emily kiel

concept storyboard

2011-11-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

actions (left to right):

1. ohhh...alright... - picking up phone

2. christina - watches girls walk by window

3. beach and ethel - walking by window laughing

4. pearl - turning to look over shoulder at the camera, then back at the table

5. piano - picking up fruit

6. automat - drinking coffee

7. girl drawing - drawing pearl

8. madame x - looks at table, then looks away in disgust

double take

2011-10-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

some new edits

2011-10-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

Because I plan on getting these printed at full resolution, I needed to go back and re-edit some of them. I spent most of my time on these two, the Cafe Concert Singer and Young Woman Drawing, but I'm still not satisfied.

This is what the original photo looked like.

cinemagraph trial runs

2011-10-02T15:40:00.001-07:00

Cinemagraph Examples

2011-09-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

All of the cinemagraphs below are created by Jamie and are so incredibly mesmerizing. These and more can be found on her blog From Me to You. I have made a few of my own, but am in the process of perfecting the process.

Image Retouching

2011-09-28T11:41:00.001-07:00

Color Matching:

Using Layers and Brushes to Create a Snowy Scene:

Cloning Stamp:

(the chair on the far left was added)

Cloning in Perspective:

(before)

(after)

Sky Replacement:

(before)

(after)

Selective Color Replacement:

(before)

(after; please excuse the hastily done roof)

(before)

(after)

Luminosity:

(before)

(after)

Adding a Car:

(before)

(after)

Adding (Epic) Makeup:

(before)

(after)

"Cindy Prins" Editing Style:

(before)

(after)

(before)

(after)

Skin Retouching (Technique for Arms & Legs Only):

(before)

(after)

Magazine Cover:

the making of "a black & white picnic"

2011-05-05T10:35:00.001-07:00

a black & white picnic from emily kiel on Vimeo.

//edit: i forgot to include a thank you to rachel bradley and her dog kuzco. awesome job both!

final picnic photos

2011-05-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

picnic storyboard

2011-04-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

giant ants attacking/playing frisbee

serenading with a guitar/dog interrupts

proposing/giant wind attacks

some props!

2011-04-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

i started working on the ants. once i locate my glue gun, i can finish these little guys.

some picnic items:

picnic!

2011-04-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

alright for my second shoot, we're going to have to go on a picnic. i know, that sounds terrible... but this time, i'm going to keep the environment colorful and the people are going to be in grayscale. for example:

i would like to make it very staged like:

and be less composed than the previous shoot with shots like this:

now for some locations!

location 1

independence, tx

location 2

horticulture garden

i'm leaning towards the horticulture gardens for a few reasons:

- more colorful

- possibility of electrical outlets are a lot higher

- super close

- already have permission from people to shoot there

models:

hilary (from the last shoot) has already said yes.

working on finding a boy.

final product

2011-03-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

all photos are untouched by photoshop.

model: hilary (& jacob)

special thanks to jacob

wig

2011-02-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

for some reason, i've been thinking that i HAD to get a gray wig. i didn't even think that black would work. therefore, i've finally purchased a wig. however, i accidentally shipped it to my parents' house. i will be retrieving it this weekend, fingers crossed!

dresses

2011-02-20T19:42:00.000-08:00

dress number 1

two piece

dress number 2

rhinestones!

there is a 3rd dress that's purple, but alas, i can't fit into it anymore.

possible locations

2011-02-20T18:59:00.000-08:00

i am still trying to figure out a good location and i started thinking about outdoor spaces that could maybe work. most of these are located extremely close to streets and i don't know if i'd have to get permission from the building owners to use the space outside their business. some of these places are also really sketchy...

this is one of my friend's backyards. i broke in under cover of darkness to check it out (don't worry, she knew i was coming,) but it was a lot smaller than i remembered. i have a feeling the ambient light from the neighbors' yards might affect the photo. i have another yard that's a lot bigger than this one that i need to check out soon.

the best choice in bryan belongs to a small business on main street. they have a lovely fence keeping out strange people.

this place might be torn down in a few days. no idea.

face painting round 1!

