The focus is on the foreground and the guy and the blur of the back is more to show who is meant to be in depth in the scene.
This still shot shows the full force and setup of the set to get the futuristic feel with metals and the mechanics of the leg in the background of a robot and the futuristic outfits and styles of the models.
The camera is just below on the models here to get the more heroic look on the faces of the models.
The light is also coming form behind but is diffused towards the back of the heads on the models and the shiny shoulders on the woman's shoulder plate.
The light also gives off the ambient yellow toned light to get us in the more science like feel and the tungsten light is the only source other than the sun to give us yellow toned light.
The main focus here is directly on the models in the centre but it does seem to get the set in deliberately as though they wanted us to see the water and the water and light gives the blue future feel as it is a very ambient tone.
The blue tone is often interpreted as a sad and quite miserable tone that is often portrayed in sad movies so I feel the context is a sad time in the film and that something miserable has happened.
The overall set design is meant to be underground and it is laid to be water and metal which are a contrast in nature and then man made stuff so the contrast makes you think a bit more on what the overall design of the set is to portray.
Overall the stills were hued with blue and yellow futuristic tones to give off the future like vibe this matches well to the environment and storyline as it involves future technology like robots and mind to mind communication. The sets are often metallic and very secretive so this all links together well.
I feel I should recreate this particular film as the lighting alternates well throughout one scene and I really like the use of colours and light mixing to form hues and saturation changes.
I feel the whole genre of Science Fiction is amazing in the way that a colour change can immediately tell the feel of that particular moment. If I was to recreate the lighting it has to show the metallic tones and the blue/yellow hue on the models and on the overall set. I also feel the way a place is placed with energy yet the key people are made to stand out is good and I feel that would be good camera skills to learn and to create really good cinematic photography.
Lighting Re-creation for Sci-Fi Genre
Here we wanted to experiment and try out the many ways the science fiction films are created and we wanted to go with the same film example which is 'Pacific Rim'.
The main location we wanted was a home feel but also to have a separate location of technology and modern advancement.
I used the front part of my flat and then the balcony area to get natural light to add to the whole hue section of the sci-fi style.
I first started with the domestic environment where I was using blue hue light with a flash light to lighten the blue as it was initially too strong to come up on camera.
The environment was close to the front door and was close to the phone attached to the wall and here this gives off a feel of urgency and sadness as the blue connotes to be sad and depressing so it gives a similar feel to some scenes in the film I have chosen where the colour was used to show the main actor was being given bad news about the workplace and a upcoming war.
I then went away with a more wide angled shot of the front door and the cupboard which gave the feel that someone was coming and it was to also bring sadness and this was the first two stills that went together to form a movement in images.
I used the camera on a wide angle with a ISO of about 200 which allowed the light to come in really well with the blue being not too strong.
I also made sure the camera was of person height and not too high or not too low as I was going for a first person look as the start of the film inspired me to do this as he is seen getting into a huge truck in first person.
This photograph was taken without any hue or minimal editing as it was just as the sun was rising and the light was seeping through the curtain and it gave a warm homey feeling that gave off a loving atmosphere. The colouring was not intentional but it was a really fitting tone of pale yellow that linked well with the hues used in the film I have chosen. The contrast was god also as it gave off a overshadow and allows the viewer to predict the context behind the scene its self.
The clothes were a good way to bring a more domestic look to the scene still and this allowed a more feel into the persons life and this also made the whole first person approach more likely to be interpreted and then give a science fiction style twist with the unintentional colouring of pale yellow.
Here I wanted to bring a technical approach to the whole experiment so I went and found a local electrical box that had some keys inside and this allowed me to experiment with technology as a prop and a location. I altered the prop a bit on photoshop and rubbed out the writing in each section and blurred to give a more derelict look and feel to the time in which I wanted to portray in each still.
I also went with a used feel with each switch so I messed them around a bit from how they originally were. I wanted to also allow more light into the control panel so I let light come from the left hand side to bring a shadow over the whites on the panel so that each section is busy with some sort of colour change.
