In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a horror scene based on the movie “The Uninvited“. You’ll learn how to combine different stock images into a cohesive scene, make a custom window, change the light and shadow, enhance the color, adjust the atmosphere, enhance the depth of field, and more.
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:
1. Add the Background and Particles
Step 1
Create a new 1650 x 1650 px document in Photoshop with the given settings:
Step 2
Open the background image. Drag this image onto the black canvas using the Move Tool (V).
Step 3
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and change the Radius to 6 px. It helps to increase the depth of the scene.
Step 4
Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and decrease the lightness. On this layer mask, use a soft round brush with black color (soft black brush) to erase the right part of the scene to keep the lightness on there.
Step 5
Place the particles image over the main canvas and change the mode to Screen 100%.
Step 6
To make a ghostly and creepy effect, go to Filter > Distort > Shear and apply the following change:
Step 7
Continue applying a Motion Blur filter to strengthen the evil look.
Step 8
Click the second icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a mask
to this layer. Use a soft black brush to reduce the particles’ intensity
as shown below.
2. Add the Window
Step 1
Open the window image and isolate the middle window. Place this window part over the canvas.
Step 2
Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to select a part from the original image and add it to the left to fill the missing area there.
Step 3
The width of the window frames are too big, so they give the impression that
the window is too near. To fix it, first use a layer mask to remove all
of the window rails (use a hard brush, not soft, to keep the edges’ realism).
Step 4
Select a vertical rail from the original image and add it to the left of
existing window after reducing its width. Duplicate this layer and move it to the right. Divide
the width of the window into three sections and place the rails in the
first and the second places.
Step 5
Add the horizontal rails using the same method.
Step 6
There are a lot of unwanted details along the rails and frames. On each
of the window and rail layers, make a new layer and set it as Clipping
Mask. Activate the Clone Tool (S) to fix these indicated details, including the rail shadow in the middle.
Step 7
In this step we’ll add shadow for the vertical rails. Make a new layer
and select the rail shadow area in the middle (you can turn off the
clone layer to see it more clearly).
Choose the clone layer and press Control-C to copy the shadow area and
then select the new layer, hit Control-V to paste the shadow into there.
Move the shadow to the proper position for the first rail.
Duplicate this layer and move it to the right for the second rail.
Step 8
Select all the window and rail layers and press Control-G to make a
group for them. Change this group mode to Normal 100% and create a
Hue/Saturation adjustment layer within the group. Reduce the Saturation
value to -87:
Step 9
Add a
Curves adjustment layer and increase the light very much. We’re aiming to add
the main light from the right, so on this layer mask, use a black brush
to erase the light on the edges and hidden areas.
Step 10
Create another Curves adjustment layer to increase the shadow on the edges.
3. Add the Child
Step 1
Isolate the child from the original background and place him in the
middle of the canvas. Set the child layer under the window group.
Step 2
Create a new layer above the child layer (set as Clipping Mask) and use
the Clone Tool to remove the white text and line on his costume. Also
reduce the shadow under the chin and nose.
Step 3
The light on the background comes from the right, so the child’s head
should create a shadow on the body. Make a new layer and use a medium-soft
black brush with opacity about 30-40% to paint it on the left shoulder.
Step 4
Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and reduce the Saturation value to -62:
Step 5
Add a Curves adjustment layer and make the child much darker. On this
layer mask, use a soft black brush to make the light visible on the
contour and reveal the details on his costume.
Step 6
Create a Levels adjustment layer to darken the child more. Here are the areas you should mask off to keep their lightness and details.
Step 7
Create a new layer, change the mode to Overlay 100% and fill with 50% gray:
Use the Dodge and Burn Tool (O) with Midtones Range, Exposure about
15-20% to refine the light and shadow on the child and make some
wrinkles of his costume more visible. You can see how I did it with
Normal mode and the result with Overlay mode:
Step 8
Time to decorate the eyes. Create a new layer and use a medium-hard
brush with the color #c2c0c0, the opacity about 30-35% to paint on the
middle of the eyes:
Step 9
On a new layer, use the same brush but with a bigger opacity (about 50%) to paint the white pupils inside the eyes.
Step 10
Use a hard black brush, size 1 px to paint the tiny black dots inside
the pupils. Paint them in the lower parts to make him appear to be looking down.
4. Make the Blood Effect
Step 1
Open the blood splatter 1 image. Isolate it from the white background
using the Magic Wand Tool (W). Add it to the model’s face and body and
change the mode to Multiply 100%.
Use a layer mask to erase the blood on the forehead and costume.
Step 2
Add more bloody effects using different parts of the splatter.
Step 3
Make a group for the blood layers and change the group mode to Multiply
100%. Use a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to desaturate the red blood a
bit:
Step 4
Open the blood 2 image. Use the Lasso Tool (L) to select a bloody area
on the side of the forehead and add it to the middle of the child’s
face.
Change this layer mode to Overlay 100% and use a layer mask to soften the hard edges and make a bloody mouth for the child.
Step 5
Add more bloody effects to the face, arms, and body using the same method.
Step 6
Make
a new layer on top of the layers, change the mode to Overlay 100% and
fill with 50% gray. Use the Burn Tool to create more details and depth
for the bloody effects.
5. Create the Glass Effect
Create a Color Fill layer and pick a similar color to the background
(#787676). Lower the opacity of this layer to 20% to create a subtle glass effect for the window.
Paint on the edges of the window and rails to make them still in shadow.
6. Add the Curtain
Step 1
Open the curtain image. First use the Magic Wand Tool to isolate the
curtain from the background. After that, select the right part of the
curtain (you can choose the left, they’re the same) to place in the top
right of the window:
Step 2
Add a mask to this layer and use a soft brush with a low opacity (about
20-25%) to carefully mask off the curtain part covering the window rails. Follow
the wrinkles to make it appear semi-transparent.
Step 3
Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and bring the Saturation value down to -96.
Step 4
Make a Curves adjustment layer to darken the curtain. The selected areas show where to paint on the layer mask.
Step 5
Use the Dodge and Burn Tool to refine the light and shadow on the curtain.
7. The Final Adjustment
Step 1
Create a Gradient Map adjustment layer on top of the layers and pick the
colors #031f31 and #06bafd. Lower the opacity of this layer to 60%.
Step 2
Make another Gradient Map adjustment layer and change the colors to #e10019 and #00601b. Lower the opacity of it to 20%.
Step 3
Add a Curves adjustment layer to increase the contrast of the image.
Step 4
Use another Curves adjustment layer to change the light and color of the scene.
Step 5
Make a Vibrance adjustment layer to enhance the final effect:
Congratulations, You’re Done!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed my tutorial and learned something new. Feel
free to share your ideas or comments in the box below—I’d love to see
them. Enjoy Photoshopping!
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