Thursday, 8 March 2012

Final edit

For my final outcome I wanted an image that was bold and delivered the message I wanted. The message I wanted to get across is that viewers are being manipulated when viewing skincare ads through a perfect perception of beauty which is false, because of the post production used to get flawless facial features. 
There are many flaws with skincare ads for example...
  1. Women models are being manipulated through what photographers/ editors to in post production, and sometimes the models are unaware of this
  2. Women look at themselves in different way because of the way these models look, it can spark insecurity
  3. Men have a high expectation of how women should look
  4. Perception of "perfection" and beauty changes through time



This is my chosen final photoshop composite. In the previous post I posted all of the choices for my final, I then asked for some advice on which to pick on our  Facebook page, the overall favourite was this one. I like this edit because of the following...

  • I have included quotes/ statistics/ phrases that are frequently used by skincare product campaigns. In the original edit these phrases were a lot more bold. I have applied a smaller transparency of the text layers, for my final because I don't want it to control the viewers gaze. 
  • The lazers have worked well in showing the destructive nature of viewing these adverts
  • The use of the distort and perspective tool has made it look as the eye balls are looking at the ad
  • The barcode shows viewers identitys are being covered distorted through the falseness of the ads
  • Barbed wire evokes a danger/ the controlling nature of these ads
  • Black background helps to create a bold overall image

Monday, 5 March 2012

Final edit choices



Another edit...



I think I prefer this edit from my previous, although very similar, the direction of the eyes helps to show how adverts draw in their viewers. My only concern with the edit is that the barbed wire may be a little pixelated when I print it A3. I may attempt to add some phrases/ quotes/ statistics that I tried in the previous post to add more information to the composite. The barbed wire evokes control.

Adding statistics quotes from advertising campaigns...




In this edit I have used the last edit, which will be the base of my final edit and added statistics/ quotes from advertising campaigns. To get these words/ phrases I looked on skincare product websites and observed how they used these sentences to grab their customers, and sometimes these can be exaggerated.

Phrases I have used included are-

  • For a radiant glow
  • Luxurious
  • Moisturises all day long
  • Powerful anti-ageing effects
  • Hydrates skin for firmer appearance
  • Easily absorbed
  • 70% of women agree
I think most of these phrases are predictable when looking into advertisements. 

I have placed them in all of the eyes in my edit, showing that the viewers take these phrases in and are often seduced by them. 

Another experiment using text...



This time I have added the text to the black background, this has made the background more key. The phrases stand out. However I'm not sure it has the same effect as the first text edit, as it doesn't come over as corruptive.


Sunday, 4 March 2012

Final composite proccess

In my final image I want to create a strong message of how advertising campaigns corrupts the perception of viewers particularly on beauty. I want to create a similar image to my previous edits but adapt it in some areas, particularly because it needs to be A3. Below are the steps I'm taking to reach my final piece...

  • For the fist step I produced a new image sized 420 by 297mm with a DPI of 300, this will allow me to produce an A3 print out with no pixelation. 
  • For my final composite I want to use a black background to create an eye catching image that will make layers stand out. I selected the red circled background as seen below. 


  • I wanted an eyeball in my composite that would contain visible veins to show the strain on viewing ads. I struggled to find a large enough image of an eyeball on Google. Therefore I used the same eyeball from my last edits, it was just large enough, but I would have to use more of them because of the smaller scale I would need to use them in. Having many of these eyes would work successfully becuase of the destructive nature on a large number of magazine readers. So to add this to my black image I needed to select the circular edge of the eye, I did this using the quick selection tool, then I moved it onto my final composite image file. 

  • I then used the transform tool to turn the eye towards where an ad will go in the bottom centre. 



  • I then needed to duplicate the eye selection 5 times as I wanted 6 eyes in total. I did this by right clicking on the layer and pressing duplicate layer, I then transformed them to turn them towards the same point as I did the first eye.



  • Here is the result, when all eyes are in place...


  • I then added barbed wire to the eyes as if hanging/ being controlled. The barbed wire was fairly easy to select due to the white background in the original image so therefore was able to use the magic wand tool and invert the selection




  • I wanted to us the same lazer in the image, as the colour stands out. The reason for choosing to use the ideas of layers becuase it reinforces looking at these beauty ads has a bad effect to the viewers perspective and is rather destructive. I selected the lazer using the magic wand tool. I will go back at the end of putting the composite together and use a mask to tidy up the selections. 



  • This is my chosen ad for the composite, I wanted a large sized file that was a popular skincare brand. 


  • I wanted to distort my chosen ad to give the impression of it being read by the eyes. I did this using the distort  and perspective tool. I have turned it upside down to reinforce it being their viewpoint. 




  • Use of bar code to show identity of the viewers is being distorted. I again used the magic wand for selection. 


I placed the barcode on both the eyes and the ad model, to show that by viewing the ad the viewers identity is becoming controlled along with their perspective.


This is the result of combining the above components/ layers. I think it is still missing something however so I will continue to explore removing/ adding extra components to make my message come across even more. 

