Presentation.

What my objectives were:

For this project I was aiming to show my research up to a final poster. I wanted to explain how I got to my final poster and what I researched to get inspiration for it. My aim was to get as much research as I could and have a plan ready to do a shoot for the poster. I then wanted to create the poster using photoshop and explain how I got there and what I did to make it. 

How far did I fulfil my objectives:

I think that I fulfilled my objectives well but more could have been done. I didn't do as much research as I planned and I think that I could have looked more into it. When it comes to making the actual poster and showing how I made it I think I did that well, the only thing that changed was my original idea for the poster. Some of the stuff I wanted in my photo didn't work out so I had to change my idea completely. 

How I achieved my work:

When it came to making my actual poster I used the college studio to do a shoot and then I used Photoshop to do the editing. Once I had done my shoot and chosen the image I wanted as my poster I used Photoshop to add text and a certificate to make it more like a poster. As I used a cigarette in my photo I wanted to make it look like it was lit so I used a technique that I use a lot when editing at home and made smoke. When doing something like this in photoshop always play around with the invert settings as sometimes your photos wont work. I did this because I couldn't actually light a cigarette in the studio as the fire alarm would go off but the poster would have looked really strange with her holding an unlit cigarette. I also decided that my poster was going to be more of a modern day poster rather than it just being black and white. Lara's dress was actually black but when editing I played around with the hue/saturation and also the brightness and this made the dress look red. I did this because I thought that black and white was too plain and not very interesting. I am glad that I kept her dress colour as it does give it a lot more colour and makes it more interesting. This also links back to our work on Sin City as they used red a lot for different things like lipstick, blood and clothing. I also added in text at the bottom as I saw nearly all posters have where they name actors and crew members so I experimented with different fonts and different styles and found which one I thought looked best. I think this worked well, it gave the photo more of a poster look rather than just a picture with text on. When it came to finishing the poster I had to crop it as my original picture was landscape, when doing this I realised that once I cropped it Alex who was holding the gun would have been totally cut out meaning it was just a picture of Lara so I had to cut out Alex as neatly as I could and move him forward so that he was still in the picture. This wasn't easy as the gun had blurred a bit and was difficult to cut around but I think it turned out okay. If you don't look at it too long.

How my work is coherent:

When making my poster I looked at loads of different film noir posters to try and give me some inspiration as to where to lay text and what sort of font I should use. I also went back to my research on Sin City and looked at scenes from the film and also the film poster to see what sort of colouring they used. I used the idea of keeping something red to show that she is femme fatale. I also used the idea of having most of the picture on show and having all the text towards the bottom like the Sin City poster.

Although we were told how to do certain things on photoshop, I used some of my own ideas on my poster as I use photoshop a lot at home. I used a technique called screening to create the smoke coming out of her cigarette. I experimented with different types of smoke to see which one looked more realistic. I also had to experiment with places to put Alex as I had to cut him out and move him.

What I would have done differently:
If I was to do this project again I would have firstly, shot my pictures all on portrait as I had to crop my final photo and cut and move Alex so that he wasn't out of the photo, this took up a bit of time as it was difficult to cut out neatly and also the gun was blurred which didn't look very good. I would also take a lot more photos as when I looked back at my photos I realised that nearly all of them were either blurry or someone was looking at the camera or smiling when they shouldn't be.

When it came to making the timeline I would change the speed as it is quite fast and hard to see each photo.

Finished Timeline

The first video is my timeline before I edited on iMovie.

The second video is my final video, edited on iMovie. 

Using iMovie to edit the timeline.

The first thing you do is open up iMovie.

Then go to File > Import > Movies

Then a new box will come up. Click on Full Original Size and click OK.
When it has imported drag the video into the timeline at the top.

To add music to your video click on the little music note icon:

This brings up this box:

Choose your song and click and drag it to your video.

When you are done. Go to Share > Export Movie then name it and save.

Making a timeline in photoshop

The first thing you have to do before creating your timeline is re-size all your photos so that they are easier to put into your timeline. Without reducing them it will take twice as long to make it.

When in photoshop open up all your chosen photos and on one of the photos go to Window > Actions

 

This will then open up a little box.  Click on the new action button which is the one left of the trash can.  

 

A new box will then come up. Keep the name Action 1 so you know its yours. Then click Record.

Then go to Image > Image Size...

A new box will then open. Where it says Resolution type in 72. Where it says Width under Pixel Dimensions type 1100.

 Once this is done click the stop button next to the circle. Your action box should look like this now.

Then go to File > Automate > Batch...

When the new window is open change the settings so that in Action you select your own action. Then where it says Source change it so it says Opened Files. Click OK.

