Original Manipulations by Cruxforums Members

[Jollyrei]

Ex-Machina
What is the essence of being human, or being a woman, for that matter? At what point do you lose that quality, and can a cyborg be human. Ryonen and Rachel are in some peril, as the cyborgs decide what to do with them. What if cyborgs and machines didn't just destroy humans, but try to assimilate or improve them, while taking on human characteristics themselves? Where is the blurry line between woman and machine here? What parts of the human do you keep, and what do you replace? These are questions that are explored by a number of science fiction authors and artists. I've tried to be a bit more "sexy" in my own interpretation here.



Technical stuff: The image has 25 distinct layers with additional filtering and adjustments added. The girl in the "tube" is Playboy model Rachel Cook (who I think appeared in the Lovely Ladies thread). Ryonen (hanging from the frame) is no stranger to CF manips, and the Hegre fitness photoshoot was an evocative source of interesting photos of her. The hanging head/torso cyborg girl and the white robot woman are artistic renderings from the internet. Possibly the most interesting figure (to me, at least) is the close up on the left of the image - This is the head of actress Alicia Vikander from the movie "Ex Machina" (not a bad film). The torso is that of model Marilu, overlaid on Vikander's actual body in the same position as the original photograph, and then gently erased at a level of about 5% to let the "cyborg" mesh show through. I think it gives a sort of eerie foreboding to the image.

In the movie, "Ex Machina", Alicia plays a cyborg who has been designed with AI to simulate a human perfectly. One of the themes of the film is whether this makes her human. This image, I think goes the other way round - what if you start turning people into machines? At what point do they stop being humans and become artificial. Is that a real line? I think there is some peril here.

 

[phlebas]

Great topic and nicely illustrated.

In the movie, "Ex Machina", Alicia plays a cyborg who has been designed with AI to simulate a human perfectly. One of the themes of the film is whether this makes her human. This image, I think goes the other way round - what if you start turning people into machines? At what point do they stop being humans and become artificial. Is that a real line? I think there is some peril here.

Both themes have been well explored in SF literature, but there is always room for more. Star Trek's Borg go the other way, turning humans into drones as part of a hive mind. But the end result isn't all bad, and we are led to believe it can be reversed


In the movie Ava deceives and betrays the character Caleb, so arguably she has become human, she is certainly able to emulate a human. The movie also explores whether an AI can have feelings, can experience emotions, or simply emulate them. A wider question is this; to what extent are we, like Ava, software running on hardware? Is consciousness separate from physicality? Will a human mind embodied in an artificial body still be human, the ghost in the machine?

We need to sort out the philosophical and legal nuances before we are confronted by these questions in real life, or we are going to face some ugly moral situations.

 

[Jollyrei]

In the movie Ava deceives and betrays the character Caleb, so arguably she has become human, she is certainly able to emulate a human.

I suppose, for me at least, one of the questions there was whether Ava betrayed Caleb because she felt he would likely betray her, or would never see her as more than a machine (which would be a sort of self-preservation motive, and reasonably human), or whether she did it out of some more sinister motivation. I think the movie was supposed to be left ambiguous in the end - was she an innocent defending her right to life, or was she some sort of cyborg femme fatale?

 

[Wragg]

Ex-Machina
What is the essence of being human, or being a woman, for that matter? At what point do you lose that quality, and can a cyborg be human. Ryonen and Rachel are in some peril, as the cyborgs decide what to do with them. What if cyborgs and machines didn't just destroy humans, but try to assimilate or improve them, while taking on human characteristics themselves? Where is the blurry line between woman and machine here? What parts of the human do you keep, and what do you replace? These are questions that are explored by a number of science fiction authors and artists. I've tried to be a bit more "sexy" in my own interpretation here.

