PROCESSES

STILLS FROM PROPOSED FILM - PROCESSES

I started the process using Adobe Photoshop CC. Above is the original image.

Firstly, I changed the Brightness/Contrast. I decreased the brightness and increased the contrast slightly to soften the image and to start to slightly make the image more cinematographic.

Secondly, I adjusted the image using the Curves tool. I created an 'S' shape using this tool, which then brought the colour out- making it more prominent.

Thirdly, I adjusted the colours using the Colour Balance tool. I increased the levels of greens and yellows to further accentuate these colours.

Next, I adjusted the colours again using the Hue/Saturation tool. I decreased the Master saturation a bit and changed the yellow saturation levels too. At first, when using these tools, I was experimenting a little bit to see what kinds of effects I could accomplish.

After that, I added a new, separate layer. I then overlayed this layer onto the previous one and subsequently used the Burn tool to darken the trees in the background. This would make it seem like they are shrouded in mist.

Then, I created the mist in a separate layer, labelled 'Mist'.  The process for making it can be seen below the process for this photograph. It took a lot of trial, error and tutorials, but eventually I managed to find a satisfactory outcome.

The next step in the editing was to duplicate the mist layer and to distort it slightly. I moved the second mist layer up underneath the trees and made the mist thinner.

With the mist in its correct place, the next phase was to get the lighting and colours right. I used the Curves tool to bring out more of the shadows to attempt to make the photograph more like an image from a film.

I decided that I wanted more colour in the photo, so I used the Hue/Saturation tool. I increased the saturation of the green and yellows to bring out the colour in the grass, whilst retaining the darkness of the trees in the background.

Next, I used the Brightness/Contrast tool to see what the effect was on the fog in the background was.

In order to complete the photograph, I thought I should make it slightly darker so it wouldn't be too light in comparison with the other photographs. I still wanted it to feel like part of the series. So lastly, I used the Brightness/Contrast tool to adjust the lightness of the image.

MIST - PROCESS

The mist seen in several of the film stills was fairly tricky for me to produce. As stated above, it took a lot of trial, error and tutorials to reach an outcome that I liked.

This is what the finished layer looks like.

The first step in creating mist is to apply a clouds filter. To do this I selected the top layer and proceeded to click on Filter > Render > Clouds.

Having made sure to have clicked on the top layer, the next step was to convert that layer for smart filters. To do this I clicked on Filter > Convert for Smart Filters.

After this, I blurred the clouds onscreen using the Gaussian Blur tool. This can be found at Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. I set the radius to 45 pixels, as seen above.

Next, I clicked on the smart filter icon on the mist layer, then used the gradient tool to create a gradient from bottom to top.

Afterwards, I moved the mist into its correct position (at the bottom of the photograph) and distorted it to fit the image properly. To do this I clicked on Edit > Transform > Distort.

And lastly, I used the smudge tool to better distort the mist and to make them look more like mist.

The result was a subtle, but effective, mist layer.