How to Cheat in Photoshop

» Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Posted on 21/11/07 8:08:05 PM

Jason
*
Posts: 9

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

_________________
regards
Jason

Posted on 21/11/07 8:43:47 PM

Deborah Morley
Makeover Magician
Posts: 1319

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

No time again this week.
James, I love John Cleese's expression just before he goes down the tube!

Posted on 22/11/07 01:16:33 AM

JRogue2U@yahoo.com
*
Posts: 22

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

.....Cloning Gone Wild!?!

_________________

Posted on 22/11/07 4:42:54 PM

joseantonio
*
Posts: 6

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Can not miss a Spanish player on the world stage ...

Posted on 22/11/07 8:22:46 PM

Bob
Expert Expressionist
Posts: 130

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

The other Marx Brothers...

Posted on 23/11/07 08:26:34 AM

Steve Caplin
Administrator
Posts: 6937

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

First to enter the fray this week was Latchfordbob, with a dig at England's footballers - and prescient too, in the week we got knocked out of Euro 2008. As well as matching the angles, it's important to get the tonal range right: and the new Chico is much too pale for his surroundings. Flipping the face horizontally would have helped a lot here, too.

A fantastic colouring job from CharlotteBabb, especially on that dressing gown - that must have taken a while! The heads fit fairly well, especially the new Harpo - but does Groucho have a chunk of neck missing? A good stab at this one.

Great cutout and colouring from Elliott, with a fine dressing gown again - and using the heads from the book tutorial is a great idea. When adding colour, though, I find it's ofen a good idea to add some tint to the whole image first - that way, when areas get missed out (the collars and ties, Harpo's trousers) they don't look so monochromatic. And I reckon all the faces could do with a boost in contrast.

Excellent work from Claude37 - not just in colouring, but blending and choosing the right heads to fit those bodies. The red noses are a great touch, and Groucho's moustache and glasses look god on the new head. A touch more shadow at the top of Brad Pitt's head needed, beneath that large hat brim.

Three starship captains from gaoxiguo, on a partly coloured background. Don't stop half way! Those heads could do with more contrast here: black and white has much more contrast than colour, and you need to try to match the two.

I'm sure I should be able to recognize the characters in Ben Mills' entry, especially since they've been placed in Downing Street. I'm guessing that's Gordon Brown on the far right (excellent mouth for that finger), David Cameron in the middle. But who's that in the Groucho role? And why does he have no hair? As I said above: you need to increase the contrast on the black and white faces!

A welcome new role for the Bee Gees from jwhite - good contrast, excellent blending of the heads. But by Wednesday Night Hot Flash, do you happen to mean Hot Flush?

Great colouring, and very fine heads in Brian Garrison's entry: the skin tones on the hands matches the faces well, and the clothes have a realistic look that's often lost when coloured in. Great expressions, and the mouth is a perfect match for that finger.

Another trio of comedians from Neil O, with three very appropriate heads. While Jay Leno is a good tonal match, Steve Martin is a little too pale next to the strong black of that dressing gown: and the shadows in Robin Williams' face could be deeper, too. Getting close!

Another notable trio from chris berry. These characters are from a British sitcom called Last of the Summer Wine, and I doubt if it's made it across the ocean - it's barely intelligible outside Yorkshire. (You'll know the chap in the middle, though: that's Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace and Gromit). And it's the middle head that stands out as being a rather uncomfortable fit here: take it slightly smaller, with a little more contrast.

So, and EastEnders theme from katew - and, yes, Barbara Windsor does have hair that's a perfect match for Harpo. Good poses for the Mitchell brothers - but a larger hat's needed for that capacious head! When colouring in bodies, don't get bored and miss bits out: Harpo's trousers are just too similar in colour to the coat, and it stands out.

A lot of work went into Progenic's EastEnders entry - and it's good to see Dirty Den sucking his finger again (if you don't know what we're talking about, Google might be able to enlighten you). I like the spotlights on the pub, and that's a great motorbike with a very cool reflection. But before you spend hours taking out unwanted taxis, I'd suggest you start with the foreground elements in place: then you only need to remove the bits that show. I suspect you put in more effort here than was strictly necessary!

It used to be Marty himself - now mguyer is bringing the family in. Good to see Sheila in there, and the tones match well: but wouldn't a slight rotation of the head help it to fit the body?

A new member this week: and brewell is making the move from conventional cut and paste into Photoshop. A great trio of clowns! Bush works well here, and Cheney slots neatly into Chico's body. I'm concerned that Condoleeza's head ( I think it's her) is too big for Harpo's body, though. Of course, the difficulty was making the finger reach the mouth, which constrains the proportions. Tricky problem! But the war torn Iraq background is a great touch - welcome to the forum, Bruce!

60% of the Jackson Five from tooquilos - with fantastic skin tone matching in a very tricky situation. I love the fact that Michael's still wearing his 70s afro, and the minimal animation is really cute. Michael Jackson in a dressing gown, though - are you making a point here?

A bunch of Bonds from steve hill: a great new Groucho, and bringing Connery's chin over the hand is an ingenious solution to the finger-in-mouth issue. Daniel Craig looks a little perplexed as Chico, though: maybe soften the shading at the top of the head? It seems like rather a harsh cutout.