View attachment 1091935

Technical stuff: The image has 25 distinct layers with additional filtering and adjustments added. The girl in the "tube" is Playboy model Rachel Cook (who I think appeared in the Lovely Ladies thread). Ryonen (hanging from the frame) is no stranger to CF manips, and the Hegre fitness photoshoot was an evocative source of interesting photos of her. The hanging head/torso cyborg girl and the white robot woman are artistic renderings from the internet. Possibly the most interesting figure (to me, at least) is the close up on the left of the image - This is the head of actress Alicia Vikander from the movie "Ex Machina" (not a bad film). The torso is that of model Marilu, overlaid on Vikander's actual body in the same position as the original photograph, and then gently erased at a level of about 5% to let the "cyborg" mesh show through. I think it gives a sort of eerie foreboding to the image.

In the movie, "Ex Machina", Alicia plays a cyborg who has been designed with AI to simulate a human perfectly. One of the themes of the film is whether this makes her human. This image, I think goes the other way round - what if you start turning people into machines? At what point do they stop being humans and become artificial. Is that a real line? I think there is some peril here.

I do think that this is a superb image! It's one of those that you keep looking at and keep seeing more.

I think there is some peril here.

There seems to be general acceptance of the peril, but there is some expectation upon the viewer. What is my role? Do I decide which of them will remain fully human perhaps as a 'control' specimen, and who will be reconstructed alongside Marilu?

Do they fear reconstruction, or long for it?

 

[bobinder]

Technical stuff: The image has 25 distinct layers with additional filtering and adjustments added. The girl in the "tube" is Playboy model Rachel Cook (who I think appeared in the Lovely Ladies thread). Ryonen (hanging from the frame) is no stranger to CF manips, and the Hegre fitness photoshoot was an evocative source of interesting photos of her. The hanging head/torso cyborg girl and the white robot woman are artistic renderings from the internet. Possibly the most interesting figure (to me, at least) is the close up on the left of the image - This is the head of actress Alicia Vikander from the movie "Ex Machina" (not a bad film). The torso is that of model Marilu, overlaid on Vikander's actual body in the same position as the original photograph, and then gently erased at a level of about 5% to let the "cyborg" mesh show through. I think it gives a sort of eerie foreboding to the image.

In the movie, "Ex Machina", Alicia plays a cyborg who has been designed with AI to simulate a human perfectly. One of the themes of the film is whether this makes her human. This image, I think goes the other way round - what if you start turning people into machines? At what point do they stop being humans and become artificial. Is that a real line? I think there is some peril here.

Having seen something of the development of this image, I am aware of the time spent on experiments to achieve certain effects. Some early results were discarded in favour of more successful features. One outcome worthy of note is the smoked glass effect over the figure in the tube (Rachel Cook) which I believe now incorporates two translucent, colour blending filters. A similar, experimental, filtering process was conducted to obtain the translucent effect showing cyborg material blending into humanoid skin in the close-up figure of Alicia Vikander.

There is a nice compositional reflection in the picture, between the close up portrait and the suspended head and shoulders in the distance. This defines the long depth of field containing the other characters, looking across towards the right. We are seeing an interesting variety of types - some obviously non-human, and others which arouse our curiosity because they might yet be human. In fact, I think Ryonen and Rachel are intended to be human, at least at this stage - but we are faced with several questioning looks.

All eyes are on the viewer, as if awaiting our decision on what happens next. Congratulations on a very engaging picture, Jolly!

 

[Wragg]

we are faced with several questioning looks.

I find I often am...

 

[Jollyrei]

My Eyes are Up Here

I'll let this speak for itself. Beautiful girl crucified in her village - one can only imagine what her offense was.

Inspiration for this manip was basically the expression on model Oxana Chic's face (slightly modified for this scene), and her remarkable eyes. It was, for me, a case where she would not have had to say "my eyes are up here". They're the first thing I noticed.

The cropped adaptation below provides a slightly different perspective on the scene, and highlights those eyes.


Technical information: 22 separate layers, with 4 merged, and additional filters and adjustments. The eyes have been enhanced to bring out their luminous quality, and Oxana's mouth was slightly transformed to adjust expression.

 

[Wragg]

highlights those eyes.

I could gaze into those eyes for hours....

Astonishingly beautiful image, Jollyrei!

