Rukshan Pattiya - Portfolio Project

Rukshan

Pattiya

GCSE Photography

Portfolio Project

Initial Ideas

Alice in wonderland

My Theme for this project is going to be:

I have chosen Alice in Wonderland as i think that this movie has many scenes that were very interesting and it fascinates me when i watch behind the scenes of this movie as it reveals that the whole movie was just a piece of art created by film editors combined with help of camera coordination and a few human actors. This concept that many of the characters in thew movie are not real amazes me and this is why i have decided to try replicate some of the master works that are in this movie

My interpretation of this is:

Now i believe that this moviwe was created to allow an imagination/dream world to be viewed by many people and the way real humans and characters that are not real interact captures the viewers attention. Like what if the queen f hearts actually existed and was not just a mere imagination or movie which supposedly isnt “real”

The Artist’s I have chosen are:

Tim Burton, Ceres Henry and Alberto Seveso. These 3 artist all have very different approaches to the way the capture art through their lens but I believe they can all be incorporated into the theme of Alice in Wonderland and they will all come together in my final piece allowing me to create a film that has all their arts and Alice in Wonderland but most importantly I am going to put my own spin to it by trying to merge other artists with these three.

My Research

My first link is a webpage about the first ever Alice and Wonderland and ive started here be cause i want to know how alice in wonderland came to be and how the story derived and evolved over the generations leading to the work famous movie and book “Alice in wonderland”

Link 1

I have chosen my second link because i wanted to understand what alice in wonderland actually stood for and these characters werent carelessly constructed but however were created to have very subtle symbols that are easily overlooked but if you actually try to think about the characters it reveals a deeper meaning

Link 2

My third link is a short youtube video that reveals the behind the scenes of alice in wonderland exposing how it was filmed the props the cameras and this allowed me to truly understand how this master peice was created using the help of cgi and the marvelous invention of green screening

Link 3

"Off with their heads!"

Artist 1

Tim Burton

Introduction

I have chosen to study the photographer/ filmmaker Tim Burton
I picked them because he is a famous film maker making many world wide known movies which he was the master mind of and coordinated them to create the master peices.

Analysing a piece of their of work:

The creator of Alice in wonderland Tim Burton, has a unique and captivating way of portraying his character. Many of his characters seem to be ‘crazy’ or inhumane. Most of his famous work consists of characters that have colourful outfits and creative patterns. Alice in wonderland has been demonstrated in a mix of reality and the fantasy world. This creates an atmosphere where the viewer can be absorbed into the action shown in the movie due to how realistic the movie is.

Technical analysis:

How you plan to respond to the Artist

Taking both Tim Burton and Tim Walker into consideration I would take their concept of having ‘crazy’ characters and replicate this by having a model fall down a ‘rabbit hole’ while they reach out for a playing card which represents the queen of hearts character.

To do this I would need either a black screen or green screen behind the model while the lay on a stool imitating Alice falling down a hole. I would need a card held by string above the model. Aswell as this I would need lighting directly facing the model downwards (birds eye). To do that I would need either someone to manually hold the light or use a long stand to place the light.

The work has been edited in Photoshop to create a affect that alice is falling down a rabbit hole this was most likely done by the model either being held by ropes and suspensed over a floor or more simply down on a stool infront of a green screen but most likely on ropes as the models hair is dangling in a very realistic way which will only be achieved by being lifted by ropes
In this work the camera has been focused on the model dressed as alice and a hard light has been placed ontop of the model to create the effect of both depth and the illusion there is a hole alice has fallen from i believe the lighting affect from the hole was most likely done in photshop whilst the light that is already on the model has been done by physical light shun on her.
The artist has used medium Aperture to create a perfect view of alices whole body. Small Depth of Field and I can tell this because the image is very clear and most likely been taken from a medium distance allowng the photographer to capture the whole body.

What Kind of Mood does the photo have?

