Specialist Workflow
The True Detective
Moodboard: True Detective Brief
The Idea: My idea centres around the idea of 'mystery'. For this brief we are merging 3 or more images together and for this concept I have decided to shoot a background shot, a portrait shot and a landscape shot. My background shot will be crumpled old newspaper in order to base the image and show that my concept revolves around an unsolved mystery. My portrait shot will be of my classmates, Liam, and he will be looking upwards positioned to the left to create a serious look, since the role he plays in my concept is a person of close relation to the missing person and he takes it into his own hands to discover where the person is. Finally, for my landscape shot I plan to shoot a well-compositioned image of a single person walking down a mysterious back street, alleyway and this image will be merged into the portrait shot.
Analysis of image (below): I think this image holds a lot of mystery and intrigue to it - this can be deemed necessary for the type of photography it is which is advertising photography for a movie - movie posters need to be attractive and intriguing in order to achieve success. I like the clear Link in the photo by the use of both subjects in the image wearing a similar hat - this creates a sense of fluidity in the image. A clear aesthetic is maintained throughout this image which is the 1930's and this is clear through the clothing worn by the subjects and the faint image of a typewriter, an object commonly associated with the 20th century. The image being in black and white furthers adds to the aesthetic that runs throughout the poster and adds more contrast to the image, making the subjects stand out more against the white background. One could say the double exposure technique in this image creates quite a dramatic and theatrical look which makes for an intriguing and eye-catching movie poster.
Dan Mountford - Double Exposure series
“Mountford describes his double exposure series as "a visual journey through our minds by calm and tidy means which the reality of everyday life does not show”. The exposures are created ‘in-camera’. The process of creating his multiple exposures was developed by lots of experimentation with analogue film. Mountford looks for overexposed locations to use to mask his subjects from their background. His portraiture needs to be taken against a white background before exposing the second exposure to his background of choice.
Analysis of 1st image: I really the double exposure in this image - there is an interesting play with textures in this photo which creates a new outlook on how the techniques of double exposure can be used. I like the contrast in this image between the youthful, blooming subject and the old, decaying architecture - this contrast creates a narrative between the two merged images and therefore gives the image more depth and intrigue. I like that Mountford's image is in black and white because I feel this reflects the more classic approach he has taken to produce a double exposure image, which through the use of analogue film. I like the fact that the positioning of the building in the second exposure matches with the placement of the subjects forehead because this creates the idea that we are looking into her thoughts (the technique of double exposure could be referred to as seeing into another layer of someone).
Still life Post Production Tutorial
--> The Still Life Setup <--
The aim of this tutorial was to cut out the bottle in photoshop. To do this we simply used the pen tool and went around the bottle tracing it until we had cut the entire bottle out. After that we creating marching ants around the path of the bottle, then slightly feathered the bottle by '3' to create softer edges.
The final product: We used the pen tool again to cut out the bottle top and the label from another image, feathering both paths by '0.5'. We then worked with the ruler tool to make sure the bottle was straight. To create the background we used the gradient adjustment tool and started with white at the top that merged into a turquoise blue (colour picked from the lighter part of the bottle). For the final part of this edit, we pasted the bottle layer and flipped it then experimented with the blending modes to achieve a 'reflective' look and this was the final outcome...
My chosen portrait for True Detective:
Images used for True Detective:
Shoot Plan:
For my main image for my true detective composite I want to shoot down a quiet street and have my model walking away from the camera in centre shot, creating the look of a lost girl in the city. I have decided to shoot this image in Temple, London because there are many good side streets that tend to be quite quiet. I will go to my location in the morning to make sure its quiet. I like this location because I think the architecture is interesting and fits wells with my detective/ mystery narrative as it can link to the famous detective series 'Sherlock Holmes' which was set in late 1800s (the Victorian era) London where their stories were surrounded by the old London architecture, so I think it is a nice element and reference to have in my own work.
Contact sheet:
My final image:
This was my selected image from my shoot. I'm happy with composition of this image - I think my photo looks well by the fact that I have framed the shot so that my model is walking in the frame of the archway. I had my model walking away from the camera to maintain the mystery narrative I want to portray in my composite. my model wore a black outfit which I fell was fitting for my shoot because it makes her even more mysterious because in films the colour black is typically worn when wanting to blend in with crowds and not stand out and I feel this goes well with my narrative. the quiet street acts as a narrative as it suggests the girl is lost in an unfamiliar city and I think this is also reflected in the model's walk.
