ADV. Digital Photo - After Effects

Plan of Action:

For my first project I plan to do the after effects editing project.  I kind of want to go in a direction of using portrait extension tools to enhance portraits of people to make them appear to be melting.  I took inspiration from works like Nik Ainley who did very similar works. 

Nik Ainley

I chose this image because I liked how even though it was edited, you could still tell the identity of the person.  I also liked how only the bottom part of her face was edited to give it a more realistic melting look.

Richard Hayward

I chose this image because I like the more liquid look in the editing.  Unlike the first, I like how this on looks more like water instead of looking more like liquid wax.  It gave me another way to possible create my melted look.

Zen Garage

I chose this image because of the simplicity of it.  Although it is physical art, I like how the face is only melted in strips so that the identity is still very real.  This type of effect conveys a depressed emotion because the art looks like tears.

My plan of action is to photograph males against a solid wall or simple background so that your main focus will be on the effects themselves.  I plan to use males because I feel that their faces and emotions photograph stronger and for something like this where only part of their face and identity is shown, I think that important.  I also plan to have my model(s) in black shits so that the bright colors do not distract from the effect as well. Ideally I plan to use three different guys so that each image in the series is a different face but time constraints may limit people's availability.


Think Tank 1:

For my first talk and collaboration with other students, I proposed my idea and they gave me some feedback.  Lexi said that it sound "pretty cool" and that she agrees that males may photograph stronger, however to keep options open.  I also talked with her about my plan of action in case this one becomes too tedious, and we agreed on the fact that I would probably "melt" half the face.  However I will probably end up going with what looks appealing.


Digital Contact Print:

For my fist digital contact print and project, I had photographed AJ and Grace, however I have only chosen to use the photos of AJ.  I tried to choose 4 different photos where he showcases slightly different emotion, and I plan to use these three or four for my series after editing them in photoshop. After conferencing with  Neils, I have chosen to use the three images where my model, Aj has a straight face.  We also talked about making the photos black and white to keep something standard in the series when the liquify would separate them.

Final Work:

Editing Steps:

Original Image

First I went through and did basic editing.  I removed the wording on the shirt and removed blemishes from the face that would distract from the overall work.  I also enhance the vibrance and contrast of the picture to create better colors.

Secondly, I used the liquify tool to create a melted look on most of the face except a thin strip.  I did this so that it would appear as if part of his identity was being melted away.

Lastly, I used a layer mask and reveal tool to hide some of the liquefaction and to the give the image a more realistically possible look.  I cleaned up the pointed edges and let more of his face be revealed.

Successes and Challenges:

Overall, I really enjoyed after effects as my first project in advanced digital.  I think i was successful in terms of creating my vision, as well as improving my photoshop skills through the use of blend modes and getting to try liquify.  Overall, one of my biggest challenges was liquefying the image in a way that was not too unrealistic in a sense of how things actually melt.  Another challenge was image resize without pixilating my image.  My last biggest challenge was after editing I had to change two of my images to use other people, but it was fairly simple to change.  However in all, I am proud of my final work that is being displayed.