Most of tim burton’s art is fiction uses a evil sinister mood to each of his characters. Most of his characters are very mono tone colors that do not pop and give a ‘dead’ feel to the characters or models. The mood is created so cleverly by tim burton as he constructs each character carefully by giving them a unique character trate or appearance to represent as certain mood or idea for example in the bottom right we have a school student in a movie made by Burton and it has charecteristics like wide eyes black eye bags around the eye and dull colour which all evoke the sense of depression and sadness and that is what the studen is in the movie due to his dog dying

What was the Photographer’s intent?

Tim Walker a British fashion photographer which like Tim Burton has a interesting approach on his work. He has the same concept that Burton has which is making his pictures looking ‘crazy’ or ‘random’. As well as being unique Walker allows his picture to evoke the viewer to ask questions about the piece he does this by creating abstract patterns and uses peices of clothing with unique textures you will not see in your day to day life. This works amazing because it keeps the viewer wanting to see more as there is so much to uncover in one photo as he involves lots of different hings in his art to keep the viewer engaged and he also does this by not having a clear subject to the photo almost letting the viewer decide what the subject may be therefore increasing the popularity of his art.

Here i will have a dark background to recreate the “hole”that alice is falling in it will also allow me to manipiulate the background to how i want it

I will have a light ontop of my model to recreate the light shining down on alice as she falls i will go on photoshop and make the light brighter to make it pop more

My Response

To Artist 1: Tim Burton

Introduction

How you plan to respond to the Artist

My Contact Sheet

These are my unedited photographs from my artist photoshoot

My Three Edits

Edit 1

firstly i had to alter the brightness and contrast settings of the raw picture so i went onto image then adjustments and lowere the brightness down abit as myt picture was too bright but i did increase the contrast to make the colour of the models dress pop out more. I then used the quick select tool to get a rough cut out of the model however i had to then do the fine detailing as the tool didnt accurately cut out the fingers or hair so i used a tablet and pen with the eraser tool to slowly erase any parts i did not want and used the magic healer tool to restore any parts i needed. I used a soft bruish on the hair due to the fine strands being very hard to crop. Once i did that i created a new layer and placed a dirt background to represent the hole alice is in and then with the painting tool i used the colour white in a new layer i put down the opacity of the paintbrush to make it less harsh and the created a light source coming from ontop of alice i then had to do this method on a new layer but with the colour black and the lowered opacity to recreate a shadown underneath alice to create a sense of depth

Edit 2

1.I had to straighten the background by warping the picture this allowed me to straighten out the red back board making it in line and symmetrical.

2.I then changed the brightness and contrast making the face pop as the hard light refelects of the skin allowing for all the features to be visible.

3. I used a queen card and changed the aperture and focused the image on the models face. This creates a depth and makes the model seem further away and giving the viewer some sort of guidlined to where their eyes should be brought to which is the models face this is done by thr lines of the cards going inwards towards the face and also this card aligns with the theme of alice in wonderland representing the queen of hearts in the movie

Edit 3

I used photoshop to edit this image and ive done this by importing the image and firstly i copied the image into a new layer and then hid layer 1 so i can have a referce of the unedited image. I then had to resize the image to get a even closer up of the cakes and flowers to get more detail and so i used the crop tool to resize the image to fit the small plate. The brightness of the image was way to low and so the image was quite dull so i went on to image adjust and used the brightness and contrast tool to increase the brightness and i also increased the contrast by 30 i then changed the ibrancy of the image. Doing this allowed me to make the different colours of the individuals cakes pop out more and made them more vibrant. I then wanted certain parts of the cake to look more defined so used the select tool and selcted parts which i wanted more defined like the cake texture and parts of the flower and then i put this into a new layer and then changed the original layer to be abit blurry whilst the parts i wanted more focused remained unblurred this allows me to manipulate where the reader looks and where the centre of attention is. On this new layer of the selected parts i also further changed the contrast and brightness just to add a little more of a pop to all the colours and the cakes unique texture.

