Murda/Urban Gangstas - 10/23/2007 - Update - The Road Splits In The Courtroom

[LissaS]

Yes elven song yes you hit it right on the needle!!!

Unfortunately she probably won't realise because like you said, Moon22T, its making sense to her, and that's only because Junior's mixing God's word with his, and she's been raised to follow it.

Ps sorry about the deleted posts my computer booted me off when I tried to edit the first post and the second

[FeistyRedhead]

The quasi abusive tone Raheem has with his new wife is disturbing, but you know I love the story

[Ali Xavier]

I had to think about this chapter for awhile. As Elvensong said above, it was brilliant. What made it so is that you showed how domestic violence happens. We also know why: Junior was an abused child, and Rita was an oppressed child. Amazing how you did that.

I liked the art too, especially of Junior with the scales on his face. It's good enough to hang in my living room. You should upload it here. (Hint, hint)

[vita4all]

Tenshii and I PM each other every now and then, so I gave her this feedback in a PM. She said she'd like me to post it to help others.

Moon22T also PM'd me on Saturday, asking how I get my shots to be so vivid.

Here's how:

From Tenshi: It's not too bright, is it? I'm working from a laptop with unadjustable brightness/contrast... and I'm still learning how to do this type of stuff...

I only know how to use Adobe Photoshop. Can't praise it enough, although their may be even better programs out there, and using a laptop, you may be limited by it's memory or RAM.



You asked about the warming effect on your pic, and mentioned brightness and contrast. There is something called Adjust Color on Photoshop, that has three sub-options: hue, saturation, and lghtness. One can make a photo 'warmer' this way using saturation, or change the colors completely using hue. Many of my photos you've seen have been touched up this way.

You asked if your photo is too warm. This depends on the mood you want to set. Mood is everything. I think it's perfect - if you're trying to convey an intense mood. His face and expression is already beautifully intense, and whatever you did is perfect. To add, drama to the photo, I used something called the Polygonal Lasso Tool. I don't know if you have this feature in your photo program, but if ever switch to Adobe, you'll find it invaluable.

(Credit to Beosboxboy for showing me how to do this when I wanted to modify the tie on his gangster suits. He supplied me with this pic and I've been rolling ever since. He may have a tutorial on insimenator somewhere.)



What you do is 'rope' around the object that you want to modify. In your photo, I roped off Kai (I guess that's his name, that's how you labeled him in the photo). Thus, Kai wasn't affected, changed, or altered in anyway - only the background was. (No, I take that back. I changed the hair over his ear on the left side of the pic a wee bit.) I had a photo of a fire that I found on the web (I love shots that involve heat, passion and drama), and simply cut and pasted it into the background. This took me all of 20 minutes, from thinking about it, to selecting a background, to editing the photo. This took practice, however, and patience.

Here's the exact same photo, with a different background to match the intensity:






Here's another example, and a sneak peak. In this shot, the photo of the fire is in the sim scene, so I didn't need to use the polygonal lasso tool:






or, the same shot below, in a two recent chapters. It was originally taken on black backgrounds, and the Filter was used to alter the mood and look. For the second shot, I used the paint bucket to change the background from black to red, the Image/Resize/Scale tool to adjust size, because I felt I stretched too much in the first one.





Edit 6/25/2007
Shots are never perfect when you take them.
Below is a step-by-step detail pictorial of the transformation of a close-in shot from another story I've entered for the Playing Pirate Contest :pirate::
http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=791120&postcount=89


1. Sample One - Original Photo




2. Sample Two:



The picture needs to be enhanced for color. If you brighten it, the globe lamp will be too bright and overwhelm or dominate the photo too much.

a) Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool to rope off the globe. Use Edit feature to Copy, then Cut.
b) Use Enhance feature in upper left-hand corner.
c) Scroll down to Adjust Lighting, and adjust for Brightness and Contrast.
d) Then go to Adjust Color (also under Enhance), then adjust hue and saturation.
e) Sometimes you may want to use the Adjust Shadow feature too. I rarely adjust more than 1 to 3%, if at all, as it affects the lighting in ways I don't like. Save this for last. Sometimes it makes it a little better, and with some shots, it's a necessity. I don't think I used it on this one.