Shoot plan:
I want to take a picture of a dark street/ path for my true detective composite. I have planned to shoot this image on a day when the weather is quite bleak and rainy so I can get a darker more mysterious looking image which will flow well with the rest of my composite. I want this image to act as an insight into the narrative being portrayed in my complete composite - it will elude mystery and intrigue and look dark and gloomy adding to the detective storyline I am trying to achieve.
Contact Sheet:
My final image:
I'm really happy with this shot for my true detective composite. I chose to take this shot facing the lampposts so that I would achieve a shot with clear leading lines. I made this image very dark and contrast, however I think this works well because the light from the lampposts helps with the dark scene and adds the element of mystery to the image - dark streets are typically seen in detective narratives so this works well for my composite. I decided to edit my image to black and white because it increases the contrasted shadows therefore making the image more gloomy and intriguing, plus I feel editing to black and white accentuates and complements the London architecture and it works well in correspondence with a dark, rainy weather setting.
Shoot plan:
For this image I want to shoot a well-known spot in London, Leicester Square, but particularly the underground station so that I am able to include the place name in my image. I want the place name included to act as a clue within the detective narrative. I will make my image contrasted with a dark entrance into the underground to present the idea of entering the unknown. This picture will also act as an element that helps to identify where the narrative takes place and will therefore link the rest of the images together.
Contact Sheet:
My final image:
I like the contrasted lightness between the left half of the building in comparison to the right side - one could depict this as the contrast between good and evil, an ideal which is interesting to portray in my true detective narrative. I also really like the contrasted shadows in this image, especially the dark entrance because it looks to create a dark abyss which supports the mysterious detective narrative plus it allows for everything happening in the foreground to stand out. For the post production of this image I used the programme Lightroom - I have never previously edited with Lightroom however I found it interesting to look through the presets and see how each different preset can change the intent and effect of each individual image. I feel I achieved a good composition in my image with clear leading lines.
Shoot plan:
For this shoot I wanted to capture a landscape shot filled with many people that I plan to edit into the head of my portrait so it appears as if there is chaos in the model's head and it will look as if he is trapped in the chaos. I have chose to take this shoot in China town, London because it is a frequently busy part of London. I want a more contrasted image so that I can maintain the theme of mystery throughout my composite.
My final image:
This was the outcome from my shoot. On the day I took this shot It was luckily busy in China town so I was able to achieve the shot I wanted. I decided to stand in the middle of the path to achieve a well compositioned photo. I chose this shot as my final image where the main people of the shot are walking away from the camera because it makes the viewer feel as if they are a part of the crowd and the chaos. This image works well for my composite because the busyness of the image creates the idea of being lost in a crowd which therefore links to my true detective narrative of a detective mystery. I think the colours in this image may appear quite distracting and may divert the attention from the focal subject when edited into the full composite, so I think I will edit the entire portrait to black and white to have a more fluid look for my composite.
Editing Process for True Detective
Feedback -->
Editing post feedback:
To start I opened my image on photoshop then dragged the image onto the portrait shot. I have to make sure the image is above the layer of the cutout portrait shot otherwise the image won't appear inside the portrait.
After positioning the image to my liking I then created a layer mask and clip masked the layer, and I then clicked 'x' to invert so that I could begin using the brush tool to remove sections of the image and make the image look more blended In with the the others, therefore adding some dimension to the image. It was sometimes helpful to use the feathering tool to soften the edges of my images to create a more natural blend. After this I would toggle with the opacity which would aid in making the image appear more dimensional.
To change the background colour I clicked on edit, fill, then colour and chose my desired colour - I chose an off-white so that it wouldn't distract from the image itself and because my image is mostly black and white and then natural skin tones I felt an off-white colour would match well with the rest of the image.
When editing there was a small section from the models necklace affecting the complete cutout of the model. To solve this issue I used the path tool to cut around the section then i put the marching ants on. I then coloured filled the cutout around and used the colour picker tool to fill the area with the same colour as the background.
My Final True Detective Composite:
Analysis: This is my final outcome for the true detective project. I chose to have my images in black and white because it fits well with my narrative, 'mystery', and it allows for the entire image to flow better since there isn't any colours that can clash and look distracting. the photo of the girl in the middle is my focal point of the image as she acts as the 'mystery girl' the boy is searching for in my narrative, so I made this image larger in scale and placed it in the centre so that viewers would be instantly drawn to that element. for the two photos surrounding the girl I wanted them to be more faded almost resembling how memories are portrayed in movies. I wanted the photos around the girl to be of places to represent the idea of searching for someone and showing places that connect together to aid the search for the 'mystery girl'. I was very happy with the outcome of my portrait shot - my aim was to have my model present a serious gaze into the distance, mimicking the look of searching for someone and I feel this look was achieved.