Components I may want to now consider...
  • Use of text- in a previous trial I used quotes and statistics used by these type of advertising campaigns, I may want to contemplate this, but placement will be important
  • More that one ad, to exaggerate how many advertising campaigns have the same effect


Saturday, 3 March 2012

Final composite ideas

Now I have done a number of experiments using both cut and paste methods and more importantly Photoshop I now need to pull together ideas that I have addressed and create an A3 Photoshop composite. I have looked at the following ideas throughout my project:-
  • camera as advancement of a photographers eye
  • the manipulation of models in advertising campaigns
  • the manipulation of viewers when they see adverts that have been retouched
For my final composite I want to continue to address my final idea of how customers and viewers of skincare adverts are being manipulated by the false image being brought across. My most recent edits have been eyes onlooking these skincare ads, and I want to continue this concept. I want to use similar visual ideas but need to address any issues with the images I am using becuase I need to make the image A3. This will mean I need to carefully select large files to prevent Pixelation when printing. 

Visual components to include in final composite:-
  • eyeball with visible veins to show a strain when looking at the ads
  • skincare ad- maybe one that has had retouching and has been criticised for it?
  • barcodes to show a viewers identity becoming enhanced by what they view
  • barbed wire- to show bad effect
  • lazers- bad effect of viewing
  • quotes and statistics about the products being advertised and how this influences viewers
  • bold dark background- to make it visually stand out- link to montages of Peter Kennard



Chen Man at Chinese Art centre

We recently visited an exhibition by Chen Man at the Chinese art centre. I thought I would include it on here becuase of the post production used in many of her photographs. It was her first solo exhibition capturing the consumer culture in China and the spirit of a post 1980's generation. She is a leading fashion photographer in China capturing surreal photographs of the women in China. All of the works featured in the gallery were produced from 2003.





This is one of the works featured in the exhibition from Vision magazine. 


Her photographs are very striking becuase of the colours used and imagination seeked within each. They deliver a dream like observation of China and its women. 

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Another edit on Photoshop...






This edit is very similar to the previous, however I have included more eyeballs. I wanted to use more to reinforce the amount of people who view these advertising campaigns and how it can effect them. The effect is emphasised upon through the veins in the eyeballs and also the lazer which is showing the eyes gaze towards the skincare ad. I wanted to use skincare ads in particular because of the way these ads above others use retouching to exaggerate the strength of the public and therefore manipulating its audience. 


This is an image of Peter Kennards', this image of his links to mine because of the boldness f the images he represents. The black background makes anything on top really stand out and attract viewers. 





http://womeninads.weebly.com/history.html

I have recently found this online article which talks about the changing images of women and beauty. I found the article ran well with what I want to achieve in my recent edits. Here are some bits of information I found useful...

SEXISM IN ADVERTISING

"Ads in the 1950s most commonly advertised wives being completely controlled and influenced by their husbands, feminine products to help impress their husbands, cleaning products, and endless cooking and references to the benefits of staying in the kitchen."


The actions of the women and how the men in these advertising campaigns around the 50's shows how women used to be used as domestic objects. This is a different kind of manipulation that I'm looking into. My edits look at how the editors of magazines retouch the faces of these women to create a "perfect beauty", whereas at this time the women were physically manipulated to be only for domestic needs. Now women have a lot more power and social worth. 

TRANSFORMATION OF BEAUTY

"Society’s interpretation of beauty has significantly changed over time and will always continue to change"

Women are not coming up with these beauty and style decisions on their own, however. The media and advertising plays a huge role in influencing what women view as “beautiful”. Flooding women’s brains with the tan, tall, slender bodies of modern models is a tactic the media uses to keep society up with the times. If a certain image is repeated enough through television, printed ads, movies, commercials, billboards, etc., society will accept this image as the norm and copy it (Alice, 2010). In conclusion, as society transforms and changes over time, our image of beauty will subsequently continue to change as well. 



Sunday, 26 February 2012

Photoshop experiments

Having done cut and stick experiments last week, this week I have had to do some experiments on Photoshop. Having just done an edit which turned the faces of women from advertising campaigns and turned them to masks hanging from a camera, I wanted to try some other ideas. In the next edits I have used my initial idea of using an eye to get a viewers point of view looking at the women of advertising campaigns.


This was a quick edit I did. I wanted to do a Photoshop version of one of the cut and stick experiments I did. I don't think the placement of the camera however makes much sense. I have used the lasso tool to cut triangular like shapes out of the skin to emphasise the model is loosing her identity through how the photographer has manipulated her look. I won't be using this idea further, particularly because of where the camera is (in her eye). It doesn't bring the message I want to give through.

In the following edits I wanted to bring across the idea of how the viewer is manipulated by the way editors change the look of these girls to the "perfect" look. I will now explain why I have chosen to use the individual parts of the edit and talk about the overall  message it brings across. I have used an advertising campaign that had quite a lot of controversy. This was because of the way the editor lightened the skin of Beyonce. Below is the change that was made. 