Artist 2

I have chosen to study the photographer Ceres Hendry a famous artist who uses a unique style of expressing his images using face paint and flowers/nature. His unique approach to face potraits is why i have choosen to to try recreate his art but also create it using my own style which is not exclusively using a black model. He also uses very vibrant colours which oppose the models or backgroud which are a dull black and white colour

Ceres Hendry

Analysing a piece of their of work:

Ceres henry decides to take a very

Interesting approach to taking photos by using the juxtaposition of

The colour of his models which are mainly black models and the colour of their face paint which is white or colours which are very vibrant and pop when in contrast with the black skin tone. Using natures flowers it gives a more realistic view on the photo as natural colours that are found in the wild are used. He uses flowers that have very vibrant colours and that reoresent different emotions for example roses symbolise love. In nearly all of his art peices he uses a hard light that creates a visble contrast and shadow with the models skin colour revealing the models smooth skin texture.

Technical analysis:

I think that this work was probably taken using a tripod, camera, lighting, fake flowes, model, solid coloured background, clear gels, face paint
The artist has used studio. The direction of the light is coming from the subject's either left or right depending on the photo as he likes to change the direction each time. He has also mostly used harsh light which refelects alot of the models skin but i also think he may have used some sort of clear gel and has done this to get a more exaggerated reflection of the light on the models skin to make the texture of the skin pop more
The shadows in the work are sharp so they have not used a filter to create soft light this is so they get a harsher reflection on the models skin.

The work has been edited in Photoshop to create a contrast between colours but to also make certain parts of the photo more vibrant than other for example the flowers are always more vibrant and abit unrealistically vibrant which he will have one by selecting the flowers and putting them into a new layer to individually alter the brightness and contrast and most probably the hue to make the colours abit more colourful
In this work the camera has been focused on the the models skin on the face and flower.
The artist has used a medium Aperture to create a Medium Depth of Field. I can tell this because i can clearly see the models and it is crisp however there is still a shadow in the background.

I can tell that Hendry has also used a slow Shutter Speed because he wanted a clear and crisp photo with no image blur and to do this he probably need a 1/1000 shutter speed.
It would have been best for them to use a big ISO like 6400 to take this work because a very bright image allowing alot of light to enter the camera capturing alot of details and a clear image.

What Kind of Mood does the photo have?

I think the work feels exiting and also has a capturing ability due the vibrant colours used.
The colours used in the work are very different as for the human model is drained of all colour and is always in black and white but they have face paint which are very colourful which contrast the dull coloured skin and coupled with the bright colourful plants that are placed neear the models face creates a balanced amount of coulour even though the model is black and white
The people are always looking away from the camera as if they are trying to avoid ever contact and their faces are always shifted slightly at an angle away from the camera as if their looking at something else that has drained all their emotions and colour out of them.

What was the Photographer’s intent?

From first looking at it, I thought the work was about nature and how colourful it is compared to humans and how we have become stripped of all life and colour and have become very dull compared to the beauty of mother nature and flowers.
When Googling Hendry’s work, I have found that they made this work because not only did he want to expose the beauty of nature and its colourful brightness but also wanted to shine light on the beauty of the black colour of people and how it has been negelected in fashion and art but now it has slowly risen and he has aided in this by shining light on the beauty of the skin colour of darker coloured people and how it is so contrasting to colourful colours found in nature

My Response

To Artist 2: Ceres Hendry

Introduction

Ceres Hendry typically uses a black models with a very monotone skin colour in order to utilise thier skin colour and contrast it to the vibrant colours she uses with her face paint. So therefore i will use a black model but i will also use two white models and a brown model in order to include and visualise every skin colour and see how they come out. I will use a camera and tripod coupled with a ring light that will brighten my subject. For three of my pictures my model will be facing forwards making sure their face is symmetricla in the phot whereas in the fourth picture my model will look to the side and not be looking at thge camera in order to get a different perspective.

My Contact Sheet

These are my unedited photographs from my artist photoshoot

My Three Edits

Edit 1

1. I copied the picture and put this into a new layer ontop fo the original layer.Then I turn the picture black and white by pressing ctrl shift u and then I added a layer mask so if I make a mistake I can go back I also changed the brightness and contrast so the colours seem more vibrant on the original picture but i also did this on the black and white picture to make the eye more white and make is more dull over all.

Edit 2

2. I then used the erase tool and choose the soft brush to colour in all the flowers by erasing the layer on top and exposing the coloured image behind it on the original layer,making the flowers and any any plant seem colourful whilst the rest of the image remained black and white this created a massive contrast between the model and the plant used from the image.

