Presentation of Images P5

Final Images

  'Axis and Allies' - US Advance

I feel this image would sell the product, as it uses a unique use of colour and style that also relate to the WW2 themes. The content itself also show what the product is about, which is what I wanted to achieve.

'Axis and Allies' - Bocage

For this image I aimed to create an intense action scene that would relate to the genre of the film, this indicates to the audience/consumer the content of the film and is therefore fit for purpose. I've used a shallow depth of field to draw attention to the character in the foreground although keeping both characters faces hidden to make the audience curious.

'Axis and Allies' - Airborne Theme

When shooting this image I intended to portray the loneliness of the soldier, to do this I placed him in the far left third to leave a large empty space purposely leaving the image unbalanced. To be consistent I had to apply the same effects as used on previous images, the effects I created were my take on a 'bleach bypass' and a 'crossed processed' look. As these stem from an old photographic effect when processing film where the  colours are desaturated and the blacks 'glow' black due to over-development of the film stock. I applied these effects to all of my other images with slight modification to compensate for changes in the images original look.

'Axis and Allies' - Face to Face

This poster was similar to the others in that I did not want to show the characters faces but still wanted to express which character was 'good' and which one was 'bad' I did this by using a shallow depth of field focusing on the U.S text on the bag. I wanted to show the genres of the film through the use of colour and mood so I have turned down the saturation and vibrance of the image using a cross processed and bleach bypass effect to make the image look like it was taken during the time period of the film.

'Axis and Allies' - US and Germany Theme

For this image I wanted to show the pro and antagonists in one single shot expressing the conflict between 'good' and 'evil' via the use of colour (green and red) and also iconography such as the German Iron Cross and the American star. The positioning of the characters was also very important I wanted both in the centre but to express who the film/games main character was I've place the American in front of the German.

'Axis and Allies' - Resistance and Liberation:

As this image is the main advert for the game I wanted to convey the main themes in one image.

To express these themes I used colour, symbols and also the images themselves all of which were fit for purpose. I aimed to use bright colours on the text to grab the audiences attention as the images had to have little colour in order to fit with the games theme.

'Axis and Allies' - Battle

This image was constructed to show the themes, genres and a main character all in one shot. The themes are shown by the mis-en-scene e.g the scenery, props and costumes while the colour hinted at the films genres. Like other images I've left the image unbalanced to create a sense of loneliness and silence. 

'Axis and Allies' - US Main Theme 1

'Axis and Allies' - US main Theme 2

For both these Images I wanted to create a poster similar to recruitment posters from WW2 by using large and colourful text to attract the audiences attention. I also blacked out the soldiers face so to express a message of their being an 'empty' space in the army.

I have made two versions of this image as one had more of a wintery theme than the other due to the white background, while the green background was more appropriate as green is a colour usually related to the army and specifically the US army due to the colour of their uniform.

Examples of Display:

Edit Photographic Images P4

Basic Photoshop Tools

For editing my images I have used a wide range of Adobe Photoshops tools to digitally enhance my original images.

Fitness for Purpose

For all my images I have created a template to keep for consistency, this is to do this brand recognition so consumers can remember the brand/game I'm advertising. The style of the images are also very important as and match the product I'm advertising. As I'm advertising a WW2 movie I have made images darker and desaturated colours which give the images a cold feeling this was enforced by the blue tint. I also applied a slight grain on the images as this relates to the period in which the film is set. 

1. To create the cinematic effect I have replicated the 16:9 aspect ratio with a 1080p resolution to do this I have compiled my entire composition into one folder inside Photoshop, then added a vector mask to the folder. 

2. To remove the areas that I didn't want I selected the rectangular mask tool and made a selection across the top of the image, measuring the size of the rectangle with photoshops guidelines (cmd+H)

3.  I then filled this area with black (on the vector mask) revealing the alpha layer behind, this allowed me to crop the image without actually deleting the cropped area allowing for more flexibility when framing characters, this is called a non-destructive mask. To create the same effect at the bottom of the image I dragged the selection down and repeated the process.

4. To create the black layer, I created a new layer using the paint bucket tool (g) to fill it with black. I then moved it below the main composition folder.

