Manipulations by Hummelshoj *25th Oct.*

[hummelshoj]

I got some more stuff to share, so I might as well put it in this thread i figured, keep it all in the same and stuff.. It´s in a different ballgame, but I like diversity... :)


NEW STUFF FURTHER DOWN!


So a couple of friends and I saw Chris Cunningham´s "Rubber Johnny" musicvideo for the Aphex Twin song, and felt compelled to do some work in the likes of... Here are some of the ones I felt came out a bit better...

Could be cool to see some other people´s take on this one? But be warned, when you´re sitting in that closet with the lights out, you start to question a lot of stuff...

[andres_pad]

maybe its time to come out of the closet? :P

[Atlantis_Drift]

that's just wrong :O

[ukanfoff]

i seen vids way back along with the dvd that he has of music vids.. thats a concept i always wanted to try..i think its awesome..

yea so if u guys dont know who chris cunningham is dude.. check it out,,

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/ukanfoff/sony3.jpg

[Beershite]

Cool! Like that 4th one best.

[jonton]

Chris Cunningham is great, my favourite has to be Come To Daddy by Aphex Twin, that alien creature looks great screaming at the granny.

http://alexander2.userline.ru/sagem/shots/Picture-10.jpg

I like what you're doing it looks good but its even better to unique and totally different, but use what you love in chris cunningham films.

I like what you've got there, it does look really distubing, which is good!

[hummelshoj]

@andres_pad, Yeah, aint going back to that closet, brrr, cold in there... Or was it the toilet..? Who cares, hehe..

@jonton, I got my own things boiling to the side aswell, but this was for a kinda theme-contest-thingy, hence the almost ripoff-like feel to it...

And thanks all, for the kind remarks!

[majesticrulez]

how do you guys do that? Whats the technique?

[hummelshoj]

Hmm, sorta hard to explain.. And I can of course only speak for my own work, got no idea how Mr. Cunningham translates his work to moving images.. :S

-But I take a lot of photos (Sony F828, with the otherwise so corny nightshot), from multiple angles and with varying facial expressions, then I go to photoshop and cut and paste different photos and bits and pieces into one main piece that I work from.
I then free transform the different pieces, trying to go for a believable shape, I actually let the different shots kinda guide me, one blending in to the next. Sometimes I use "liquify" a tiny, tiny bit, but with great care, since it can really mess up a noise picture, and make stuff look manipulated.
Once everything is aligned, I use levels (ctrl+L) to uniform the values. I then use a feathered eraser on a low opacity, getting the different pieces to soften into one another. I also use burn and dodge quite a bit to get the different shadows and highlights to act accordingly to the new shape, filling in new ones as well.
Then I "downgrade" the different layers to fit the shot of poorest quality. It´s a whole lot easier to make a nicely shot photo fit into a poorly shot one, using "gaussian blur" and "add noise", if you follow? You can kinda clean up a bad photo, but it´s just never going to fit into a really sharp and crisp one, therefore I always go with the worst. :)
Once everything is looking "natural", I consider putting in additional effects. The top one of mine, has the veins of an egg running through the forehead, it´s not much, but it kinda adds to the illusion of something nasty, hehe. The second one I drew in the veins, and the warts are from some stockfootage, and the last one I can´t remember. But I do remember, that the new chin and cheek, is actually my stomach..
As finalizing steps, I flatten everything, and use a few filters of choice, like more "add noise" and "gaussian blur". I adjust levels again, saturation, hue, whatever needs tweaking. And that´s about it.

I´m sure there are easier ways of doing this, but I really enjoy the process anyways, coming up with ideas, shooting and finding the material (that gets a little rough sometimes though, the web can be naaasty!) and what the hell, they´re all made for my own personal enjoyment anyways..
To me, a good manipulation never reveals it´s secrets through the piece itself. I don´t mind sharing my workmethods, but if you can see excactly how I make them beforehand, or anything like that, I guess I need to go back and rework. Illusion is key, and everything should fit into everything smoothly. You can´t really "cheat" the same way as you can with a painting you make from scratch.

Time spent on each, is roughly 1-6 hours, and they are all put together from 2-7 different shots. Any other questions, feel free to ask. Hope this is useful to anyone still reading... :)

[ukanfoff]

passin through

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wXVnnNzob4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRiqps32F4s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVkpiILA4rw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBsbvXLf5So

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B79DrSJNjU0

[Halifax]

I think I just gave birth. That's insan, but so damn cool! Post some more so I can die of a brain anurism.

[hummelshoj]

Hope I don´t kill anyone with this... :P
It´s a few of my friends. Made a few more, but these are the best.. Also made two where I switched the faces of a buddy and myself, wich looks really freaky to me, but they might not make sense to all yall... Hell, here they are anyways, judge for yourselves... ;)

[T.Luu]

Hehe. These are great! :D That two "babies" in the bath gave me a wide grin to my face :basful: it's that funny. I also like how well you managed to attach the body and head in the first manip.
The last one is just plain creepy.

Can't wait for your next instalment.

[Rolo]

wow!! the first video is amazing!! do u guys!! could make movies!! reall ones!! scary ones too cus the first one was the best,,i think and the robot one was wow!! cool effects, but the making out!! whoa!! didnt see that coming!
keep it up!