Sometime in the mid 80’s I saw David Copperfield live in Worcester. I was impressed with his ability to levitate people and make large objects disappear right in front of my face. The entertainment value of watching a live magician is knowing the show is an illusion and accepting it at face value.
Modern media doesn’t allow us the benefit of knowing illusion from reality and most of the time twists our arms because we don’t know we’re being duped. Oddly enough I came up with this article (and wrote most of it) while I was assisting with a green screen photographic booth: somewhat of a digital cover-up process.
Obviously with my green screen project people understood they weren’t actually standing in front of a bunch of canoes. In this case the customers were part of the master illusion. There are times when the illusion is done by the photographer without the knowledge of the participants or audience. Usually the grandest of illusions results in scandals and reports of misrepresentation.
“It’s been PhotoShopped” has become a common trade phrase among the photographic industry. Models are commonly made to look more attractive, background objects removed, and colors changed. It’s easy for a mediocre photographer to make his or her pictures better by modifying them with a computer. What started as passable becomes fantastic with a few clicks of a mouse.
About a year ago a song sensation hit the charts and made it almost to the top of the billboard. Rebecca Black’s Friday didn’t climb to the top because it was great; rather, it made it because it was laughably bad. Producers of her songs used Auto-Tune, a product created by Antares to modify how a vocalist sounds. When used sparingly, Auto-Tunes can add to the effect of a song or replace a slightly off key voice. In the case of Friday, it was overused making the vocals sound digitized.
A few nights ago I was watching a television production outlining the history of digital video special effects. The show did a side-by-side comparison of similar effects over a ten year span. Clearly, modern effects are much more realistic and lifelike. At the movies we’re expecting to see great effects because that’s why we’re paying; however, in a commercial we don’t expect to see special effects and expect to be given the truth.
Effect processing, no matter the media, isn’t always used to blatantly sell us something. Some may use effects to disguise bad work or equipment. I’ve seen some really bad photographers use PhotoShop to hide poor skills. Framing a photographic image through the lens is something that comes with skill and an eye. Software and technology allows a photographer to blur or eliminate parts of a picture; turning an otherwise bad picture into something that’s really good.
Audio recording engineers have been removing hisses, clicks and pops from recordings for years. A good microphone will collect all the sounds within range. Some of the noises (like those from a computer fan) translate into a single frequency that’s very noticeable. Modern software allows engineers to remove only that frequency, leaving the rest of the recording untouched. At the same time, the engineer can compensate for poor equipment with the push of a button.
Not all modifications to digital media is scandalous. Just because the creator decides to make minor changes prior to releasing the finished product doesn’t mean they’re trying to deceive. Masters of illusion and the real people who are accused of sinning are those who transform their work so much that it changes the original message. Next time you watch a movie, look at a picture, or listen to a song try and look past the obvious message and see if you can notice the subtle modifications.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him at (978) 413-2840 or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)