 

[phlebas]

My Eyes are Up Here
View attachment 1093724
I'll let this speak for itself. Beautiful girl crucified in her village - one can only imagine what her offense was.

Inspiration for this manip was basically the expression on model Oxana Chic's face (slightly modified for this scene), and her remarkable eyes. It was, for me, a case where she would not have had to say "my eyes are up here". They're the first thing I noticed.

The cropped adaptation below provides a slightly different perspective on the scene, and highlights those eyes.
View attachment 1093735

Technical information: 22 separate layers, with 4 merged, and additional filters and adjustments. The eyes have been enhanced to bring out their luminous quality, and Oxana's mouth was slightly transformed to adjust expression.

Wow Jolly, love it!

Great concept, and brilliantly realised. The eyes capture us and hold us initially, but that displayed body is calling . . . . . .

The conflict between personhood and objectification, which will win?

 

[bobinder]

My Eyes are Up Here

I'll let this speak for itself. Beautiful girl crucified in her village - one can only imagine what her offense was.

Inspiration for this manip was basically the expression on model Oxana Chic's face (slightly modified for this scene), and her remarkable eyes. It was, for me, a case where she would not have had to say "my eyes are up here". They're the first thing I noticed.

The cropped adaptation below provides a slightly different perspective on the scene, and highlights those eyes.


Technical information: 22 separate layers, with 4 merged, and additional filters and adjustments. The eyes have been enhanced to bring out their luminous quality, and Oxana's mouth was slightly transformed to adjust expression.

This image has been developed in terms of small adjustments, and the finished result is entirely faithful to the original concept. The close-up head and shoulders portrait is obviously derived from the long shot scene, although the background arrangement is slightly different in each version. The composition is balanced symmetrically, combining the foreground subject with a defocused background. Both planes are entirely composed of human elements, separated by the simple wooden geometry of the cross.

We look down from an elevated viewpoint, meeting the direct gaze of all participants in the drama. But the main focus is inevitably on Oxana's face and her entrancing eyes. The name has Russian and Hebrew origins meaning, 'praise God' - which leaves us in little doubt regarding saintly aspirations to martyrdom. Over the preceding hours, her facial features have been the subject of numerous experiments by Jollyrei, Wragg and myself, although as noted, Jolly's original concept has prevailed.

Also worthy of note is the wood grain texture, forming the physical barrier between the living and dying members of humanity. The beam catches a light reflection in exactly the right place to make sense of the highlights in Oxana's hair and on her arm and shoulder. Such consistency is rare in manips on this site, and this detail has been exploited to perfection. The peripheral hair is revealed in fine detail, presumably by layer masking, and it forms a natural halo or vignette, framing the calm facial expression. Nice work, Jolly.

 

[Jollyrei]

The peripheral hair is revealed in fine detail, presumably by layer masking, and it forms a natural halo or vignette, framing the calm facial expression.

That's high praise indeed, coming from the master of this technique. Yes, there was considerable fine work with layer masking to get the hair. I was fortunate that the original photo had enough contrast to do an effective black and white mask, for the most part. There has been some redrawing in of hair where necessary, also in the mask, and then careful blurring and fading to make it look like she's not got a haystack on her head. All in a good cause, I think.

 

[Fossy]

Some of you know my Muse, Charlotte, quite well. Here she is in a scene from the prison yard ... in the male block ...

The background is a movie scene still from Red Notice and as such had a fairly unique quality that was hard to match from a posed shot. The main body is a picture from a 'sex and submission' prison video and the face and neck is that of my muse from a picture of her own. Fading the colour saturation and tone on all components but to differing level I think got me somewhere near and then covering it with a soft light overlay hopefully brought the individual elements closer still. Anyways, I enjoyed making it

 

[Jollyrei]

Some of you know my Muse, Charlotte, quite well. Here she is in a scene from the prison yard ... in the male block ...