The main idea I was achieving here was isolation in a most openly used place which in this case was a train station but the location of the station was in London so it is based in a very well known place and city so the location was really well planned beforehand.
The wide shot was done to show the layout of the station and the clock was there initially to show a time of day to the image and its also giving the time of day a tone of yellow.
I also really liked the way the yellow became lighter and darker due to the formations of the station.
With these photographs I saw no link between the theme of sci-fi and then the actual photographs. The first image is very bland and does not allow any sci-fi feel along with the colouring and the props as none of it seems to make any sense towards 'Pacific Rim'.
The main idea I was going for was to use the colours as the main source of colour change and them being a more home feel.
I could have changed the overall feel with the use of a gel or even a more harsh light as the we could have gotten a really cool coloured shadow on the window or the ledge.
This photograph was the experiment of locations and the feel of abandonment within a highly populated city space.
In this case the photograph was no good as parts of the image seemed to be under exposed and bit too dark but then the background was way too light and seemed to be too drastic of a change from the fore ground so I wanted to just see the location and the angling that I felt well fitting to the film I had chosen. I could have put a gel light with the natural light and then taken the picture from a angle but I feel the light naturally was too strong for that in the camera.
The idea I had behind this image was to show a matter of urgency and to get a public place that has something of urgency. I decided to take the image at a local station and then to make sure there is a yellow tone to it which never came from this photograph. I never really liked this image as it has a boring approach to the overall sc-fi theme and does not show my abilities in photography.
I feel to make the image more difficult is to maybe create a whole scene of urgency including people and even some other props that give of a 'derelict' and 'catastrophic' feel.
Director Comparisons and Contrasts
Here I wanted to explore the various contrasts and comparisons between two directors. I chose to use Steven Spielberg specifically the film E.T and then my other director was Tim Burton specifically Alice In Wonderland. With E.T the time is set between the late 80's early 90's and we can tell by the use of a baseball cap in the fore front. Then the positioning of E.T himself is centred at the back in the shadow of the wardrobe. The way the frame is set and the locations and lighting you would get a real 80/90's home feel as the still shows a very domestic setting specifically a bedroom. The way the still from Alice In Wonderland is set up looks similar because the Queen Of Hearts is centred in the middle of the still and funnily enough has a similar head shape as E.T and with the still we also see a similar set up as the people in the back are crowding the Queen the same way E.T is surrounded by teddy bears and clothing.
I feel both directors are trying to get across a very hectic and tense environment as often a dark use of colour is foreshadowing the up coming context of the film and the stuffed area in the still shows a sense of confinement and importance of their role in the overall film. I also feel that the camera angles give off the similar authority and importance as they are taken from a lower angle to show them being higher of importance.
With these two stills we see a difference in set up and design of the set and I feel the lighting is also different. We see the lighting in the top image being from E.T's finger and this is a tungsten source of light so it gives off a yellow hue which also links to the genre of film being sci-fi as the lighting often is hued for an intention. The lighting in the Alice still is very strong in the right hand corner and hits hard on the guards the horseman this allows a more dramatic fantasy feel. The intentions were different from each director because the first still shows us that the film is really involved with people and the communication between one being to another whilst the second still is very advanced in editing and technology in its creation but the final piece we see is very centred through one being, and that being be the horseman in the centre back. The top still gives off the ambient curiosity feel as we see a child staring into the light and I can connote that children in films are often told by the director to allow emotions to flow through so I feel here the director is trying to show a childs natural curiosity to something new. The second still here is showing a man who is very dark and side lit and he is centred whilst the red guards are making a easy path for him. I feel the intention here is to get the man a very focused point of view so we can see him being more important here.
With these two stills we see that the directors are trying to isolate the characters to give a good feel of freedom and open-ness. The E.T still shows a good image of a mood being the background and the E.T and the kid on the bike are flying over the moon and creating a dark silhouette. The whole idea with the moon and the tree popping through gives off the thought of flying and the blue gives a calming sense to it and this works really well where as the photograph below is more sinister and the model in the front shows the emotion of sadness and confusion which also links to the fact that the director is to make it a very isolated.