Edit 3

Edit 4

Artist 3

Alberto seveso

Introduction

I have chosen to study the photographer Alberto Saveso
I picked them because he used two or more colours to create a ‘magical’

picture with the two colours fusing together and creating new colours but also captured these images in water and this will never have been seen if it wasent captured on a camera as the human eye is not fast enough to process the falling of ink and it fusing in the water

Analysing a piece of their of work:

The subject matter of the work to the right is the ink falling in the water
Seveso has paid particular attention to Compositional Rules in this work, he has used symmetry to make a asthetically pleasing image and has used the compositiona rule of colour using to two apowing color teal and pink to create an interesting contrast. They have intentionally used Symmetry and made the ink the centre on attention
The effect of using this snatches the attention of the viewer and captures the ink perfectly. It also does this by intruiging the viewer as the ink creates a unique texture underwater that is captured in such detail by the camera and the fusion of the colours as it falls is also captured which creates an explosion like image but with colours which is very different from how our eyes view ink falling into water as our eyes just see a splash and that is it but however it is so much more intersting then that if it slowed down and captured and zoomed in so we can see exactly whats happenning to the ink as it falls into the water.

My Response

To Artist 3: Alberto Seveso

Introduction

I have analysed Alberto Sevesos’s art and a majority of his art uses a variety of colours some monotone some vibrant but they all have the same outscome of magic as they interwine with eachother and create different colours. The ink in water creates a unique texture which i will be focusing on with my project. I will be using one colour for the ink instead of two. My response to his art is a unique video of ink dropping in water and my final repsonse will be a animation of spirals rotationg around the ink as it falls in the water. to do this i will use symmetry as my composition and will need a tripod in order to do this i will have a white background and will have a boxlight in order to brighten the subject and so that it will also not be too bright and the light refelection wont be visible in the video. I will need to start the video and ask someone to start pouring the ink at the same time slowly in order to create the unique texture Alberto has mastered to create.

My Contact Sheet

These are my unedited photographs from my artist photoshoot

Edit 1

My Edits

First of all i turned the raw image to black and white and cropped the image so the model is in the centre of the photo. I then i used the selection tool and slowly cut out his figure and curly hair with a feathered brush to maintain the natural hair look. Then i cut out the models head and duplicated that layer and then proceeded to cut a part of his head and used the polygonal lasso tool to create a “hole” at the top of the head where the head is cut and this joined with the gradient tool to create depth creates a realistic depth that the models head is cut off. I the repeated those steps on the upper part of his head on a different layer. I also coloured in his glasses and filled it in with a gradient tool to create a cool pattern. After this i put a water ink droplet that is inspired by niels dart that goes through the models cut head. I then added many shapes to create a dynamic image and added some texts

Edit 2

I decided to take a video of red ink falling through water and for this i used a water tank and i set up my camera on a tripod so the centre of the water tank will always be in focus and not changing. I then dipped my finger in the water tank and positioned my camera to find where the ink will fall and with this i asked someone to pour the ink the position and i videoed it. Once i had gotten the clip i cropped out the tank so it looks like ink is falling in air and then i took this video and exported it to photo shop and used video frames to layers and had 120 frames to work with and with this i started drawing with an i-pad on each frame slowly adjusting the lines to go around the ink as it falls this creates a cool animation of a line rotating around the ink as it falls through the air

My Plan

Development One

My Contact Sheet

These are the unedited photographs from my Development 1 photoshoot

My Dev 1 Outcome

I imported the video to photoshop as image to layers creating lots of individual

layers to work with and i then altered the brightness of the images in the video by using the adjustment tool and changing the contrast and brightness. With this i had 120 frames from the video which i cut down to 90 and then i drew with an i-pad on each frame slowly adjusting the lines to go around the tie creates a cool animation of a line rotating around the tie and i also created tears falling down my eye with red paint to represent blood this creates a contrast with the white eye and red paint. After i had this clip all animated i went onto premier pro and added a glitch affect which made lines stutter along the screen creating a glitchy affect

