Magazine First Draft - Preparing the Background Image

For my magazine I arranged a special photoshoot with my main actor to make sure I achieved the photo I wanted. I told her to come in dark clothes to help give the unnerving effect I wanted to achieve.

See below the photo I decided on using

I opened the photo in Adobe Photoshop and first cropped it to make her face appear larger on the magazine


I then used the magic lasso tool to cut out the background leaving just her so I could place her in a location better fitting the conventions of the thriller


I then began the colour correct, first increasing the contrast and decreasing the brightness


I then added a gradient to her to make her appear less flat


I then edited the RGB curves to make her appear far more blue


Lastly I turned down the brightness on five different locations on her face and neck to create the effect of her being in shadows while leaving her left cheek not too over exposed


EB