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Posted on 27/06/07 11:25:54 PM |
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char
Collage Conquistador Posts: 141 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
D. Miguel, always you leaves the normal thing, is a great worker! , I plate!  |
Posted on 28/06/07 07:37:30 AM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
What atmospheric and fun pictures this week! Thanks to the "Wonderful Wimbledon Wain" or "Tennis Tornados" I've had a bit of time to play with PS. I couldn't resist this one.  |
Posted on 28/06/07 07:48:04 AM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Well I'll be blowed! I sat here looking at this picture for ages on my screen before posting and thought 'That's OK ' and now within seconds of seeing it on the forum I noticed theres not a lot of earth in the pile for the size of hole. (Steve: "Detail detail, Ted!") How does that happen?? Thinks... I remember I dug another hole to put the rest of the earth in... Ted |
Posted on 28/06/07 10:27:34 AM |
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Tabitha
Feline Foto Fanatic Posts: 221 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Well here goes attempt #2, CS3 is certainly taking some getting used to, so many different things from CS! Think Im going to start HTCIPS/CS3 from page one again after seeing the amazing entries in this weeks contest!   _________________ "Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." Rich Cook. |
Posted on 28/06/07 11:08:20 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2857 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Thats ok Eggbox, I think the rain may of washed it back in again  |
Posted on 28/06/07 3:51:32 PM |
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Glen
Montage Maestro Posts: 282 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
It was all getting just a bit too much... Both house and job gone and now Cherie was refusing to leave the bedroom – time to call in a professional  _________________ minds are like parachutes - they only work when they are open |
Posted on 28/06/07 8:07:59 PM |
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Sophie
Political Parodist Posts: 595 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Tabitha, I liked your first one more - great stuff though. Glen, This is my favourite among all this week's amazing renditions, mainly because I love the political angle and you have done it so well. Love it. I know I would have enjoyed this one but have only just popped in for a quick look at all your wonderful endeavours. Sophie |
Posted on 28/06/07 9:27:45 PM |
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james
Surreal Spoofer Posts: 1194 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Last minute flash. http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s211/fungismith/stonehenge.gif  |
Posted on 28/06/07 9:42:14 PM |
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james
Surreal Spoofer Posts: 1194 Reply |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
James, I used the Free Demo Alien Sin Xenfex 2 and made a lightning PSD on a new transparent layer which the demo allows you to do; after which you can do anything you like with it such as duplicating, adding, erasing, and brightening. This week's submission included three pairs of images ( one darker and one lighter) of sky, two images of Chateau, and two images of foreground ghost, so that when the lightning appeared briefly everything was lit up. Another method is to use an actual photograph of lightning and use that as a backdrop sky. Michael. I don't think I said thankyou. I've downloaded a 30 day trial of xenoflex 2, it's great. |
Posted on 28/06/07 9:42:52 PM |
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james
Surreal Spoofer Posts: 1194 Reply |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
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Posted on 29/06/07 00:42:26 AM |
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celosia
Wondrous Woolflower Posts: 58 Reply |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Hope the ghost appears ok, I'm working on my laptop at the mo, and I know how different things can look compared to CRT...  |
Posted on 29/06/07 07:38:04 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
An entry here from Neal, emailed to me because he's unable to get onto the server this morning (damn configuration error 500!):  |
Posted on 29/06/07 09:23:22 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Some very emotive and spooky entries this week: you guys obviously spend all your sp [urlare time watching horror movies. First to venture down into the dank cellar with a dodgy torch was Tabitha, with a packed scene: the ghostly hand and face (great eyes!) beckon to us through the mist. I really liked that tree and the bats, and there's something about that double edge to the moon that's strangely appealing. Great lighting! And the owl and extra skeletons in the second entry are wonderful. There's a ghostly glow behind Babybiker's entry, with the house looking surprisingly like a model in this eerie light. Poor old John and newly Mrs Brown in the foreground - what's their story? A well chosen couple from the 1930s, there, adding their translucent touch. A very neat cutout job, by the way, and the colours are excellent. A splendid animation from GKB, who seems to be getting this week's challenge mixed up with last... I think what would really help this one would be if my nose lengthened to meet the tip of the