Photoshop: Zombie Project

Zombie”fy” Yourself Project

OVERVIEW

In this Project you will use many of the skills you have acquired throughout your Photoshop Lessons. You will take a Headshot of yourself and it into a Zombie. You will accomplish this by blending other images using masks as well as using adjustment layer and several tools to transform your image.

OBJECTIVE

At the completion of the project students will have demonstrated the ability to blend layers, use masks, and use adjustment layers and tools to transform a basic headshot of a person into a “movie” like zombie image.

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: GET IMAGES

In order to zombie yourself you need a nice headshot on a green screen. Have someone take a picture of you in front of a green screen. The green screen will make it easier to mask out your face.

To create zombie look you will need several images to blend with your Headshot image. These images will be used to make your skin look rotten so you want images that have texture. Search the web for these images. I would suggest you look for images (with texture) of Meat, Carcasses, Surgeries, Rotten wood, Rusted metal and other things you can think of that might make skin look rotten.

Next find a background night scene photo that you will place your headshot on. Example photos for your background would be night scenes, graveyards, full-moon etc. Be sure to use HIGH Quality Images!

STEP 2: SETUP YOUR WORKSPACE

Create a New Photoshop document that is 11in x 14in. The resolution needs to be 300 Pixel/Inch. Have the new document in CMYK Color Mode.

Save your work as Zombie_(yourinitials).psd

STEP 3: ADDING YOUR BACKGROUND

Place your background night scene into the workspace.

If the image is much smaller than your canvas, remember to convert it to a Smart Object (Layers > Smart Object > Convert to Smart Object) before transforming. This will keep the original image still available just in case you need to go back and change it.

Start to add effects to the background in order to make it look scary/spooky and to get the look you are going for.

STEP 4: START YOUR ZOMBIE

Bring your Headshot into your project and cut out the background so it is only your face. Use select and mask to get a nice cutout.

STEP 5: ADD A GRADIENT MESH

(Pay close attention here)

In this step you will add a Gradient Map Layer. Make sure your headshot is selected and click on Gradient Map in the Adjustments Panel. In the Gradient Map options, change the colors of the gradient to: Dark Green (left color and the right color to a Light Gray (right color).

Click OK to approve these changes. This will begin to give you the zombie flesh.

(See next photo for example of the changes)

STEP 6: ZOMBIE EYES

Make zombie eyes! One way to make Zombie Eyes is to use the Smudge tool to Smudge the whites of the eyes into pupils.

You can use the Dodge and Burn to also balance out what you have smudged to make it look more natural. Add your own ideas!

STEP 7: ADD ZOMBIE FLESH

In Photoshop open each textured image that you collected previously and transform your image as needed. In most cases you will only be using a piece of texture from the image so discard the rest. Move/Drag the image onto your Zombie when it is ready to be added to your image.

Select the area you would like to Mask it onto. Once it is Masked, change the blending option to the option the suits you best. Most likely it will be Soft Light or Overlay. Continue to place the layers, mask and blend each layer.

STEP 8: CONTINUE ZOMBIFYING

Continue to add different effects to your zombie as you see fit. Play with different features for your hair and mouth. Add scaring. BE CREATIVE!

STEP 9: SAVE & SUBMIT

Save your work as Zombie_(yourinitials).psd Keep it as a Photoshop file so all layers stay available.

Also save it as a .JPG so it flattens all the layers. Submit the .PSD and .JPG file into the WEB network drive in your appropriate folder.

EXAMPLES

ASSESSMENT

The rubric Below will be used to assess your work.