3. Sample Three



a) Use Rectangular Marquee Tool on left side of Adobe, it's the square box under the icon that looks like an eyedropper. Use this tool to highlight area where the globe (or your item) will be pasted back on.

b) Use Edit feature. Scroll down and click on Paste In Selection. Then line up globe where it was.


4. Sample Four



a) Use Blur Tool on left side of the page to blur around the boundary of the globe where you pasted it back in the photo. This tool looks like a raindrop. You can adjust the size at the top of the page, the same way you adjust your paintbrush.


5. Sample Five

See that thin black line going across the globe and into the crib? Theres another one under the boy's chair. The lines are from a glitch in the globe lamp that shows up in the game.

a) Several ways to do this. Easiest for me was to use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (the box) to highlight the first area where the line is, then click Copy.

b) Next, use the Polygonal Lasso Tool and lasso or rope around only the line.

c) Click Paste In Selection, and shift the pasted area until the line is covered up.


6. Sample Six - Almost Done!



See that little tiny white area in the lower left hand corner of the photo? That comes from a pile of clothes that was on the floor, but not enough of the clothes showed up for anyone to know what it is. I didn't even notice it until the last minute.  This is easily fixed.

a) Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool over a slightly larger area of the clothes and Copy.

b) Since it's so tiny, you don't have to use the Polygonal Lasso Tool. You can use the Rectangular Marquee Tool again, but only over the spot. Click on Paste into Selection, and move it around until it's covered up.

c) Brightened or lightened just a tad, maybe used 1% of Shadow feature, which I save for last.

7. Sample Seven - Finished Product.



I don't know why it looks a little lighter in #7 than in #6. That's a Photobucket issue, because I didn't adjust anything. You'll see #6 in the Pirate Contest.

Whew! Done. Sounds like a lot.  I think it took me probably 45 minutes, but I'm still slow and take my time studying the photo. Photo work of this kind is like art, and in the eye of the beholder. Some people might prefer the photo to be lighter. However, I like the level of darkness to portray the mood  in the story. Often darkness will make a photo more intimate, especially if it's a close up shot of the subject(s). You almost feel like you are there.

Good luck, and PM me if you have any questions.

[LissaS]

WOW thanks ALOT!!!!! Now to go experiment..........

[Veckah]

Sorry I haven't commented sooner, but it has been a VERY long week and weekend. This chapter gave me chills again. Junior and his "What's my name" is such a abusive tendency phrase. His 'tender' dehumanization of Rita is truly frightening, calling her girl instead of her name, demanding her obedience in everything... *shiver* It reminds me of some of the cases I have read on PervertedJustice.com.

[vita4all]

Thanks and hugs all, for the comments, insights, opinions, and support. I'm glad you're loving the story.

Veckah, I knew these last two chapters would be chilling to many, although there are those who don't have a problem with Junior and Rita's relationship and beliefs (except for Junior's threat to whip her with a belt if she doesn't obey him.) Yep, Junior's pretty clear about his expectations as well his love and passion for her. No grey areas whatsoever... with her.

Also, I never heard of that website, pervertedjustice.com. I'll check it out. I take it that his behavior and one of the favorite photos I did conveyed this view of Junior. I love Photoshop. He almost looks Egyptian from the time of the pyramids, doesn't he? I've got another odd one I'll be using soon.

New Update![/SIZE]

Ch. 73: FREEDOM AIN'T FREE [/COLOR]
PART II - JAMAL, & PART III - RAVEN

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[Tenshii~Akari]

Aww, that was such a tease!  :tongue3:  

It's funny though... two completely different people whose lives depend on each other... well, in this case, one that's in a life or death situation.  Jamal is so sure of himself, but who knows what could happen between the appearance in court and the verdict.  

I'll be waiting patiently for Junior's take.  :angel:  (I'm sure it'll blow me away! :lol:)

[Ali Xavier]

Part 1 on Rita was amazing. From the frying pan and into the fire! Junior might turn out to be a good husband, and they definitly have the chemistry in bed, but Junior missed his calling. He'd make a helluva pimp. Part 2 and 3 were short but I liked them, especially this from Jamal:

Pain in my life has always been there and always will be. It's part of my life like the sun... and like that big ball of fire in the sky, it hurts too much to look at directly.

