Inspired by Hollywood
This past weekend, I saw a movie about a far-from-Utopian world. Earth had suffered from a blast, metal and concrete lay everywhere, and people were trying to survive in a harsh environment and a cruel world. Certainly, not a place I’d like to be. However, I was mesmerized by the cinematographic style — something I’ve been taken by before.
While I wouldn’t relish being in a post-apocalyptic situation, there is something about the stylized vision of one that I find compelling. Maybe it’s the grunge, the harsh edges, the desaturated colors, or the decaying industrial scenes that capture my eye. To be honest, I’m not really sure. Somehow, the style seems both raw and real, even though it’s clearly artificial. Kind of interesting, I think.
Anyway, this morning, I set about to create my own Dystopian reality and thought I’d share.
Instructions
- Start with a photograph with an industrial setting — anything with lots of concrete is great! Then, open it in Photoshop Elements.
- Next, create a copy by pressing Ctrl-J (Mac: Command-J).
- Then, select Enhance>Unsharp Mask and set the Amount and Radius to 200 and the Threshold to 0.
- Click on the foreground color to set the color. Then, within the Color Picker, set the # value (the hex value) to 7c766e and press OK.
- Now, select Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation… and press OK. Then, select the Colorize option in the Hue/Saturation panel and adjust the opacity of the Hue/Saturation layer to 50%.
- Next, select Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map… and press OK. From the Gradient Map drop-down, be sure to select the Black, White option.
- Now, set the opacity of this layer to 50% and set the blending mode to Overlay.
- Next, it’s time for a vignette (you know I love vignettes!). To create this one, let’s start with a copy of the layers merged to their own layer by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E (Mac: Command-Option-Shift-E). Then:
- Select the Burn Tool (O) and from the brush presets (upper left corner on the tool menu), select the Soft Round 300 Pixel brush and adjust the size up or down to suit your image and preferences.
- Brush along the outside edges of the image to burn in a vignette — do this repeatedly and as much as you like to achieve the desired look.
- Finally, set the blending mode to Luminosity to give the image a grungy, Dystopian feel.
Bruce
April 5, 2011 at 7:24 am
Thanks for posting this. I have always loved this look and now I know how to obtain it.
Liz
April 5, 2011 at 7:31 am
AWESOME! Thanks Bruce! =)
stephen
September 26, 2012 at 11:40 am
or you can buy topaz adjust 5, and this stuff is only a click away !!!
Steve
April 5, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Thank you Liz, I too really enjoy this look. This weekend I will have to give it a try and post an image back in Elements, thanks again!!!
Liz
April 5, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Thanks Steve! I can’t wait to see what you create — your images are always so AWESOME! =)
Bayla
April 6, 2011 at 3:18 am
Great tutorial. Only thing was that I found changing the blend mode to Luminosity at the end made no difference.
Liz
April 6, 2011 at 8:19 am
Thanks Bayla!
Also, thanks for sharing your experience. Depending on the original photograph, the Luminosity change may make very little — to no — difference for other users, as well.
=) Liz
Julie
April 6, 2011 at 9:08 am
Hi Liz,
I enjoy dystopian fiction so this is right up my grungified alley! Here is a thread someone started at EV with examples using your tutorial. Thanks a lot for this one!
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?p=575734#post575734
Liz
April 7, 2011 at 8:15 am
Ooo! Thanks for the link to the thread, Julie–LOVE all of the photographs and seeing the before and after images. Very cool! The effect is awesome on your daughter’s photograph of the Atomium sculpture, too. The metal looks and has a feel of cold metal–perfection! =)
Mary
April 7, 2011 at 10:55 am
Thanks Liz! I just tried your method on a photo of my nephew – he is a big fan of this look – and he loves it! I’ve definitely moved up on the ‘favorite aunt’ scale! Thanks!
Mary
Liz
April 7, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Awesome! We aunts have to stick together! ;-)
Rosi
April 22, 2011 at 8:00 am
This is so exciting!
I love how this effect turned out.
I put the composite layer at Luminosity (reduced opacity) over the unchanged background layer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49824873@N05/5642663414/in/photostream
Thank you for another great technique.
Liz
April 22, 2011 at 8:19 am
AWESOME Rosi! =)
James
May 4, 2011 at 4:32 pm
How do I set the Colorize option in the Hue/Sat panel? step 5.
Liz
May 4, 2011 at 4:44 pm
There’s a little Colorize check box just to the right of the eyedroppers in the Hue/Saturation Adjustment panel. Select (e.g., check) the box and that will apply the colorize feature.
=) Liz