High Clarity - trial and error - Photoshop

I have been trying out tools to produce High Clarity effects in Photoshop.  I have used sharpen, shadows, black and white filters and blending modes, with varying degrees of success.

The first one using a photo of Rob wasn't very good. Not sure if the natural light hindered it, or if the image just wasn't good enough.  I wasn't very close to the subject and in terms of photoshop, would not use the hide mask for the background again for these kind of portraits.

My second attempt was a photo of Tudur Owen, taken with flash and I was closer to the subject.  I also added an additional black and white layer.

Bloomin' lovely - Philip Bloom - Web Broadcast

This current assignment is Web Broadcast.  We get a genuine excuse to watch You Tube for seven weeks.

We are tasked with producing three presentations about Web Broadcast, focusing on one or two particular broadcasters.  The three presentations cover Voice, Audience and Technology.

Rob reccommended I take a look at Philip Bloom, a Director and DP who reviews camera equipment on his website.  The videos are hosted on Vimeo, which are embeded into his site.  He also has a You Tube channel.

So I have taken to stalking the man for the last week and a half, in the name of research,  I have been watching his reviews and tutorials as well as his personal projects.  I've also subscribed to him on facebook and am following him on twitter.  I have spent more time with this man than I have my own husband (well he is galavanting around Europe filming slebs, millionaires and glamour models for the Cannonball 2000 rally).  I think I've fallen a bit in love with him.

For the first presentation, this tuesday, I have been analysing 'Voice'. This is the character of the broadcaster, the production quality and schedule.  I have used footage from Bloom's Vimeo channel and pictures from his blog, cutting a 4 minute film that will run silently in the background (as specified in brief) while I present my research.

I'll post the presentation with a voice over if/once I've got permission from Mr Bloom himself, as it's using all his work.

I will share this with you, 24 Hours of Neon, a very gorgeous piece of timelapse genius shot from his hotel room window in Las Vegas.

24 Hours of Neon from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Philip Bloom and assistant Sarah Estela - please get married! Can you imagine how gorgeous their babies would be?

Film and images © Philip Bloom

I'll upload the completed work soon but I can say that I was awarded 70 points, just scraping a first ouch.

Motion Graphics - hand in!

I have got the piece to animate as close as possible to the idea I had... I am still learning so much of this assignment was learning about what I could do in After Effects, rather than how to do what I wanted it to do.

As ever we have limited time so this is far from complete, I just got it to the stage where I was happy to hand in i.e. I felt it met the criteria required and was produced at my highest ability.

Thanks again to models Rob Hallam and Kenny Baker.



Mark awarded = 68

My lowest mark at level 6