Development 1

My Editing Process

Development Two

My Plan

My Contact Sheet

These are the unedited clips from my Development 2 video

My Dev Outcome

My Editing Process

Development 3

Firstly i had to import a video of ink falling in a water tank and imported the video using photoshops video to image layer and then i selected all the layers and changed the brightness and contrast of all the layers using the adjusting image tool then i individually drew on each frame the line spiraling around the ink i did this by using the paint brush tool and a ipid and pen to make the strokes more natural and smoother. I drew a black line and slowly made it go around the ink and then went back and re did the same thing with a white line to contrasts the two colours and to make the lines pop out more. The colour black contrast the red ink and then to make the lines more visible i used the colour white to contrast the black lines and the red paint.

My Plan

Development three

My Contact Sheet

These are the unedited clip from my Development 3 video

My Dev 3 Outcome

Development 4

My Editing Process

For this clip i took i imported the video to photo shop using video to image layer and then i selected all the layers and changed the brghtness and contrast of all of them using the image adjustment tool. Then i used the i-pad to individually draw on each frame a line going up and swirling around the two trees with the paint brush tool set to a hard brush with max opacity. I used red again to maintain the idea of blood idea and i also saw that there were posters on the wall at behind the trees and drew a line outlining them using the colour white which contrasted the dark background which gives an illusion that the posters are popping out and also puts attention to the background and the unique texture of the wall and painting

Development four

My Plan

My Dev 4 Outcome

Development 4

My Editing Process

For this clip i took i imported the video to photo shop using video to image layer and with this i used the i-pad to individually draw on each frame a line going up to the door and then back to as a swirl i kept the same color red to give a message of blood throughout the whole final piece video ( i still need to add to this page)

Development five

My Plan

My Dev 5 Outcome

Development 5

My Editing Process

For this small video i had to video myself screaming in a water tank with the camera viewing my face from the bottom of the tank. I imported this video to photoshop using video to layer and photoshop created around 70 layers for me to edit on and draw on. I used the i-pad to draw on every frame individually drawing different shapes coming out my mouth as i screamed creating an affect that i’m vomiting shapes underwater. I used different colours for each shape and this creates a contrasts and catches the viewers eye. I also increased the brightness of the video so my face was more visible and i made the contrast less because i was aiming to make the surrounding darker so the colourful shapes were highlighted even more .

Final Outcome

My Contact Sheet

These are the clips from my Final Outcome Video

Final Outcome

My Editing Process

RAW VIDEO

I took a video of my model and a photo of him in the same position i then imported the video to photo shop using the video top image layer and this created 90 layers that i used. I then went on to some layers and drew glasses on different colors popping up on his face and then i used the ipad to individually draw the line spiraling around the finger and going up the nose and then i created tears and slowly filed the eye frame by frame to create an illusion of the model becoming possessed. After i had done this i went back to the start where the image was still and this was going to be my vogue cover that came alive. I cut of the models head and made it pop up and filled the bottom to give the illusion that the head has detached and after this i added many different compositions to the background and gave a title to the photo. Finally i had to make it so the head came back to the neck and became attached again and so i had to individually move the head on each slide to make it look like it attached again.

My Final Outcome

Final Outcome

My Editing Process

For this video montage i decided to use the famous Luduvico song and i picked this song because i believe it displays a thousands emotions with no words and the beat of the music changes to express many emotions.With my development clips that i edited i used them to create a longer video and also took many small videos around my every day and used the to tell a story of a boy (alice)

who is stuck fighting his emotions in school and has no-one to go to and so he is in a constant fight with his own mind

I used all my edited clips and synced every clip individually to the changing beat and beat drops in the song. Firstly i had to get lots of filler clips where they will be displayed where the music is in suspense or slowly pacing up. i then organised my clips putting the less intersting ones where the tempo was slow and then the interesting clips where the tempo got fast. used a camera affect at the start of the video when i opened the alice and wonder land book and also used it when i ended to link it all together at the end. Throught out the video i used a changed the brightness to abit lower to create a sad tone and also made some scenes almost black and white to represent the depression or whats going on inside alices mind. I used a glitch affect to and i also imported a glitch sound and the placed that short sound where the glitches will be and those glitches will show the faces of the people i edited in the style of hendry and ive done this as those images link to alice and wondrland and how nature is a key them in it so those glitches are just flashbacks of characters in the underworld where alice used to live but now is in the huma realm stuck in dull and colourless life and that is why i kept those images in colour to contrast the difference in colours. For some clips like when i was walking and the camera was panned at my feet walking i slowed the clip down to create a sense on time slowing down as the tempo there is slow paced and it is building suspense making the viewer think why is it slowly walking?

