My transformative portrait is based on one of my best friends who took me to a rave night out. I made this about growing up and being yourself, also focusing on my friend, who is the reason I feel more confident doing things I would only dream of doing when I was younger. I made it so that she would become the focus, as I wanted the piece to continue to read as an unintentional portrait to mimic the free and organic situation that was occurring.
I at first just separated the layers to see how I would animate the portrait. I then tested it in After Effects and found that the subtle movement was successful. I then added more lighting and shading to the original picture so that I could guide the viewer to my friend specifically and add subtlety to the women in the back to add depth. I found that the missing piece was to add more to the midground, which is where the edits came in. I added the confetti as a nod to the celebration of life rather than something specific. I thought the disco ball would be something interesting to add to the composition to edit into the video.
I started small by animating the positions of the picture to make it seem more 3d and like you could walk through the space. Once done animating, I added lighting to the background to add interest to the back. I found that adding wave warp to the woman and the confetti, and different speeds and heights, showed movement. I played with displacement maps on the disco ball and my friend to add dimension. Lastly, I focused on lighting by adding glows to the disco ball and a light ray to the background to bring it to life.
https://unsplash.com/photos/colorful-confetti-against-blue-sky-uW_oj3jOPRg
https://unsplash.com/photos/gray-mirror-ball-close-up-photography-m6ta_bQ3hZc
