Unit 57 Task 2 Primary Research

Before and after images

Below are some of the photos which were taken in the studio, I have opened this photos and altered them in various ways in Photoshop. Below I will explain what changes I have made and why I did them.

Photo 1:

This is a portrait image of me in the studio, but I think the photo is too dark and that it could use more saturation so this is why I chose to edit this photo. I also wanted more of my facial features to stand out so that it would give the impression that I was on a stage and the spotlight was shining down on me.

The first thing I did was increase the brightness of the photo and decrease the contrast using the Brightness and Contrast tool. This was the first step that I took to enhance the brightness of the photo. I did this because the original photo was too dark and with the corrections it makes the photo more brighter and in a way the light shines a spotlight on me which is what I intended.

The next step was to increase the exposure, offset, gamma correction, vibrance and color balance. These tools helped bring out the colors in my cheeks and also the color of my hair, this was done to give the impression that I am wearing makeup. After using all of these tools on my photo I used the Burn tool to bring out more detail in my right eye because it was lacking any color and I wanted both of my eyes to match.

Photo 2:

I thought this picture had a frozen motion feel to it, we was changing the camera settings while this photo was taken. I would say this is similar to a behind the scenes photo from a old movie shoot and most of them was shot in black and white, so this was my main goal in changing this photo. 

The first step I did was changing the brightness and contrast to make the photo black and white. I made this decision because I feel like the black and white effect suits the mood of the photo well. I then used the vibrance tool to bring out more of the features in our face. I did this because I feel like it brings the photo more alive 

Photo 3:

In this photo I wanted to capture the struggle between blood and flesh (god made) versus an object which was man made and see which one would come out victorious, the unstoppable force against the immovable object. I chose the theme Heavy for this particular photo and I wanted it to resemble caveman times when moving heavy objects around was common.

When editing this photo I first used the Quick Select tool to highlight the immovable object and the two characters in the photo and created a new layer once the objects were highlighted, I did this to protect them from the next step. Next I used the Smudge tool on everything which was not highlighted, I did this to make the focus of the photo on what is going on in the middle and also to highlight that the only thought on their mind at this time was to move the object, everything else ceased to matter at that moment in time.

Photo 4:

This photo represents the theme Reflection, the story behind the photo is that the person got lost while looking at his reflection in a window. This window allowed him to reflect on his life so far, all the mistakes he has made and also allowed him to envision his future. 

When editing the photo, I tried to add a surreal effect along with it. I did this by using the Smudge tool on the background and increasing the brightness and contrast. I think the blue tint that the photo has suits the theme perfectly. 

Test Shots

This is one of my test shots for my photos, I was aiming to capture the characters urge to drink by having him stand in the background but have the center of attention in the photo be the bottle. I really like this shot but I don't think it would fit into my overall story. Maybe if I hadn't exceeded the limit (4 photos) I could have added it into the narrative.

This is another one of my test shots, I intended this to be my second photo in the narrative but after taking all of my photos I decided to go with another photo instead. This photo shows the character passing out after having too many drinks.

This is the photo that I went with instead of the one above, I feel like this photo fits more into the narrative because it captures the character after having a couple of drinks and in deep thought about his life and what he has gotten himself into.

This test shot was supposed to be my first photo in the narrative, it shows the character having his first drink. But after considering how each of the photos are connected I decided to not use this photo because it does not explain why the character is drinking, it just jumps right into it.

This is the photo that I decided would suit best for my first photo, unlike the one above you can get a sense of why the character is drinking because he is being peer pressured into it by somebody off screen.