Semester Plan

This is the brief I was given for this semesters work:

Produce a series of 6 fantasy based location composite images that include people shot in the studio
Select 5 existing advertising campaigns and create a composite photograph for each that could be used in the campaign, the product and therefore the campaign is completely up to you
Produce a series of 4 magazine front cover portraits that use constructed composite backgrounds in the style of the painting, the Mona Lisa
Submit at least 1 recorded step by step compositing process - a tutorial of the compositing process for that final image

6 Fantasy Composites

For my fantasy composites I plan to challenge the perceptions of reality. I want my images to convey strong emotions, and have characteristics of a dreamlike state. I will be adopting a surrealist style for my composites, and draw upon photomanipulation artists such as Luis Beltran and Michal Karcz for inspiration (see below for examples). For these composites I intend on shooting the landscapes first, and the studio portraits second. As all of my landscapes will be shot using natural lighting, I have no control over where the light falls, In the studio however I can manipulate the light to match that of the landscapes, therefore making my composites more seamless.

The shot lists only include the major images I need - most of my composites will include many little aspects and artificial elements.

1. City Nightscape

This composite will be of a man looking over a city at night, with a dramatic starry sky with planets. I plan to paint the sky using Photoshop. This is one of my ideas I intend on building on a lot, as I dont have a solid idea of how I want it to look, and I want it to be original.

Shots I need:

Man
City - I plan to do nightshots of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and use parts of each.

Tutorials: http://designreviver.com/inspiration/31-breathtaking-planet-space-tutorials-for-photoshop/

2. The Room

For this image I want to turn a photograph of a rainforest into the walls of a room. I plan to include a window, in which there will be a desert scene. There will also be someone in the room, but what they will be doing is currently undetermined.

Shots I need:

Rainforest - I plan to go up to the Dorrigo rainforest near Coffs Harbour.

Desert - Perry sand dunes near Mildura
Person
Wooden floor

Tutorials: http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-manipulation/surrealistic-room-photo-manipulation.html

3. Oasis

This composite will be of someone riding a horse through the desert towards an oasis.

Shots I will need:

Desert - Taken at the Perry sand dunes near Mildura.

Tree and pond
Person
Horse

4. Leap

The idea for this one is to make it look like someone is leaping off a cliff. I was thinking about adding wings to the person, but I think this might make it look a bit too cliche. I was originally thinking of having a person sitting on the cliff, but thought it would be much more dramatic if I had them jumping.

Shots I will need:

Cliff and landscape - I intend to shoot these at the Grampians National Park in Victoria, this way I wont need separate shots for the cliff and the landscape

Woman - jumping with long hair and long flowing dress

5. Abduction

This composite will be of a UFO abduction. I plan to have a house, (which I will shoot at night and light up with a speedlight, and also use the speedlight to create a light spot where the tractor beam will be) and a girl holding a teddy bear being beamed up by an alien spaceship.

Shots I will need:

House - I plan to do this at Orroral homestead, as a real house would be too cluttered and I will have more control over the homestead as it is not owned by anyone.

Girl - Holding teddy bear and levitating
UFO - I obviously can't take a picture of a UFO, but I will be painting this in in Photoshop using other artworks and models for reference

6. Wizard

I haven't finalized my idea for this composite yet, but I want to have a wizard in a mountainous area performing a spell of some kind. It will most likely have a dark style to it and the spell will be painted in in photoshop.

Shots I will need:

Wizard - Old man in a grey cloak
Mountains - I will see what I get out of the Grampians National Park and decide if I need to shoot elsewhere. I will most likely end up merging multiple landscape shots together

4 Magazine Covers

For my magazine covers I have chosen 4 different personalities / professions that I can link appropriate backgrounds to. I will be shooting all of my portraits waist up or head and shoulders, as the focus of magazine covers is on the persons face. For this series it doesn't matter if the portrait is shot before the landscapes, as I will not be 'inserting' them into the landscape, merely placing them on top.

1. Zoologist

My first composite is of a zoo keeper or zoologist, so the portrait is going to be someone dressed in khaki with animals behind him.

2. Clown

My second magazine cover is going to be of a clown. It will be an older man with his face painted and a clown suit, with circus tents, a ferris wheel, balloons etc in the background.

3. Pirate

Another composite is of a pirate, with an ocean, islands and his ship in the background.

4. Noblewoman

My final magazine cover is of a noble woman, most likely set in the 1800s, with extravagant clothing. In the background will be luscious gardens, a pond and a gazebo.

5 Advertisement Campaigns

My final 5 composites are of advertisement campaigns. I have to choose 5 existing campaigns and plan a composite that will fit the campaign. With most of the campaigns I will be shooting the landscapes first and then the portraits. With the product campaigns however it doesn't matter if I shoot the products first as the lighting on products is always perfect.

1.L'Occitane

My first product composite will be reasonably simple. I will just take a photo of a product in the studio and make a pretty background out of a nice sky and flowers.

2. Panasonic 3D TV

This composite is based on a graphically drawn advertisement, but I will obviously be using photography. The concept is that the TV is so realistic that the character escapes out of the TV, and the person is telling it to get back in. As I am a beginner in Photoshop painting my character will be of human form, most likely a Spartan warrior.

3. Subaru

Again the car in this advertisement is a 3D rendering, but I will be taking a photograph in the studio. The tagline of this ad is 'Performance Enhanced' and pictures a horse that has been modified to be better. I will be doing a similar thing by modifying a person with computer, car and speaker parts. I am yet to decide on the location.

4. Spring Valley

This advertisement is of juice where a beautiful oasis is sits on top. I will need to combine different photos of trees and water to make it look like it does in the advertisements.

5. Campari

This is my favourite campaign of the 5 I have chosen. There are 12 images in this series all depicting characters from famous fairy tales. The image portrays powerful women figures with a bottle of campari, and often half naked men pining over them. I will be doing a composite of Rapunzel, and have her sitting in a tower with a campari cocktail and a bottle sitting on the sill. A man will be waiting below. I will be painting most of the hair in Photoshop.