They probably changed her skin colour to make the ads product appeal to more people, however this takes the identity away from the celebrity. 
I used an eye ball in the edit from Google, which contains light vein lines. I wanted this certain image becuase I wanted to bring across the idea that viewing these adverts has a dramatic effect on how we view ourselves. The eyes also bring a sense of intensity when looking at the ad featured. The laser brings across the destructive nature to women's perceptions when looking at these kind of advertisements and the manipulation they bring. 
I have also included a microchip, to bring across the idea their perception on beauty is controlled. This is a rather rough edit, the lasers selection needs working on. I think there also needs to be something in the background, not fully white. 

This is the same edit however becuase I wanted something in the background, I wanted to add some text. The text includes statistics of product surveys for loreal and also statements of intent as to what the products outcome is such as "smooth skin". I wanted to include these pieces of texts as they are quite often controversial. Often statistics are used but are very small, because they are sometimes not as flattering as the advert makes out, but it is within the viewers right to see them. 

In these next edits I wanted to use a black background to make them rather bold. 


In this edit I wanted the advertising campaign to be in the ball of the eye, to get the idea that the eye is viewing it. I have used a barcode to show the eye is becoming a cyborg by looking at this advert, as if their identity has just become a number, becuase of the bad effect these ads have on our perception of beauty. I ave included quotes and statistics once again to show how these adverts use persuasion in both their words and images, and sometimes they might be exaggerated for this use. I don't think this edit brings over to much of a distopian view which I was going for. 



In these two edits I wanted to combine the successful parts of the previous ones. I have used a laser because of the destructive nature when looking at these types of adverts. The edits are a little pixelated so when I work towards a final composite I need to make sure I select Google images carefully, so they don't pixelate. Pixelation would make the impact of my message become overlooked. 



Photoshop: Altering Image and Our Minds


I recently read this on-line article on Photoshop changing our perception of beauty.

"Everyone talks a lot about the fact that so many images of women are perfected with the help of technology, but do we really understand how serious this issue is?"

"Unhuman and unrealistic ideals that we view over and over again."

It notes that the perception of normal, beauty and healthy re changing because of the way these women look in advertisements and magazines. 

"Distorted idea of the abnormally thin."

The article includes many examples of magazines altering the way women/ celebrities look, here are a few...


"Same model, differing degrees of Photoshopping on REAL printed ads, Oct. 2009. Ralph Lauren responded: 'After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."




"Faith Hill retouched to oblivion on the July 2007 cover of Redbook"
The right arm of the original photograph has been hugely decreased in size. Her back has also been decreased in size almost to look flat along her dress line. Her complexion has also changed dramatically.


Kate Winslet slimmed beyond recognition on the Jan. '03 GQ cover


Kelly Clarkson before and after Photoshop, Self magazine, Sept. '09




Peer Demonstrations- Techniques I learnt

In this session I learnt how to use the content aware tool and the spot healing tool. Here is what I learnt and how I put it to practice...

The first technique I tried out is content aware to remove unwanted objects/ elements from the photograph. For this I chose a photograph I took in Manchester with many street lamps and objects on the ground I could move.


Original



For this content aware experiment I used the spot healing tool which can be found in the left tool box. I used the tool to paint over an area which I wanted to get rid of in this case a tree which was in the centre of image, I then let go and Photoshop solved the content aware. Below is the result. 

Spot healing tool used

Content Aware selected


Result for first removal


This is the final image after repeating the method to remove to lampposts, 1 building, people walking past the gate on the right and any object/ rubbish that I captured on the floor. The result is very good, but has a few grey smudges which I would have to go back and repeat to get rid of.

Saturday, 25 February 2012

Peer demonstration in Photoshop workshop

In the workshop I couple of weeks ago we were told we had to prepare a maximum 15 minute presentation showing a relevant technique linking to compositing in Photoshop. I chose to show how to use the refine edge tool to improve selections, particularly for selecting hair.
For the tutorial I used the following two images, the landscape is my own image, and the model is from the internet.



I chose this particular model because her hair is lifted making it hard to select using a magic wand tool, for instance. 


First of all I opened the two images side by side in Photoshop. I then used the quick selection tool to select as  much of the models hair as I could (as you can see above).


I then used the arrow tool which can be found in the icon box to the left of Photoshop to drag over the selection I just made of the model and put it on top of the background landscape image. 


I then needed to make sure only the model was selected once again, this will allow the refine edge tool to be clicked on. 


This box will then pop up, showing details of the refine edge application. In the box where it says view mode I selected the black mode, as it easier for seeing the selections you are about to make. 


You then need to select smart radius and pull the slider to around 6. Then you need to click on the paint brush like icon which is the refine radius tool. Using this tool you need to paint over the colour you want to remove, this will be the colour surrounding the hair, in this case white/ blue. This will then subtract this from around the hair. 


At the end of using the refine radius brush, your image should look a bit like this, there is little sign of the white around the hair. 


After using the tool select decontaminate colours and change percentage to around 70, I also pull the slider down shift edge down a little. The final thing you need to do is make sure the output is on "New layer with mask layer" where it says output to and then click ok. 


Your model should now be on the landscape without any signs of her previous background colour.