Another new member this week, and gothic007 has given us a splendid cast, with Johnny Depp, Hiro from Heroes and someone I can't put a name to but who I know is very well known. (It's OK, when someone tells me I'll come back and edit this post so it looks like I knew all along.) A great cutout, the heads fit well, and very convincing colouring. One thing about the shadow, though: it's running along the ground and up the floor, so the floor section should have a hint of being angled to meet the feet. But a great first entry - welcome to the forum, Deniz.

Who's in charge, asks vibeke - and clearly, there's someone in overall control of this bunch of jokers. If only that were true... great colouring (love the dressing gown), good hand holding, and a neat background - with a perfect expression from Sarkozy. Bush seems a little awkward here, but then he does anyway.

A third new member - and Trev is working in PSP, converting tutorials from the book. Crikey! I didn't even know you could do image editing on a PlayStation Portable! No, just kidding - but you really should get Photoshop, or at least take a look at Elements! You'd find tasks such as smudging Bush's hair and blending the top of Putin's face far easier with Photoshop's tools. Good choice of expression for Brown, though, to match the finger! Welcome to the forum, Trevor.

A period piece from Paul 2007: the Marx Brothers are expertly replaced by the Three Stooges. With the heads fitting so neatly, it's a shame that the background lets it down: not just the fact that it's in colour, which adds little here, but that flat shadow that looks rather unconvincing. A straight black and white image would have produced a far more impressive scene, Paul!

A stab at the 'invisibles' technique from BigVern - tricky, isn't it! But this has been beautifully achieved: the inside of the collars, hat and wig are excellent, and retaining Groucho's tash and glasses was a good decision. Of course, the technique generally involves removing hands as well... a good soap powder here to remove stubborn Marx!

Three new entertainers from Abby-Helen Artfield. Danny Kaye makes a good Harpo, and that tricky finger has been tidily removed; but Crosby seems somewhat awkward inside Chico's clothes - and why is Bob Hope's head so big? Always come back after a break and take another look, and things like head size will jump out at you.

A fantastic animation from james - with Dubya unaccountably wearing a beard joining two other great comedians. Excellent colouring, perfect head matching, and the animation tells a great story. Love the detail of Rowan Atkinson's thumb!

Great work from Jason, and a great gag with it. That gun has been expertly placed in Bush's hand, and the finger disappears perfectly into Saddam's mouth. It's only the shading on the side of Osama's face that seems slightly awkward" judging from Harpo's shadow on his clothes, the light's coming from the other direction. Otherwise, a very tidy entry indeed - good work, Jason.

A very appealing sepia tint from JRogue2U, with three neatly fitting heads (and I'm beginning to suspect James might have something of an obsession here). Good tonal range, but the head on Chico's body seems a little lacking in neck. This is an easy mistake - it's often hard to remember that heads don't sit right on the collar.

Good colouring, and a good cutout from joseantonio: and while Groucho's head fits exceptionally well, the other two both seem a little too big for the bodies. And watch those skin tones: there's a big variation in colour here!

A trio of Marxes from Bob - and not just ingenious head fitting, but a clever choice of three different photos of Karl to populate the scene. A good (and nearly perfect) stab at the eyes on the Groucho body - I'd say they're just a fraction too small.

Good work, everyone!

Posted on 23/11/07 10:13:32 AM

tooquilos
Wizard of Oz
Posts: 2857

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Thank you very much Steve

With the dressing gown....Michael is trying to get in touch with his feminine side

Posted on 23/11/07 11:30:07 AM

katew
Virtual Virtuoso
Posts: 678

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Thanks Steve. I take your point about the hat. Not sure what you mean about the trousers, though. Or did you mean Chico's? I tried to match and tone colours where I could.

Posted on 23/11/07 2:42:35 PM

jwhite
Collage Critter
Posts: 274

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

But by Wednesday Night Hot Flash, do you happen to mean Hot Flush?

No sir, "hot flash" is the correct term. A "hot flush" is what one does shortly after after consuming 3 extra spicy mega-burritos from the Taco Bell.

Posted on 23/11/07 3:57:29 PM

Elliott
Mirror Magician
Posts: 91

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Thank you Steve, think I was in a bit of a rush!!

Posted on 23/11/07 6:01:45 PM

Progenic
**
Posts: 104

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

thanks for the comments steve.

I realise now what you mean about the foreground elements, which i could have cleared up in minutes rather than hours.

Posted on 23/11/07 7:30:37 PM

Abby-Helen Artfield
**
Posts: 70

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Thank you Steve, I tried to match Crosby with Chico's clothes but the "character" gap was to big. And Hope's head was too big, I could see that right after I'd sent it in.

Posted on 23/11/07 7:53:14 PM

BigVern
Q Quipper
Posts: 674

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Thank you Steve for the kind comments.

Yes, doing invisibles is tricky but great fun to do; it really makes you think about the interraction of elements in a picture and how to re-create stuff that was originally covered up in the background.

I was in two minds about the hands but what swung it for me was that I wanted Harpo to point up into the inside of his wig (also I was running out of time!

) Cheers Vern

Posted on 24/11/07 00:10:47 AM

JRogue2U@yahoo.com
*
Posts: 22

Reply

Re: Contest 173: Recast the Marx Brothers

Thank you Steve I knew there was something not right about the image just for the life of me couldn't figure out what....