Rationale

Research

I began by finding the Definition of what a Cyborg actually is. Then from here I looked at artists such as ‘Stelarc’ and ‘Raoul Hausmann’ to see their style and interpretation of what a Cyborg is. I then moved on to looking at films and music videos such as terminator. All of these helped me get a general idea of what a cyborg actually is so I was able to start my own work.

Plans and Ideas

For my cyborg brief I came up with the idea that I want to include sport to my theme. My first though was to look into the idea that professionals in sport (such as basketball, football, rugby ect) that once they get paid for what they do; they have to train up like ‘machines’. They can’t afford to make mistakes, in which case they’re not ‘human’ anymore, as they are becoming too perfect.

I then decided to look in to the idea that professionals also have to use high tech equipment to get the shape and stamina that they are after. They would use equipment such as weights, treadmills ect. So I went with the idea of combining the gym with my sport theme.

After a few edits and experiments I noticed that my work looked too complicated and too full so I had to change my concept once again.

Final concept

I decided to go down the basketball route instead of combining the gym too, this is because I feel there is still a big area to cover.

I have a couple of questions I want to answer in my work such as,

1.     How is technology developing for our convenience?

2.     One day, will it develop to better ourselves in trivial things such as sport?

So my new concept is this… I want to show that technology is a good thing, I want to show that it can better ourselves and help us do things we wouldn’t be able to do alone. This could also be good as it might help more people get into sport as it will be easier and more fun to do.

Dystopian or Utopian?

I have decided to go with Utopian, as I would like to do my work as an advertisement style. I would like to show that ‘Cyborgs’ could be used in a good way and it could even help us. I want to show the good affects technology can bring to sport users.

Who is my Audience?

I feel that my work could be aimed at people of any age, as it’s more of a keep fit campaign. I feel that everyone will be in good use of my idea as fitness is very important. However to narrow it down, I have decided to look into people who are interested in sport, whether they play sport now or if they are thinking about playing sport.

Technical Skills (Photoshop)

·      Opening up a document on to an A3 sized canvas

·      Creating new, Duplicating, Masking Layers

·      Cutting out using the quick selection, magic lasso tool

·      Copy, Paste, Resizing, rotating and cropping

·      Changing contrast, brightness and capacity levels

·      Using the blur, burn and rubber tool

·      Saving my work as a high quality JPEG.

How does this affect society?

I feel my work will affect society in the fact that people may wish to become more active, due to my photograph. I’m hoping that my work will inspire more people to get involve with sport or any kind of exercise, giving the world a fitter and healthier image.

To Conclude

Over all I feel I have made very good progress with my Photoshop skills. Before this brief I was unable to do the most simplest things in editing, however now I am more confident. I definitely feel I have more of a knack now on editing my photographs and I will definitely be doing it more in the future.

I also feel that I have found a good concept that works well with the image I have created. I changed my thoughts and ideas many times, giving me a much simpler and more interesting concept.

I feel I may carry this work on further, as I feel I could branch off to many other paths, such as using other sports instead of just basketball.

Final Piece

Here is my final finished piece after all of my photoshop editing.

I am very please with how my work has turned out, especially since I haven't used much photoshop before. This has been a great eye opener on what possibilities I can achieve with photo editing equipment.

I feel my work is clear on what I am trying to achieve and I feel it is pretty realistic, which is the affect I was going for.

Images from Google Search

Battery in charger- for side of the leg

Indoor Basketball Court- for the background

Nike Basketball Trainers- for the feet

Circuit Board- for the arms

Cog- for the elbows

Earpiece- for the ear

Wires- to connect the springs with the batteries

Springs- for the leg

Step by step process

• Firstly, opened up and A3 sized canvas as that is the scale I am working to.
• I began by making a new layer and cut out my model using the magic lasso tool.
• Then looked on the internet for a background, selected the background and moved it, until I was happy with the positioning.
• I then changed the contrast to make the background darker so it wasn't over powering. Next I used the blur tool to make my model stand out more.
• I looked on the internet for a spring, then used the 'quick selection' tool to high light it and the put them near the legs.
• To make the legs look like there part of the springs, I had to select the legs and use the rubber tool.
• I then searched the internet for a pair of basketball trainers. Quick selected them and changed the contrast to make it fit in with my model more.
• Next I researched the internet for some batteries in a packet, changed the contrast and the capacity to help it fit in with my model.
• Then researched the internet to find different colour wires and used the magic lasso tool to highlight them to paste on a new layer. I attached the wires for it looked like it was coming from the battery to the springs, I did this by resizing and rotating the wires. 
• I searched the internet for a motor bike engine, used quick selection tool, pasted it on a new layer, and changed the capacity to make it blend in more with the body. I had to resize the engine to make it fit better and I had to rub out sections.
• Next I searched the internet for a computer circuit and changed the capacity. From this I dragged it up near the arms and I could now see which parts needed rubbing out. 
• I search the internet for cogs, used quick selection and copied on to a new layer. I then duplicated the layer to make more than one cog. 
• Finally I research the internet for a basketball net. I used the magic lasso tool to select the areas I was after. From this I had to rub out sections in the middle so that you could see through to the background. 
• I then saved my work as a JPEG and made the quality as high as I could.

My chosen Image

Here is the image I have decided to use for my final piece.

I have picked this image as I like the lighting, composition and the movement involved in it. I feel the shape of my figure will work really well in my editing progress, giving me the finish I am after.

Shoot for final piece

Here are my three favourite images, which I may use for my final piece.

 I have chosen this one as a possibility as I like the use on movement in the images. I feel the lighting works really well against my models shirt as it helps to exaggerate the movement.

 

 I have chosen this image as a possibility as I feel it is very powerful as well as a little mysterious. I feel this could tie in well with the cyborg theme.

Here is an image I may use in my final piece as I like the use of movement and shape, as I feel I could edit this well to make it look like my model is shooting.

third attempt

Here is my final attempt before I start my final piece. I have experiment with the capacity tool, which I feel has worked really well. This tool has been very helpful as I like the was the computer circuit is blending in with my models head. I will definably use this technique in my final piece.

I like the simplicity of this image how ever it is too simple, making it hard to tell what message I am trying to get across. I will bare this in mind when doing my final piece.