wolf's, wouldn't you say? But very neatly positioned - especially the hairy hands. And the second entry is a real cracker - seeing Scooby Doo always livens up my day! A lot of subtle damage from stefan, who's knocked the place about with expert skill. Note the sloping shutter, the broken windows, the missing porch supports - just enough to make this house look old, abandoned and unloved. And, of course, there's that mist rolling in as well... a particularly fine job dealing with the shadows of the tree on the left wall, and the sun glare on the roof. A rather cartoony approach from 2bfree, with yellow lit-up windows that contrast well with the strong purple cast of the evening view. I like the ghost looming over the rooftops, but feel that all the silhouettes in the windows seem a little disengaged: they look as if they're just standing there, waiting for something to happen. And is that Popeye's girlfriend, Olive Oyl, bottom right? Once you get the animation bug, it's hard to resist... Tooquilos has come in with a great piece of work, with wonderfully distorted curtains as the two skeletal hands pull them open to reveal a spooky snow globe. Actually, not all that spooky; it looks rather cute with that treatment (Poster Edges?) and colouring. Is that a flying tadpole over the rooftops? A lot of story going on in Steve Mac's post: with the action relocated to a graveyard, there's the skeleton of (we presume) McDuffey returning to the house, where a figure in the window looks out for him. Great rain, very fine bats (or perhaps crows), but I think a touch of yellow in that window light would have provided a strong focus for the scene, as well as implying a difference between the cold outside and the warm interior. Very interesting work from zilwow, combining several different ideas and techniques. Relocating the house to the Swiss Alps is a good move, and the restrained colour palette really adds to the mood of the scene. The perspective's a little dodgy on the the grave, but this is a very hard one to get right: it's about 30% too long, I'd say. I like the conceit of the skeleton in the foreground being out of focus while the camera's focus indicator is clearly registered on the house, but perhaps he's just a little too blurred here. Love the gravestone, and the skeleton sitting on the porch roof! An epic scene from vibeke, with so much going on: the man with the axe chopping up skeletons, the mysterious train wheels, the smashed sign, the bats, the goth outside the broken viaduct with the twisted rail tracks still visible at the top... now this looks like a great movie! Fantastic lighting, especially in the shadows of the trees on the sky, and a really evocative piece altogether. Sometimes a picture tells a whole story, and this tale speaks volumes. Fantastic! The skull and crossbones appearing in the chimney smoke in Dirtdoctor23's entry is just one of the extra features - but, of course, it's the zombies that really draw the eye. The only thing here that seems a little out of place is the moon, whose colouring is perhaps just too strong for that sky: it's rather distracting in that bright blue. Scary stuff, though! A novel approach from tank172, who's placed his haunted house on a cliff overlooking stormy seas. A very subtle placement of the house, Chris, but there's something odd about the viewpoint: at first glance it appears that we're looking up at the house, but down on the scene. The horizon establishes how the perspective works, but something here is uncomfortable. Perhaps it's the fact that the mountain to the left of the building is so much higher than it - which, coupled with the angle of the cloud below, confuses the eye. Interesting. A great montage from josephine harvatt, who clearly really enjoys these scrapbook-style entries. The whole story is told here, with just enough of the words visible for us to be able to piece it together: the house built on an old Indian graveyard, the missing caretaker, and gag of the inspector being named Van Helsing... and, of course, the sheer competence of the whole construction, with the blood-red view through the magnifying glass. Excellent work! Now, if only the caretaker was visible through one of the windows in the estate agent's leaflet... Ha ha ha! Brilliant! Alfred Hitchcock hiding in the shadows in Deborah Morley's entry - what a great idea! The rest of the scene, though, has a decidedly Edward Hopper feel to it, with the warm glow of a summer's evening suggesting domestic bliss rather than the impending doom of Psycho. A thoroughly appealing image, Deborah. But just one thing: why the torn edge? A subtle and lengthy animation from james, with our house dissolving into a couple of ghostly figures: a very emotive piece all round, James. I'd have held a little longer on the final frame, though - and perhaps taken the visibility of the house down to zero on that one. You're always so self-deprecating! A great second entry too - is that King Arthur zapping the house with lightning? Another epic from michael sinclair: the ghostly mansion fades into view, and a translucent statue appears on the lawn: some fantastic lighting during the lightning strike, then we zoom in to see that the monk in the cowl is really a skeleton in disguise. It's always amazing to me how much you seem able to pack into an animated GIF! I see Dr Frankenstein couldn't spring for a shoulder pad in the second entry though... A new member this week - and Meltonian has turned in a real cracker. Wonderful zombies, with excellent poses and expressions: a freshly dug grave (it's for