Masking

Before inserting the images of each character into the main composition I had to mask them out of their original scene. 

1. First I selected the Pen tool 

2. Secondly I masked around the character I wanted from the scene then right clicked and selected ‘make selection’

3. This made a selection around the area I masked. To copy this area I used the shortcut cmd+c then pasted the image with cmd+v creating a new layer.

Compositing my main poster

This video demonstrates how I constructed my main poster through the use of layers.

                                          

Creating the text

The look of the text went through 3 stages of development all these included choosing the typeface, size, colour and design of the title.

Prototype 1:

This was the first design I used for my main poster and was made up of two texture layers and a text layer. [1]

I have used blending options to create the bevel effect on the texture and the drop shadow on the text.[2]

However due to the background texture this design gave me very little flexibility when placing it on the poster leading me to remove it and leave just the text.

Prototype 2:

My next design was inspired by the poster of ‘fury’ with the bright yellow text which contrasted brilliantly against the dark saturated image behind. After looking at more similar themed posters I decided to apply a grunge layer over the text to make it look ‘dirty’ fitting with the theme of the film/poster.

1. To overlay the grunge image over the text I changed the textures blending mode to ‘overlay’ then duplicated the layer to emphasise the effect .
   

This led me on the experimenting with letters to make a unique logo (brand recognition) resulting me replacing the X in Axis with a Swastika, which was suitable as it relates to the WW2 theme and lets the audience understand who the bad guys are.

Prototype 3:

However after applying the text over my image I found the text contrasted too much from the actual image causing it to become too much of a distraction. To adjust this I used a gradient overlay on the blending options to to darken the text, also by making the the word ‘Axis’ red it conveys the message of the ‘axis’ as being evil making it fit for purpose.

Leading to the final result:

Grunge Effect:

To create the effect I wanted on my images I have used a grunge texture to give the rough/dirty style of the image. 

To apply this effect I have imported the texture from finder:

Once importing the image into my document I have placed the layer above my image

and then applied the 'overlay' blending mode which both multiplies dark areas and screens light areas at the same time, so dark areas become darker and light areas become lighter. Anything on the layer that is 50% gray completely disappears from view, this has the effect of boosting image contrast.

 Without:

With:

Colour Correction

To fit the themes and genre of the poster I needed to tone down the saturation and vibrance of my images but also increase contrast and sometimes lightness.

To do this I have created adjustment layers that affect these factors individually.

To allow an effect to affect a layer I have placed it above the layers I want it to affect.

To have an effect make changes to the image I have used the effects properties tab to change its values e.g I have reduced the vibrance and slightly increased saturation.

Blending Options:

To create the effect such as this glow effect I have used the layer styles menu

This allowed me to change the values of the glowing and it's colour etc.

Editing my Images

P3 (a,b,c)

15 Best Images from Photo shoot

A) Skills in Composition

B) Skills in Controlling image exposure, focus and using lenses

C) Skills in using lighting

Fitness for Purpose:

My poster's have been designed to promote an upcoming game/Movie based in Western Europe during WW2. To make the posters suitable for their purpose, I've included the correct props, clothing and mis-en-scene to fit the era but I've also made sure to choose a fitting location e.g plenty foliage, mud and natural landscape to make the scene look like the bocage in northern France.
To get the cinematic effect I wanted to create I've used a shallow depth of field to draw focus on the pro and antagonist.

1.

For this image I wanted to draw the audiences attention to the model, so I placed him in the centre third of the image. I chose the 85mm lens for this image as it was the widest angle lens I had and as I wanted to capture the model and his surroundings giving a natural look to the image. As the model wasn't moving and I used a tripod I set my cameras shutter speed to 1/200 this meant that there would be no motion blur and more light. It also allowed me to use a higher aperture so to control the light levels but also it also meant I had a full depth of field retaining the natural feel. As previously mentioned we purposely shot these images on an overcast day so the light was balanced and didn't contrast as much as direct sunlight.

2.

3.