You will then see all your photos start to change and they will get smaller.

Create a new folder and save your newly adjusted photos into it. Do Save As so that you don't save over the originals.

                                                                         

Now you have them all saved.

Close your files once they are safely saved into your folder and go to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack....

This will open up a new window. Click Browse... and choose all your photos and open them. Your window should now look like this. Click OK.

This will load your photo. Now go to Window > Animation

A timeline will show up. It should look like this.

In your layers you should see all your photos. You need to create frames for the amount of photos you have. So I have 5 photos. I need 5 frames. Click the new frame button next to the trash can till you have the right amount of frames.

It should look like this:

Now go to your layers click on the first frame in your timeline then click on all the eye's except the bottom one like this.

Then click on the second frame in the time line and click the eye of the next layer up. So it looks like this:

Click the third frame and the next layer up. Continue this until you have come to the end of your timeline and layers. Now click the 1st frame and hold shift while you click the last frame. Where it says 0 sec, click that and change the time to what you like.

 

Now you want to tween your timeline so that your photos fade into the other. To do this click on the first frame and then the 4 dots next to the new frame button.

When the new box comes up click OK:

Continue then go to the next full picture and do the same. Continue till its all done.

When your timeline is done you need to make it into a video. Go to File > Export > Render Video...

Change the name to what you like then click Select Folder... choose your folder that you have saved your film noir stuff in.

Make sure the file options says that it is exporting to QuickTime Movie. Then click Settings...

Then under video click Settings... again.

Change the compression type to DV - PAL.

Change the Frame Rate to 24

Change the Aspect Ratio to 16:9 this makes it widescreen.

Click okay and you are done.

Little Extras in photoshop

How I added the smoke to my photo.

First search google images for smoke. I typed in cigarette smoke and thought this one looked best. Right click the photo and save it to your desktop

Open it up in photoshop along with your photo for your poster.

Now go to Image > Adjustments > Invert or cmd I on your keyboard.

Your photo will then change and look something like this:

Then click the little eraser tool in your toolbar: 

Now click and drag over the parts you dont want. I only wanted the smoke so I got rid of the cigarette itself.

Then click the selection tool in your toolbar and click and drag over the image.

Then go to Edit > Copy or cmd C on your keyboard

Now go back to your poster and click Edit > Past (cmd V)

This will then place your image randomly on your photo. Leave it where it is for now and just click the move tool at the top of the toolbar.

Go over to your Layers Palette that should look like this:

Where it says "Normal" click that and it will bring a drop down menu. Click Multiply

The white should disappear now and look something like this:

Now just click on the smoke and drag it to where you want it. I put it on top of the cigarette. 

Now I thought that the smoke looked a bit too dark so I wanted to make it lighter. To do this go back over to your Layers palette and where it says "Opacity" Click that and it will bring a drop down menu up.

Drag the little blue arrow and watch as your smoke changes. Stop when you think it looks best.

Your smoke should look like the photo below and now you are done.

How to make a poster

The first thing you do is open up photoshop which can be found in your applications folder or by using the magnifying glass to search photoshop. 

Then once that is open you need to open up your chosen photo. To do this go to File > Open or cmd O

                                                                   

That will then open the photo like so:

                                         

Then go to Image > Adjustments > Levels... or you can press cmd L on your keyboard. 

This opens up the Levels box that should look like this:

Now you see where there is a gap of white at the end. You need to drag the little white arrow thats underneath to the start of the black like below. Then click OK.

This makes your photo darker giving it more depth and contrast.

The next thing you do if you want to make your photo black and white is go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation... or cmd U on your keyboard.

This will open up this box. All the settings should be on 0.

To make your photo black and white click and drag the little arrow under Saturation so that its right at the end at -100. You will straight away see your photo change. Then click OK

 Now if your photo is Landscape like mine is you need to crop it so that it is portrait. To do this click on the crop tool that is highlighted in red here:

Once you have clicked that at the top of Photoshop you will see empty boxes for Width and Height. In there enter 210 mm and 294mm.

Then click and drag over your photo. It will stop letting you drag when you have reached the measurements. Position the box over your image where you like.

Then click the little Tick at the top of your screen.

You're photo should then process and change to look like this:

                                                  

Now to add text. To add the Text click on the T tool in the toolbar at the side (highlighted in red below)

A toolbar at the top will appear. Click on the font and you will get a drop down menu like below. You can scroll through and choose which font you like.

Click on your photo and type what you like. You can also change the colour of the font by clicking the little colour box and choosing what you like. Click the Tick again and position your text where you like.