The lighting on each photograph is blue hued and very well lit as in the first still the light is the only source of light where as the bottom one has a light coming down from above onto the model and the lighting coming from the back to the model in the front whilst also casting the shadow of something coming towards her.
The main idea for the directors are to give a foreshadowing effect to allow the people to sense and get what is coming up next and this also allows people to be more drawn in as people.
The main thing common with these two directors is the light and the blue hues they use to get the many different effects and foreshadowing.
Blurb/Genre For Film Idea Shoot
Beethoven's Sense
Teen Horror/thriller
Musical instruments
Death song
Blurb
A hellbent location no house to be seen, a musical prodigy and a deadly song. One graduate takes it upon themselves to explore the bewildering plot of land where the Beethoven House once stood but between them only one will surpass the song. Music has never been so sinister. Controlling demons and twisted suicides.
Target Audience
With the audience I want to attract teenagers and young adults because the genre is teen horror and thriller. I would take the age rating for averagely 15+ as the film would be a bit too close to sensitivity for under 15 year olds.
The film/s that I feel will influence a certain reaction from the audience is 'The House At The End Of The Street' and 'Paranormal Activity' trilogy. They all have houses that people move into unsuspectedly and they have weird paranormal events occur around them.
Shoot One: Journey/Introduction to main character
Shoot Two: Park Location/Plot of land
Shoot Three: Main character meets demon
Shoot Four: Discovery of untouched basement/running away
With the photoshoot I wanted to explore the potential to start the opening of the overall film so I decided to start with a busy city and then go from there and give it and eery approach. I went to Canary Wharf and was using the main building entrance as the start of the whole scene. For this shoot I wanted to approach the overall concept with a technical approach and use the manual settings and the time of day to make the photographs minimal edited. I wanted to keep the aperture wide and to allow the most light in at the time of night.
With the positioning I wanted a fair few of long exposure shots and a few still shots with my model in them. I want to edit the images in a way that it shows the perspective of a demon looking at the victim so I wanted to get a blood shot eye and edit it so it is faded with the image coming through but also keeping the red and blue hue so it makes the whole horror feel more believable.
I want to also try experimenting with angles and light sources as then I can get a variety of different shots to choose from and edit.
With this shot I wanted to create a cinematic beginning and I wanted it to be a busy setting so I took the photograph from a high up angle above a large group of people at Canary Wharf and adjusted the ISO to be quite dark adjusting it to the 800 mark and then making the shutter speed pretty fast.
Then with the main idea I wanted to focus on the time on the front clock and have that in complete focus to give the time of day a visual effect and a very normal day by day effect on the viewers. This related to the horror genre by starting off normal.
With the photograph editing I adjusted the lighting on the whole shot on Photoshop and used curves to lighten the highlights and darken the shadowing areas as this allowed the photograph to still rely on the convention of horror genre movies.
I also edited the overall shot in the cinematic cropping so that it is a more suitable to the cinematic feel. The whole angle of this shot was successful as it gives off the normal vibe and the more city like environment but then this gives off a misleading effect of the whole film and takes the viewers mind off the whole 'horror' film aspect, so it allows suspense to the next shot to provoke a more exaggerated reaction.
Here I wanted to experiment with the angles and using new ways of editing. So I decided to take a long exposure shot of the people moving in and out of the building so we get a feel of time going by whilst also wondering why.
I then changed the overall hue of the image to a sinister red using a thin layer of red plastic that made me see visually a red person in the bottom middle which can be given to the whole effect of that person is the target of the image and the intentions here are not so clear as of yet.
I chose to edit the photograph with a cropped out eye I had from a older shoot and then over laid the blood shot part in the image so it looks like we are antagonist and we are targeting the person in the bottom.
The lighting for the image seems to be coming from the clocks that are centred in the frame and the lights on the street that illuminate tungsten yellow light.
The main idea here was to use a different perspective that is minimally seen in the average horror standard movie. I wanted to bring the antagonist to the front idea for the film and show them first.
Here I wanted to experiment with the dark lighting and then adding a hue of red on photoshop.The image was centred behind a tree so that we can see the model in the background of the image but they are not looking but they are more occupied doing something. The perspective is the demon/darkness looking at the target they would like to get hold of are what they are more intrigued by.