This image was taken with the 250mm lens as I wanted to zoom in on the character from a distance as it gave me more flexibility when capturing the characters environment. When framing the image I had the rule of thirds in mind so placed my character in the right third creating a large unbalanced open space drawing the viewers attention to the character. To emphasise this I lower my shutter speed to 1/200 to capture motion blur from the trees and created a shallow depth of field with my aperture setting of 5.6 these settings were also chosen as to create the diffuse lighting effect I wanted to capture.

 4.

For this image I had to adjust the shutter speed, ISO and aperture to ensure the image wasn't overexposed due to the high levels of light from the sky, this also meant I could capture more detail in the shadows of the clouds and clothing. I used the 55mm lens as it was the most suitable for framing the image as it captured my models upper body and the sky. When taking this image I made sure to consider the rule of thirds to have my model stand out from the background by placing him in the foreground of the left third, by focusing on him this really made him stand out contrasting from the empty unfocused space in the distance which I plan to photoshop planes into. I also chose to shoot on this day as it was an overcast day perfect for lighting as it's well balanced light and not too bright, so doesn't ruin the dramatic effect.

 5.

For this image I was experimenting with the composition taking the image from a low angle I felt that taking the image from this perspective would represent the character as I wanted to portray strength and bravery. Thanks to the natural diffused lighting on that day I could also use the sky as a plain background, however as there was small dark patches among the clouds I set my Aperture to 4.5 and Shutter speed to 1/400 so to remove these details, but not over expose the entire image.

I chose to use the 55-85mm lens so I had more flexibility when composing the image as I could zoom in and out and adjust the focus.

 6.

 7.

When composing this Image I kept in mind the contrast between the colour of the bushes in the foreground and those in the background as they create a leading line splitting the image in half as the darker bush dominates the upper third of the image. The soldier in the image also stands out as his  face and weapon contrast from the rest of the image. This time I used the 55-250mm lens so I too could hide in the bushes and zoom in on the model giving the effect of someone watching him. As this was taken on an overcast day it gave me the opportunity to experiment with a wider range of camera settings however for this image I wanted to keep with the style for continuity reasons so I decided to set the Shutter speed to 1/800 in order to draw out the shadows and also compensate for any motion blur. To ensure the image wasn't too dark I set my aperture to 5.6 to allow more light in but also to retain the 'washed-out' effect.  

 8.

In this image my models posture was most important to me and I spent a while organising my models to exactly how I wanted to see them in the frame, as I wanted to create a well defined split down . I decided to not use a tripod as I felt I wold have more flexibility without and since I used 55-85mm lens I could zoom in and out. As the models had to hold the pose for a while with heavy props I decided it was better to use a high shutter speed so any movement would appear frozen however this made the image too dark so to lighten it I reduced my aperture to a point in which I had a balance between a shallow depth of field and appropriate lighting. 

 9.

 10.

11.

In this image I wanted to draw the most attention to the US soldier, to do this I placed him in the foreground of the lower left third and used a low aperture to gain a shallow depth of focus on his weapon as it is a leading diagonal line which is very clearly pointing towards the other soldier. The positioning of the soldiers creates an emphasis on the distance between each model as the space is large and blank showing there's no emotion between the two characters emphasised by the fact the soldier in the background is out of focus.

12.

For image 12, 13 and 14 what I was trying to achieve technically was a very similar effect for example I used a low aperture to create a very shallow depth of field to create a focus on my foreground. However to counteract the darkness of the low aperture I had to use a very low shutter speed which meant I had to hold the camera very still. In affect this created a different look to these image than previous photos as there is more emphasis on the highlights giving a lighter appearance.

13.

For this image I composed my models in more natural stances and placed them in the left and centre thirds to show a separation between the two models emphasised by the shallow depth of field.

14.

15.

The idea for this image was to emphasise the characters loneliness. To do this I used various techniques to frame the image such as placing the character in the far right third to reveal the large empty expanse ahead of him. I also composed the shot so that the horizon lined up with the lower third putting emphasis on the characters head as it contrasts from the sky as opposed to the ground.

For this image I used the 55-85mm lens as it gave me increased flexibility as I could zoom out  however I did have to adjust the the shutter speed and the aperture to ensure that the lighting was correct and consistent with my other images.