2011-02-14T16:57:00.000-08:00

my silver/gray face paint finally came in, so i gave it a try. the directions said to apply with a wet sponge, however it started pulling some off as i was putting it on. i'll have to play with it some more before i figure out the best way to put it on. my face has about 2.5 coats on, but below the chin it's only 1 coat.

i converted this picture into grayscale, except for the dress, just to see the difference.

next on my shopping list, colored hair spray or a gray wig.

inspiration

2011-02-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

here are a few photographs that are similar to what i'm aiming for. i would like to build a simple set that can be very versatile, but until then, i think i will start with putting a grayscale person in a colored scene.

sandy skoglund

fox games

sock situation

the cold war

the wedding

this image is not by sandy, but it's got the simplicity of what i'm looking for in terms of set design.

to do list:

- find a model

- paint him/her

- clothe him/her in grayscale clothing

i've ordered gray body paint, and hopefully there's enough of it to get through at least one shoot. so much experimentation going on!!

project proposal

2011-01-24T07:41:00.001-08:00

i'd like to use this class as a jump start on my thesis project which is exploring the idea of non-photoshopped photographs. while both of these examples are video, i'd like to stick with photographs. my main goal is to make the audience say "there's no way that's not edited in some way."

i plan on coming up with multiple techniques and effects that i will attempt to do in-camera, but at the moment i only have this one idea of creating the illusion of something being grayscale in a color environment and vice-versa.

pleasantville movie trailer:

desaturated santa:

365 project

2011-01-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

last january, i completed a 365 self portrait project. basically, i took a self portrait every day for a year. while a lot of them ended up being quick-take-a-picture-of-my-feet-because-it's-4-am-and-i-want-to-sleep photos, i tried to put time and thought into every photo. it ended up being a photo diary because i included a short description of what was going on in my mind when i took the photo. i'm proudest of the fact that i was actually able to complete the project, minus two days. here are some examples of some of my personal favorites.

035.365

february 7

042.354

february 14

065.365

march 9

084.365

march 27

136.365

may 19

166.365

june 18

195.365

july 17

252.365

september 12

279.365

october 9

348.365

december 17

Assignment 2 - Planets & Still Life

2010-02-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

Planets:

In creating this space scene, I used three spheres (not including the stars), a disk, and a paraboloid to create the entire scene. I used simple shaders for the planets and spaceship, and I used one ambient light and one directional light. This particular scene was a learning experience for me, and I was constantly getting confused on where I was in 3D space.

Still Life:

I finally got a grasp on what I was doing and I was able to create the scene more quickly. I used spheres, cylinders, disks, hyperboloids, paraboloids and cones to create this scene. I tried (and failed?) to mimic a candle light, but I couldn't figure out how to make the shader more transparent.

star light IT IS FINISHED!

2009-12-06T15:22:00.000-08:00

the battle is over! chloe is done, and i can sleep tonight. i'm completely satisfied with how everything turned out, i can't really think of anything that i would change. comments and questions are welcome.

for a higher resolution video:

http://vimeo.com/8020601

opening & ending credits

2009-12-03T21:16:00.001-08:00

opening title screen

ending credits:

starLight - work in progress

2009-12-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

obviously, this isn't finished. it will be completed by monday, so expect an update soon. things that will be different

1) the first shot will have color and shadows
2) the star's glowing will be better
3) the dog will start glowing in the 7th shot
4) there will be music.

enjoy.

i create fire!

2009-12-01T15:00:00.001-08:00

i decided to not take my parents' advice and i have been playing with fire. this is pretty much what my final animation will look like, and i'm excited to have finally made it to this point.

fly around

2009-11-23T01:30:00.000-08:00

this is a quick fly around of the scene i created in maya for my studio project. the majority of the lights and materials are finished, everything just needs a little tweaking. i'm overall pleased with how all of it turned out, and i can't wait for this thing to be complete.

for a higher res version of my turntable:
http://www.vimeo.com/7769030

a few stills:

by the light of the silvery moon (and fireplace)

2009-11-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

more lighting key

2009-11-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

i painted out the lights a little bit, even though i already have a few images posted already with maya lights installed. any help anybody can give me on what to do with the fire, let me know. suggestions are welcome. i'm working on the christmas tree lights, hopefully i can figure those out soon.

even though you never really see the couch, this is it.

no lights

2009-11-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

the default light was not working, only turning everything black, so i put 2 directional lights in the scene.

the room in progress

2009-11-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

the lighting is extremely rough, but it's enough to give you an idea of what i'm going for. i'm still working on most of the materials, also. so tedious...

final animation finally!