The lighting was dim and the only light source we had was what was left of natural light in the surrounding park. We kept the model in park for the effect of location.
The image was edited with each shadow and each highlight being a red tone then the contrast tool was used to add more depth in the image and creating more tones and more saturation of light, even though there was minimal light in the original photograph.
The setting was good for the first shoot as it all linked well to introduce both sides to the story, both the antagonist and the protagonist and the way their visuals are perceived.
This shoot allowed me to experiment more with Photoshop and my editing skills, allowing me more into the hue settings and the varieties of crop and replace productions.
With the second photo shoot I wanted to explore more of the location and more editing ideas so I can widen the range of ideas and potential styled shots.With this shoot I wanted to keep a close eye on the details such as positioning and props as most of the shots so far have been styled without certain props or anything designed to give off a intentional context/feel.
I want to take a few shots where the model is actually 'Researching' the location for them to visit and get the thrill of a horror house from. Maybe researching on the phone they have or even a shot of them looking at a laptop of some sort so it gives off a modern kick with a dark upcoming feel. The photographs would also be a mix of hues with purple/blue/red as the hues to work with as they connote well in horror movies to show upsetting times or just times of utter confusion. The main settings I want on the camera is manual dial then to have a open aperture for the dark feel then to have a quick shutter speed to make sure everything is in deep focus.
Here I chose to take a shot that directly links to what I was going for in my ideal plan. I took this photograph with the ISO of about 800 in the darkness then I made the shutter speed about 1/60 on our Nikon D3200 that we used.
The shot was done in the sunset time as then we got minimal light yet a natural blue tone coming from the blue from the sky. The natural blue from the sky allows us to edit more on Photoshop and even makes the editing process much easier which in turn creates a good initial photograph to the shoot.
The editing here was done on the two options colour balance and contrast tool. I had darkened the image slightly and made the high lights more prominent so that it is very eye opening and then positioned the cropping to be just as the head starts so that the eye of the viewer is free to roam around the whole image instead of just to one section.
The blue hue over the top was done on the colour balance tool as it allowed me to colourize the whole image in tones of blue. The context of blue here was done to allow the viewer to perceive that uncertainty that was coming the way of the model in the scene.
With this particular photograph I was experimenting with different angles of the model sitting and researching on the bench.
The front shot as seen here was a really good shot as it is imperfect which I really am attracted too. The model is slightly off centre of the frame which is a sign and alert to the viewer to think that the scenario is normal so people can then relate to this on a personal level which can create relaxation for a foreshadowing plot twist in the storyline.
With the editing I wanted something pretty simple in editing as the image was already an experiment, so I decided to go with a blue hue and darken the shadowing areas to give a more faded day feel as this then shows the change in day in the scene which allows the context to dramatically change for the whole scene here, the tone here also changes from the first image as this one is darker and becoming more purple and this could mean something is coming as a tone of red commonly means something is approaching and something is taking action in a horror film. The props used still stayed the same as it showed the models train of thought with researching locations.
With this image I wanted to create a sense of urgency and as though something was coming. The image is similar to the last image but the model is positioned to the left of the frame and is looking upwards towards the tree line so that they are keeping an eye out for something.
The image was taken with an ISO that is quite high so it allowed the darkness of the natural light's shadows to come through and then create light sections and very dark sections. The feel I am going for is a sinister 'watching over you' feel.
The way I edited the image was to use a more sinister tone of purple as the images of this shoot link together as the red tone in each shot gets more concentrated and each shot that leads up to a darker being forming around the model a little bit more of a red hint is then added to allow a context of 'something is coming' in this case being the demon.
The colour balance tool was used to change the hue and saturation of each sector of the image and then the contrast tool was used to dim the image and make it more darker and lighten the whites of the image. This image was successful and completed the overall scene and shoot.
Shoot three was where the action actually happens and where most of the editing takes place. I wanted to capture the pure essence of my model being petrified and shocked so I wanted to get a few on location horror shots of the model looking directly at the demon.