A lot of brothas can identify with this, but I'd like to know a little more about his pain other than his baby's mama cheating on him. Your fans are waiting for Part 4!

[vita4all]

Thank you Diesel, Ali, Tenshii, Veckah, Moon, ElvenSong and FeistyRedhead[/B] for your insights, feedback and comments, and to my other readers.

Ali - You're getting your wish in Part 4 re: insight on how Jamal (and Junior and Che) developed into the people they are.

Diesel - I really appreciate your throwing out a little different point of view. As scary as Junior is some, other women find raw confidence, complete control over others seductive, rather than abusive. But as you said, for many, it gets old.

FeistyRedhead - Yep, see above, and I'm glad you're loving the story.

Tenshii - I like that term you used, prison check, in describing how Rita's parents behaved when she got home. Considering what an angel Rita's been all her life and parents' lifestyle, her elopement to the son of a mobster hit them like a tornado.

ElvenSong - Heh-heh, glad you can relate to Rita's folks and thanks for sharing your experience with the belt and strict parents. It's awfully common in families all over the world.

Moon - Yep, you hit it on the bullseye: Junior's molding Rita like clay. He'll reveal why in this next part. Also, hope you learn how to use the photo tip I gave you. You too, Tenshii.

Veckah - Hugs, and you know why.

New Update!

Chapter 73:[/COLOR] Freedom Ain't Free - Part 4 - Junior

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[Monnie66]

I Love this story u should make a youtube account but i think pics are better for storytelling but keep up the good work

[Tenshii~Akari]

Now I see it.  I do sense a little resentment from Junior towards his mom.  (And of course his dad, as he's the catalyst for the situation.)  I really don't see how she could let Raheem "discipline" him like that, and break up with him over another woman.  I would've broken the relationship off the first time my kid got hurt.  

It's amazing how many eyes Satan has, isn't it?  I wouldn't have expected... well, scratch that.  I should've expected that he'd have someone tailing really close to Raven.  I'm sure it's partly through her lawyer, though, but I wonder who else...

[vita4all]

Monnie66 - I'm honored that you've been a member at inseminator for nearly a year, and left your first post on my thread. Thank you.

Tenshii - As we've PM'd privately, people who are used to being dominated in relationships often don't perceive occassional abuses of power as reason to terminate them, particularly if love enters the equation. Their lover or parent's behavior is seen basically as normal with a few anomalies that overlooked. Think of any boss you've ever had the bad luck to work for, but you remain in that job despite the occassional misery he or she dishes out, even though you can find a new job with some effort. The familiar feels safer than the unknown. Abuse in relationships also make it more intense, and that intensity is confused for love. This is especially true with children, who also, like Junior, don't reveal all that has happened to them even to the other parent, like the rooftop scene. Secrets find fertile ground in this garden of madness...

[Elven_Song]

With these last parts of 'Freedom Ain't Free', I finally really understand where Junior stands with Raheem. It's interesting that despite everything he's done Satan still has so many people who do love him. And also how he somehow makes you feel secure but scared at the same time. It really gives a lot of insight on him and all the people who associate with him, especially his kids and their moms. It would be really scary, just to know someone like that, who you can't help but love and hate at the same time.

Also, I loved your pictures in this last chapter. Very well set up and the editing definitely makes a difference. I like it how some of them almost look like puzzles being put together.

[LissaS]

Man I don't even know where to start, like eleven song said it's like a puzzle and I love puzzles, so I'm slowly but surly piecing this together. I see and understand where juniors coming from, he already knows how his father is and how certain people roll. Although I don't think he should punish Rita for whatever he thinks she might do since he knows how persuasive they are and sneaky. It'll be like her getting caught in a trap that she as no knowledge of cause she's so sheltered and innocent and evil seems to like to prive on the innocent . As far as his father they all said it^^^^^^. Satan is the father of trickery and lies and deceit ect..

The pics were sooooo good and I meant to tell you this before but I love how you use other pics you used earlier to refresh our memory and let us see it a different way. As in you used the pic to tell one side of the story then later on use it again to tell a different side of the story. I LOVE IT!

YESSS Ronnie's coming back can't wait to see what happens!!!!!!!