2009-10-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

the only thing i plan on changing (or have changed by the time i'm posting this) is her blinking eyes. i will still give her actual eyeballs, but i have other things to do first. enjoy.

lighting key part 2

2009-10-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

the third image for my lighting.

lighting key

2009-10-28T01:09:00.000-07:00

two of the three lighting key images i whipped up in photoshop. i really want it to be low lit, only by the fireplace, the stars outside and, in the beginning, the christmas tree lights.

19 seconds & counting

2009-10-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

here's the first 19 seconds of my animation. there is one slight mishap with her neck turn when the camera changes angles, so please ignore that. and enjoy.

blocked out take 1

2009-10-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

i finally got my story blocked out. i may still need to play with the timing of everything. the second time you see the star, he'll start glowing as if he's conjuring up his powers. when the camera begins to zoom in on the dog, he'll begin to glow as well. the dog will be in a seated position, not standing, so when he starts rotating back and forth, it will only be his tail moving as if he's wagging his tail. the last shot will be of the dog looking down the hallway to the girl's bedroom. i'm considering having her head popping out around the corner as if to see what's going on. you would only see her silhouette, possibly just part of head like a pigtail.

this video is saying it's 37 seconds, but it's only 891 frames. i'm not sure what's causing that.

comments are most welcome.

the first 300 frames...still rough

2009-10-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

a starry skeleton

2009-10-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

i worked on my star tonight. i realized after i finished skinning him that i probably should have given him a backbone of a sort. i did not. oh well! the first image of him still looks a little rough, i'm working on smoothing him out.

bonus!

for those who haven't seen chloe's hands. they're adorable.

more modeling - den scene

2009-10-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

i finally started getting my den put together. the two big things i hadn't modeled yet were the were the window and the fireplace. the window plays an important role in the story, thus, it needed to be somewhat special. the fireplace is one of the main sources of light for my scene. i'm contemplating putting up a screen over it, so i don't have to actually render fire. thoughts on that? the couch also took a while, but i really like how it turned out.

12 principles of animation applied to my story

2009-10-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

i couldn't find a good example of bullseye running, but basically i want my dog to run similar to him. when bullseye runs, his legs are fly way up and all together. he also flings his legs as if they are made of cloth, which they are.

chloe will use the arc motion when she's turning away from the dog to look out the window at the star.

anticipation is key in my animation. chloe is waiting anxiously for her stuffed animal to fetch. however, he never moves.

chloe's running will also be very over exaggerated, girly, and kind of off balance. because her head is so huge compared to her body, that won't be difficult to achieve.

rigging the dog

2009-10-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

he's a stuffed animal that turns into a real dog. just like pinnochio, except without the lying and the long nose.

final model turntables

2009-09-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

chloe looks a lot better than this. i had to render showing the span lines, but if i smoothed her out completely, you wouldn't have been able to tell what was going on. she's not this blocky.

2009-09-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

2009-09-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

2009-09-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

2009-09-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

2009-09-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

2009-09-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

some concept art

2009-09-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

i finally decided how my story starts.

chloe and colin are trying to play fetch with their stuffed dog. however, because he is not real, he cannot fetch anything. this is when they see the first star and wish for a real puppy.

this is a floor plan for the den. however i decide to position the camera, i will be sure to show the silhouette of the parents in the other room keeping watch. the two key lights will be coming from the fireplace and the room with the parents....at least that's how it works in my head.

meet chloe. colin will look the same, minus the pigtails. his pajamas will be blue and read "dear santa, i want it all!"

storyboard

2009-09-08T20:38:00.001-07:00

star light star bright

2009-09-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

star light, star bright,

first star i see tonight,

i wish i may,

i wish i might,

have the wish i wish tonight.

for my animation, i would like to create a christmas scene in which a little girl, and maybe a little boy, is wishing on a star. it's christmas eve and she's in her pajamas. she walks by the window and sees a bright shining star in the sky. marveling at how pretty it is, she's drawn to the window where she kneels do

wn and concentrates really hard on her wish. she wakes up the next morning to find what she wished for under the tree.

character design:

i really like the style of the powerpuff girl and they're oversized heads and eyes, and their small simple bodies. their eyes are extremely expressive and i would like the utilize that.

lighting:

it will be evening, thus, dark outside, with the stars and moon lighting up the outside. the interior of the room the little girl is in will be lit by christmas lights and maybe a fireplace. i love the soft glow and colors that they give off.

color scheme:

i would like to take a more contemporary spin on christmas colors, more girly. i think this will help give it a more kid-friendly look.