The camera settings are ideally to be set in the high end of ISO as the images need to be quite dark to get the sense of loneliness and isolation but the same time the image needs a bit of light to create a decent highlight on the model to show the shocked expression. The model is still to be wearing the same outfit as the other shots as the overall sense of the scene is to happen all in one time and day.
The way I want to edit the images are to be similar to the second image of my first shoot where we have a blood red shot and the eye shapes in the frame as then it gives the pure essence of horror and goes with the conventions of a typical horror genre film.
This is the first image of the two that I got sharp from the third shoot. This one shows the framing being central and the model being central and them turning quite drastically towards the camera as if they are looking at the demon directly in the eyes.
The camera settings for this particular image were quite simple but are manual and set up as the other shots are done as they were done with the same camera.
The light sources came from the right hand side and shines on the model from the right keeping the shadows on the left.
The way the image was edited was done by using the same image of the eye that I had used from the beginning of the overall shoot and then over lapped on the top of the original photograph. I paled the images red hue when used on colour balance tool so that it is not super intense and then from there I lightened the contrasts in the image as then the photograph comes out more lightened as the original image was too dark due to the ISO being too high and the aperture was too closed to allow minimal light in which I could have changed to a lower ISO around 600 and the aperture being more wide to allow more light in the lens.
The image we see here was taken with the ISO being higher than the image before and then used the lighting around the image as the main source to lightly light the models face. I then put the camera on a tripod so that the image would be equally stable in its spot as we did have trouble with the wind at the location.
The photograph gave off a really good cinematic dark feel and it looked like it was as though my model was being watched in the image so I wanted to use that as a design idea here to.
With the image finalisation I wanted to try the darkening with the hues of red and then apply the eye to be more sharp and evil in appeal so what I did first was play round with the hue and saturation then applied the colourise option to the image and this allowed me to fully transform the image into all red tones and red hues. The over laying image was then applied to the image and then I wanted to change the opacity to be quite light but still visibly intriguing so I made the red of the image more pink like the corners of the persons eye looking directly at the model in the centre of the stairs.
With the fourth shoot I wanted to experiment with movement of the model and the transition of a person moving in still images and how to easily portray the movement. I wanted to get a few action shots so in order to do that I planned to have a tripod ready and with every one image I want , I would need several images to choose from. This would allow my chances of finding a really good shot in at least one of the several taken. I would like to edit the images in a more sinister lighting as this would give the foreshadow-ment of the contextual side of the scene.
The model will be still wearing the same jacket as the other images as the whole film idea will take place in the same day so it gives the flow and consistency all the way throughout the creational process.
The editing would be hued with blue/purple tones as this allows the shot to be done in an emotional state of mind and there fore connoting towards the audience to show how the overall scene will be portrayed.
The first image of this shoot was done with the same settings with low light being let in but yet light still being there to give a bit of a highlight to the whites of the image.
The depth of field was initially take from a higher range but the model was completely in focus where as the surrounding walls and stairs were slightly out of focus.
This allowed me to give the effect of the model being a certain significant focus of the overall shot which I needed for the image to be a successful cinematic horror shot and to also meet conventions.
The editing for the image was done with a light touch up on Photoshop so that the contrast would be much more prominent to the depth of the image but the images shadows were also really darker once edited otherwise it would not match the very needed white tones.
Then I added the blue hues to the image so that it gave the more sad lonely feel to the model as it is the aftermath of the demon attacking her on the stairs but the same with the start of her possession that I also feel needed to come through with the context. The image was finalised with a use of the colourise tool to add the final blue hues.
The idea here was to grasp the movement from the first shot so here I wanted to take the models images whilst she moves further and further down the stairs and these also came out really strong in contrast as we had timed it to be when all the street lights come on and illuminate the blue fluorescent hue over the overall location. The image was positioned with the tripod facing down the stairs and the rail being off centre as the model is then seen off centre also, with the lines of the stairs they also lead our eye to her.
The image was initially to be edited with a darker blue hue as this then allows the context of a possession to take place in another shoot. I took the image and applied the blue hue as stated above and then allowed the contrast to be darker and more sinister feeling where the model is illuminated extremely well.