The background is a movie scene still from Red Notice and as such had a fairly unique quality that was hard to match from a posed shot. The main body is a picture from a 'sex and submission' prison video and the face and neck is that of my muse from a picture of her own. Fading the colour saturation and tone on all components but to differing level I think got me somewhere near and then covering it with a soft light overlay hopefully brought the individual elements closer still. Anyways, I enjoyed making it

View attachment 1094304

Quite an interesting background, almost a 1970s or 80s sort of lighting for the scene (that sort of greenish tint was very popular in TV and movies back then) which adds to the feeling of not being quite comfortable. There's an eerie sort of limbo feeling her. We have a bunch of men, all in the yard for their exercise period, presumably, and then a nude woman in chains is brought through, or just sent out there. Is this a sort of sadistic experiment by the prison authorities. What is to happen next. Clearly the man in the foreground is unsure. If he approaches her, what consequences might be forthcoming? She is also unsure, eyes cast down and obviously the most vulnerable figure in this montage.

Technically it's well done. The head and body of the Charlotte figure are well blended and I think your work on colour and exposure worked out quite well also. There is no obvious glaring sunlight (which also adds to the mood of the picture), so shadows and light direction were not a huge issue. A good and enigmatic piece.

 

[Fossy]

Quite an interesting background, almost a 1970s or 80s sort of lighting for the scene (that sort of greenish tint was very popular in TV and movies back then) which adds to the feeling of not being quite comfortable. There's an eerie sort of limbo feeling her. We have a bunch of men, all in the yard for their exercise period, presumably, and then a nude woman in chains is brought through, or just sent out there. Is this a sort of sadistic experiment by the prison authorities. What is to happen next. Clearly the man in the foreground is unsure. If he approaches her, what consequences might be forthcoming? She is also unsure, eyes cast down and obviously the most vulnerable figure in this montage.

Technically it's well done. The head and body of the Charlotte figure are well blended and I think your work on colour and exposure worked out quite well also. There is no obvious glaring sunlight (which also adds to the mood of the picture), so shadows and light direction were not a huge issue. A good and enigmatic piece.

Thank you Jolly very kind. To be honest, upon reflection, I should have made Charlotte less 'soft' and added much more vibrancy to the composition. So here is version 2. More colour sat and tone and a little shadow on one side of the face.

 

[Jollyrei]

Thank you Jolly very kind. To be honest, upon reflection, I should have made Charlotte less 'soft' and added much more vibrancy to the composition. So here is version 2. More colour sat and tone and a little shadow on one side of the face.

View attachment 1094539

I'm not entirely convinced this is better. I think you're right that Charlotte could be a bit less soft, but the increased gamma and saturation seems to have posterized the image a bit. It's got that "old photo" look now, which is interesting, but you might have wanted to do something a bit more subtle. I think I still prefer your earlier version.

 

[Fossy]

I'm not entirely convinced this is better. I think you're right that Charlotte could be a bit less soft, but the increased gamma and saturation seems to have posterized the image a bit. It's got that "old photo" look now, which is interesting, but you might have wanted to do something a bit more subtle. I think I still prefer your earlier version.

More great feedback Jolly, thanks. You could be right about the impact of the increased Sat ... maybe I got a little carried away. Anyways I will leave it for now and hopefully we can all continue to imagine what the accompanying narrative might be ...

 

[Wragg]

I think I still prefer your earlier version.

Me too, I liked number 1 better!

You adjusted the background and Charlotte, maybe the background or Charlotte would have been better, so one conforms to t'other.

 

[Fossy]

Me too, I liked number 1 better!

You adjusted the background and Charlotte, maybe the background or Charlotte would have been better, so one conforms to t'other.

I might do a little more work on it when I get a mo', would love to get it right. Thanks for the feedback guys ...

 

[Eulalia]

I like both, but #2 appeals to me, it's a bit like a stage-set, with Charlotte and the lascivious guy in the spotlights, and the eerie green puddles and Big Brotherish poster adding to the theatrical quality - less naturalistic, but more dramatic?

 

[Fossy]

A third (and final) version in my attempts to get the damn lighting and colour to look at least like it is remotely equalised

CHARLOTTE IN THE PRISON YARD ...