Digital Photography & Imaging/ Final Project: Self-titled Cinemagraph

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28.04.2022 - 26.05.2022 [ Week 9 - Week 14]
Janaan Ahmed (0353333)
Digital Photography & Imaging / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Final Project: Self-Titled Cinemagraph

Lectures


Instructions

Final Project: Self-Titled (Cinemagraph)

Part 1: Ideation

BIO & STATEMENT


SKETCHES
Below are the 2 main sketches for my ideation:

Fig 1.1: Sketch Ideations

Part 2: Poster Design

IMAGES USED:

Fig 2.1: Photos Shot on Phone
 
Fig 2.2: Royalty-Free Images from the Internet


DIGITISATION:
1. Masking
The first order of business was to individually mask and separate all the elements from their respective backgrounds before transferring to the main photoshop document. 


Fig 2.3: Refining the edges using the refine brush tool

Fig 2.4: One example of masked element

I then made custom combinations using some of the elements like the example shown below:

Fig 2.5: Using masks to combining the brush + Janaan

Some of these combinations required an extra oomph achieved by warping via the transformation tool. The 'pool of time' inside my head is one such example:

Fig 2.6: Process of creating 'pool of time'

After 'slicing' my head in half, I then added a solid background and inserted the mini-Janaans. These are meant to represent versions of myself throughout  different stages of my life, that shape me into who I am today. 

Fig 2.7: Adding solid background and external elements

Since I observed a weird feathering-effect around some of the elements against the dark background, I contracted the selection by about a pixel and then masked it to make the selection around them look cleaner.

Fig 2.8: Using Select>Modify>Contract to make selection smaller 

I inserted more elements into the composition such as the turtles, rose eye. I also experimented with trying to create a glowy effect around the 'pool of time', however that idea, and the turtles were later on scrapped. The rainbow image was warped to create a flowy one.

Fig 2.9: Transforming and warping the rainbow

I added yet another clock image and warped it to create a waterfall-like appearance as to depict my perspective of time. I suppose I'm also paying homage to Dali's surrealist melting clocks :)

Fig 2.10: Progress and warped clock

I proceeded to add more of the smaller elements and details. I played around with the hue/saturation and several other adjustment layers to make everything more cohesive.

Fig 2.11: Cloud element with altered hue

I created a clipping mask for the monocular glass and brushed the red from the rose over it. I then applied a softlight blending mode. This concept is meant to depict the metaphorical phrase 'looking through rose-coloured glasses', which I found to be quite fitting for my theme.

Fig 2.12: Changing colour of glass to match the rose

For the finishing touches, I played around with the curves for the overall look of the composition.

Fig 2.13: Using curves to adjust brightness and contrast

For texture, I kept things simple and added some gaussian noise.

Fig 2.14: Adding noise texture

Before moving on to After Effects, I made sure to organise and name all my layers properly on Photoshop.

Fig 2.15: Screenshot of some layers

Part 3: Animation

We first import the photoshop file as a composition. The settings for this animation are pictured below:

Fig 3.1: Composition Settings (frame rate = 25, duration = 15s)

I first imported the music that I will be using for the clip so as to match the animation to it. I chose a remix of Coconut Mall from Mario Kart Wii since it perfectly captured the playful vibe I wanted. I trimmed the part that I will be using that fits within the 15-second limit.
I then set keyframes and made the changes needed to the elements that will be animated. After watching some tutorials on YT, I created custom paths for each individual star to move along.

Fig 3.2: Copy-pasting custom path into Position keyframe

There probably is an easier way to match everything to the music, but the method I used was time-consuming as I listened to it by ear and tried to match each keyframe. At this point I'm tired of the music hehe. For some elements, I applied preset transformative animations:

Fig 3.3: Applying warp effect to animate clouds

After what felt like an eternity, I used the keyframe assistant to ease the transitions between the keyframes. I also added motion blur.

Fig 3.4: Using Keyframe Assistant

Exporting the file nearly killed my laptop. I don't think my laptop's CPU is cut out for After Effects as the rendering took SO LONG. The resulting file was also HUGE. 

Fig 3.5: File Size from Format Output: Animation

And so, I went through the painful process of trying different output formats. I believe I ended up using Apple ProRes 422 HQ. However it was still quite large so from reading stuff on the internet I used an external media encoder to convert my .mov into a .mp4. 
Though I don't know the mechanics of it, it seemed to make the file smaller. However, as the file was still above the 20MB limit that was required of us (30 something), I had to make ANOTHER conversion, that I found on QuickTime. 

Fig 3.6: Resized file - process and result

Blood, sweat and tears were shed, but alas I managed to get an appropriate file size, as shown above!

Final Outcome:


Fig 4.1: Final Poster Design 'Timeless Outlook' [JPEG]

Fig 4.2: Final Poster Design 'Timeless Outlook' [PDF]

FIg 4.3: Final Cinemagraph 'Timeless Outlook' 

Link to YT Shorts:
 https://youtube.com/shorts/Pqwm29guqNI?feature=share

ARTIST'S STATEMENT FOR TIMELESS OUTLOOK
This piece reflects an aspect of my perspective towards life. I believe that there is an endless treasure trove of ideas just waiting to be explored explored out there. Fostering a sense of wonder and making meaning from your observations are what I feel to be the driving forces behind art. We need not put a lid on the scope of our imagination just because our childhood days have passed. Let's embrace the whimsical, and the magic that life has to offer, with an open heart and a curious mind!

Reflection

EXPERIENCE
To be perfectly honest, I'm not too happy with my outcome or ideation as it was quite rushed. Since I had really fallen behind in all my work, I couldn't enjoy this task as much as I would've as I couldn't manage enough time to explore as many ideas to my heart's satisfaction. 

OBSERVATION
I felt quite overwhelmed working with After Effects since it's not exactly a very intuitive software for a beginner to grasp. However, while I managed to get the basics down from Mr.Martin's tutorial. I did however feel quite disappointed in myself since I didn't exactly know how to implement cool effects like the ones I saw on some of my seniors' blogs. I often got stuck in a comparison slump which slowed down my progress.

FINDINGS
For one thing, I clearly need to upgrade my laptop to allow for smoother and faster workflow! I also figured that I could've done a bit more independent research into figuring out how to work with After Effects to learn to apply what I had in mind. I also realise that comparison may not have been fair to myself or the people I compared my work to, since I couldn't put as much effort as they had into this task. I will work harder to manage my time better.


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