Double Exposure Techniques Skills Development

Hayley McCarthy

Unsuccessful elements:- I personally really

like this aesthetic, having refined it throughout my practical pre-production. Although, during the editing of my video, this can become repetitive, potentially losing interest of the viewer. I’m going to look at other techniques that I can portray this contrast whilst retaining a visual interest.

Successful elements:- Encompasses my

original design intentions.

- Differentiates the figure from the background successfully, creating a contrast that is obvious for the viewer.

- Using footage that features paler colours, I am able to blend the background colour with this, adding an element of subtlety to the composition.

Unsuccessful elements:- This technique will

have varying degrees of success depending on the sequence used.

- The footage occupying the background is vastly complicated, juxtaposing the otherwise minimal, single colour background of the original double exposure. This could hinder the consistency of the video.

Successful elements:- The slight

repositioning of the overlaid footage creates a subtle contrast that is mainly evident when the footage is playing.

- The darker ink droplets highlight the figure, with white masking and black revealing in this double exposure process.

Unsuccessful elements:- Perhaps due to the

dominant white tones that masks the model’s features, but the definition of the figure is lacking with this repositioning.

- This could potentially be successful for other pieces of footage that has a more balanced, complex composition.

Successful elements:- Creates a large

contrast, isolating the figure from the background successfully.

Unsuccessful elements:- Once again, this

could have varying effectiveness depending on the footage used, reliant on the shot being long enough to displace the time.

Successful elements:- Continues the

contrast from the previous techniques, using the same footage but varying the time placement in the overlaid footage. This creates contrast due to it being the same footage just at different moments in the sequence.

Unsuccessful elements:- Whilst the variation

in colour achieved through tinting the background is effective in defining the figure, I do not like the overall aesthetic that this distinction creates.

- This technique may not be as effective with a shot that has more monochrome qualities, reducing the contrast and defeating the purpose of this effect.

Successful elements:- The use of two

separate colours creates a high contrast, defining the figure amongst the quite complicated composition.

- This enables the positioning of the footage to remain the same, creating the effect of the shot becoming colour once it hits the figure.

Unsuccessful elements:- In some places this

effect is too subtle, with the face being a low contrast in comparison to the legs and arms. Perhaps variation on the grading could increase this contrast.

Successful elements:- I like the subtlety of

this technique, by slightly varying the grading of this shot, this blends the figure into the background, similarly to how I have been matching the solid colour background to the double exposure technique.

Unsuccessful elements:- Quite blunt, this

removes all definition from the figure, removing the performance aspect to the video (as outlined by Joan Lynch, with music videos featuring at least one aspect of performance, narrative, or conceptual)

- Reliant on the keying of the green screen background, if this is unsuccessful, this technique will be ineffective.

Successful elements:- Inverting the

original double exposure technique, by using the stencil alpha blend mode, I was able to place a solid colour within the figure, resulting in a very high contrast.

Unsuccessful elements:- Comparing the

lighter and darker colour fills, I personally prefer the lighter one, however the solidity of this technique juxtaposes the otherwise fluid subject matter.

Successful elements:- Same effect as

previous, using a darker colour. This opens opportunities for variation in the filled colour, including gradients and indeed other footage.

Unsuccessful elements:- Again, this is

dependent entirely on the footage used, resulting in a fairly unpredictable technique.

- Using footage from a differing subject would create a disjointed effect, just as the tinting technique did. By experimenting with these variations, it is evident that two completely juxtaposing aesthetics are not effective within the double exposure technique.

Successful elements:- Utilising the

previous effect once again, instead of a block colour, the figure has instead been filled with differing footage of the same subject matter, increasing the contrast once more.

- Could be applied to differing footage of a separate subject matter.