I then darkened the corners of the image slightly so that I could get some sense of direction to the eye to look directly at the model and not to stray away from the centre point where the model is positioned directly.
The lines give a leading feel to the viewer also in this case.
The image was created by using the same settings as the last photograph taken as it is easier t keep the consistency of light and the way the image is naturally lit from the world and location.
I kept the ISO really at about 600 so that the light was still quite strong so that the model was light in the image and stood out from the surrounding location.
The image came out the way I wanted which was good for that idea. The image was very well composed and had the model in the line of the railing.
With the images intention in mind I wanted to explore selected lighting and selected hue changing. So with the marquee tool I wanted to select the model and lighten them but ended up lighting the walls more the image was unsuccessful as it ended up being blurry and too light with the genres requirements not met.
I then realised the image was in a weird proportion with the model being off centre.
The original was more successful than the edited as it was only lightly lit and kept the whole aspect of horror lighting but the edited came off a tiny bit too dark and under exposed.
The final shot of this shoot was quite unsuccessful as the image was taken whilst the model was moving therefore creating a large blur of the model running behind a stair wall.
The image was really dark and made no sense as here I was trying to capture movement of the model going through the scared phase and as though they are running away from something evil or dark in this case the demon of the blurb.
The image had a good location but bad lighting and composition.
The image during editing was way too dark and I found it difficult to find perfect lighting using the contrast tool and the levels tools so I went ahead and darkened it as the lighter the tool size the more brighter the image got.
The lightened image ended up looking less horror based and more action and that is the wrong genre stereotype that I needed for my work.
The second thing that was difficult was applying the blue hue or even a red hue over the top as the image was unusually dark and the shadows and the darker parts were not turning blue and were turning darker.
Shoot Five: Musical Possession
With this final photo shoot I wanted to do some eye shots so that emotion and editing can be tested and then I can take the horror stereotypes of 'Possession' and twist my ideas of it with the musical blurb I had created. I will take the photographs with the camera on a wide lens and then crop it into a cinematic shot and edit it with found images and musical instruments.
I plan to make this scene short so only having two images of the eye with different lighting and different subjects of possession. One will be a change of the eye's pupil and turning into a black musical symbol but then the second one will be a eye that has musical instruments portrayed in it preferably a instrument that links to Beethoven as he is the main inspiration for the shoot.
The eye you see to the left was taken with the camera up close to the eye with a direct light set up to trigger when the camera takes the image.
I did a manual focus on the centre of the eye and the eyelashes to intentionally be a mix between focused and unfocused as then this allows the eye to have depth of field and then the viewers can have lines that lead directly to the eye to keep the people intrigued.
The image has slight definition in the way the tonal range hits the skin and then allows a slight highlight to appear which allows more feel to the image being action packed.
The editing was taking inspiration from 'The Gallows' where the girl gets locked in and then gets hung and dragged across the floor. She has a sinister look in her eye that gave off a good idea to put three patterned darkened cellos in the eye and then changed the opacity to hide within the eye yet made sure they still could be seen.
I then made sure the skin contrasted too the eye but selecting it separately and then using the contrast and levels tools to change the many highlights on the image.
The image was taken with the same settings and layout as the other image in this shoot and then I diffused the light a little bit more to make a more level skin colour with minimal flaws to edit the skin.
I then made sure the shadows of the lashes make the eye look more full and more wideneed so that the eye is definitely in the main focus of the overall shot.
I then made the model stand centre but look above the camera so that it looks like there is something happening over the other side of the camera and then the highlight of the skin makes it look like there was something so cary that there is sweat coming from the model which makes it more sinister and thought through.
With the edit I used the blemish tool to move the eyes around and then remove the pupil so that it allows the models eye to take the black from the symbol and use that as a false pupil to scare the viewers.
The idea behind the pupil being a musical note was the fact that Beethoven was a musician and I wanted to link that to the shoot.
I feel the shoot went quite well in intentions and the editing got my point across so I feel the only thing that I could do was create antagonist shots of the demon or something dark to diffuse the model I used.