My Final Outcome

Project Statement

My Theme

My portfolio project explores the theme of Alice and wonderland
Within this theme I have chosen to focus on the crazy/colorful and nature

theme which is shown through out Alice in wonderland

This theme comes through in my work by not only by my final development which has some nature showing through but also some of the scenes have color and iv’e Incorporated my pictures with flowers and Ruph mercy video style.

Alice in Wonderland

My Artist Responses

I have been influenced by the artists Tim Burton, Ceres Henry and Alberto Seveso.
Ceres Henry has inspired my work by his unique approach of face portraits with flowers which link to Alice and wonderlands nature involved scenes. I have also used the images that i edited and used the in my final piece as flashbacks that the student who is imitating Alice is having. This allows me to link everything together.
Alberto Saveso has inspired my work by his unique art which uses ink and water which has a very weird texture look. I have created the “crazy” aspect of Alice in wonderland by putting the ink drops inside the face. I have also used a video of the ink falling in water in my final piece to recreate blood falling in water allowing me to use Alberto in my final piece

Tim Burton has inspired my work by his way of taking portrait photos of models wearing crazy outfits and you can see this by the way I have recreated a portrait photo of Alice holding a Queen of hearts card representing the Queen in Alice in wonderland and used Burton‘s use of a small box like area where he takes photos.

Developments

My development work is videos which are trying to depict a journey right Alice is taking in school.
In development 1 I took a video of the person who is playing Alice in my video and I animated tears falling down their eyes. I think I animated the short clip wel using the colour red to suggest blood however the clip and animation did happen really fast but I did manage to extend the clip in my final piece. Next time I am going to try make the clip longer and perhaps make tears from both eyes.
development 2 I took a video of ink in water and again used the colour red to carry on the theme of blood. I did make two lines a black line which did not pop out as much so decided to animate another line but white so the two colours contrasted. I also thickened the lines to pop out more. Perhaps next time I can do two different colours falling into the water or an increased contrast and more patterns swirling around the ink.
In development 3 and 4 I took clips of the surrounding to have clips to represent the journey. In development 3 I used the colour white to contrast the darker lighting and pop out more. In development 4 i used animated the lines to guide the viewers attention. In both developments however i think i could have added more lines and shape perhaps.
My development 5 is in my opinion the best as i had to get a clip o myself screaming in water to suggest m drowning and then animating the shapes coming out my mouth with different shapes and colours created a very good contrast and captures the attention of the viewer very well. Perhaps in the future i can add more shapes

My Final Piece

In my Final piece I brought all my development pieces together and also got extra video clips that allowed me to create a longer video which showed a journey that Alice went through in school. This all allows me to bring me back to the theme of Alice in wonderland. Also i managed to incorporate my different artist for example ceres Henry photos that i edited acted as Flash backs that Alice was having in school which were from the other side in the wonderland. I also put clips of Alberto Saveso with the water and ink to create a dramatic suspenseful part in my final Piece. The final piece also was made in the style of Tim Burton the creator of Alice in Wonder land

What went well was i managed to link all my artists and themes into one final piece almost tying the whole project together. The video goes through an emotional journey of Alice fighting emotions in school which can be interpreted in any way by the viewers own imagination. I picked a song which has a lot of emotions but no words and this coupled with my clips created a good image in the viewers mind of how Alice feels in school. I think i used the colours very well not making to vibrant but also having the colour red the main colour through Out the video which has connotations to blood and other bad thoughts
could have improved by perhaps animating every clip in he video with some clips entirely animated although this would take a lot of time. I could of made some clips shorter or made them have more meaning or evoke more emotions.