us, we assume) and loads of extra detal, such as the bat and the blood spattered on the window. Great stuff! This is very fine work, Graham. The only small changes I'd have made here are that the mud around the grave is to deep a colour for the rest of the scene; and the corner line in the grave perhaps a little to sharp and straight. Welcome to the forum! Very restrained work from Wayne, who's placed his house in the middle of a forest: great trees in the foreground, and the broken porch support and, especially, the broken drainpipe are excellent touches. And the mysterious figure on the doorstep intrigues me... moody stuff, indeed. Another new member: Terry has given us a negative view of the house, neatly placed behind the bushes, with a ghostly figure looming out of the clouds. Terry, you say you haven't been using Photoshop that long - but as you've clearly shown, it's the ideas that count, rather than the technique. This is a striking, powerful image; the decision to turn it to monochrome was a good one. Welcome, Terry, and keep sending in your entries! A very eerie animation from BigVern, with mist and clouds rolling by, both behind and in front of the house. The looping's particularly well achieved, so that the animation keeps going forever: great stuff here. Loads of destruction from Dek_101, with drainpipes and uprights broken, a window boarded up with a pentacle painted on it - and that skeleton in the front. Best of all, of course, is the subtle way in which the ground has been broken away, leaving the house on a pedestal of bare rock: the thickness of the cement path is particularly well achieved. Fantastic. Funny how I always seem to make a guest appearance these days... and here I am cropping up in katew's entry, a ghostly figure in the foreground. Good to see that there are still enough well brought up ghosts around to do their haunting in a suit and tie, Kate. Great bats, love the way the lightning hits those lightning conductors! And a very cool sky. A very jolly ghost indeed from Ben Mills: the mist, moon and rain also help this scene along. Interesting lighting on the witch, though: emboss? I see the idea, but maybe it's a little too uniform to be convincing - it does tend to make the layer look rather flat. A very subtle tonal range from Steve Hill, with just the orange window light punctuating the purple. Good lightning, and some intriguing flashes of mist (or possibly ghosts) on the lawn. Dodgy cut out over on the left hand side, though! Defringe! Excellent lighting from Eggbox, with a house clearly lit up by the lightning: just the slight glow from the windows and the porch light. A beautifully dug grave, too, and the shrouded skeleton has a great sense of translucency. That shovel needs a shadow, though, you know. And you're right about the amount of earth needed. A fantastic reference back to The Exorcist in Glen's dazzling entry: quite apart from the expression, body and pose of Blair, he's also distorted the house to fit behind those railings. A great gag, and a beautifully realised piece of work. Very neat work from Celosia, with a subtly treated house - Plastic Wrap, perhaps? - and a ghostly figure in the foreground. I really like the colour you've chosen here, but I'd have lit up one or two windows to punctuate the scene. And is the figure just a little too transparent? Well, Glen gave us his Tony Blair, so it's not surprising that Neal has weighed in with George Dubya. This is perhaps Neal's most striking Bush yet: the eye, the open mouth, the drool (oh, hang on, the drool's real) - fantastic work. And the figures in the window, and coming out of the cellar, are really neat touches. Wonderful, as always. |
Posted on 29/06/07 09:44:47 AM |
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Deborah Morley
Makeover Magician Posts: 1319 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Thanks Steve. The torn edge, in fact the whole picture was a replication of one of the Psycho film posters (without Hitchcock of course)! |
Posted on 29/06/07 09:55:12 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 678 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Thanks Steve! Did you notice you're in the lit up window as well? _________________ Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up ... |
Posted on 29/06/07 10:03:13 AM |
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stefan
Detail Demon Posts: 401 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
thanks Steve. |
Posted on 29/06/07 11:42:24 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2157 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Thanks Steve, I always enjoy reading your comments and having an other look at everybody's entries with the comments. You do have an amazing eye for detail. Have a good weekend. |
Posted on 29/06/07 12:08:08 PM |
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steve hill
Brain Basher Posts: 228 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
thanks steve I knew there was a way of doing it but couldnt find it. I did the rest by hand but the left side was a bit fiddly |
Posted on 29/06/07 12:10:17 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3882 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Thanks Steve |
Posted on 29/06/07 12:32:53 PM |
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Atomicfog
Virtual Visualizer Posts: 238 Reply  |
Re: Contest 152: The haunted house
Sorry, I got the configuration error as well. Entry will be up in a sec. _________________ -Atomic |
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