The Brian Horne Gallery of Semi-Sensible Photoshop Works

Here is a gallery of work I've done for Motion Graphics I. I'm still learning some fairly basic techniques, but no matter how simple these are, I am actually enjoying the results. They may not make the most sense to look at, but I know what they mean. Under each one I'll tell what I was trying to illustrate.

These first seven are for the Sound Synesthesia assignment. When you hear a sound, what do you think of?

The sound of a collision.

I was attached to this one in a way, only due to firsthand experience. The 299792458 numbers represent light speed, or 29,972,458 meters per second. I had my first big crash this year, and let me tell you, time seems to stand still when it happens. Coincidentally, time would appear to stand still upon reaching light speed as well, because you'd be traveling as fast or faster than anything you see. The heart and EKG readouts are in there for obvious reasons. The dinosaurs are there because that's sort of what I think it sounds like: a bunch of angry dinosaurs. The compass represents being disoriented, and the broken dreams sort of sums up how you feel afterwards. It's just an overwhelming feeling that sets in, and you feel like you lost out on a lot of stuff.

The sound of a flirtatious wink.

This one goes out to all of my bro's and sis's at Auburn University. When I think of a wink, the only place my mind takes me is to a frat party. I wish it would take me anywhere but there, but that's not the case. So in thinking of that, I see and hear the sound of a cash register cha-chinging as a bro gets a wink from some girl he has never met before, only because she is drunk off of her butt. Obviously alcohol is involved, hence the beer bottles. The dollar signs further illustrate the cha-ching, and frat boys are often rich kids. The visor is fairly obvious as well, being a go-to choice of headgear for all parties involved. Last but not least, the bro fist bump is in the background, as our successful frat boy is going to "score" tonight. There are just some things I don't miss about Auburn.

The sound of a coffee stain made by the base of a mug on white linens.

This is the hardest one to explain, because it was the last one I did, and I was a bit delirious while making it. The lion represents the person or person's spouse who left or found the stain on said linens. The girl represents the actual coffee stain, seemingly laughing back in the face of the person who made the mess. The wadded napkins are a literal take on the frenzy to try to clean the stain up, but being crumpled, they could also represent throwing money away in staining the fresh linens. Coffee drinkers often read the news while taking in their beverage, and a brown layer has been added over it to convey the sense of color I get when I think of it all.

The sound of a thrash metal band's acoustic set.

I never got into thrash metal, but I can only imagine the empty sound you would have when doing an acoustic set. In the left, there is a hollow tree, illustrating that sound. The cat and sunflower combo is representative of the fact that I can't take an acoustic set seriously if it's a band like that, and would only think of funny and happy things. I chose the baby in the background because I feel that the singer's voice would most closely resemble a crying baby, or it would be so bad that children around the world would begin to weep. Now for the fun reference in all of this. That red layer on top of it all is Fonzie, from Happy Days. For all of you unfamiliar with the show's demise and the phrase "jumping the shark," producers got worried that their show was losing viewers, and in an attempt to reel them back in, they had Fonzie jump a shark while on water skis. This didn't really help ratings, and shortly after, the show was canceled. After the event, the show never quite seemed right again, thus I include Fonzie on water skis, ready to jump the shark. A thrash metal band playing acoustic music would seem wrong, empty, and just wholly missing something, hence the reference. Fun.

The sound of cop pulling over a traffic speeder.

For this one, I chose to present it solely from the speeder's point of view. The blue figures in the foreground are none other than Eric Estrada, of CHIPS fame. I wanted to have it all balanced out, because when you get pulled over, you feel like, up until the last second, you are going to have it all sorted out and get off with a warning. But then WHAM! The cop hits you with a ticket, and that balance and harmony is gone. I duplicated everything in the frame for balance reasons except the shattered glass. The cowboy and his lasso are the police officer, seemingly roping in the speeder, who thought he would get away. The bacon is also illustrative of the cop, and Charlie Brown makes his way into this one for two reasons: the sound of the police officer talking sounds like the teacher speaking in many of the Peanuts cartoons, as well as the phrase "Good grief" being the minimum most people would utter upon being pulled over. The shattered glass represents not only the speeder literally being busted, but his dreams of getting off easy being shattered.

The sound of a headache.

I feel like the only explanation that needs to happen for this one is why I didn't choose Paris Hilton saying "That's hot" instead. The reason I chose what I did is because when I think of the last thing I want to hear from anyone in the entire world, it is her walking up to me and my friends and saying "Oh, hey you guys." Terrible. The squeezing is there to show the squeezing feeling you get when you have a headache. Also, in the very back, there is a bit of texture there. That's a bass drum head, because you get a pounding sensation along with your headaches, most likely. Paris Hilton...ugh.

The sound of lemonade.

Industrious children of the world, unite. This one is all about refreshment. The outside border is the lemonade stand. The yellow, of course is for the lemons. The hammer and nails represent not only the hard work put into the stand's construction, but the customer base a stand usually gets. Busy do-it-yourselfers, carpenters, and construction workers line up around the block on a hot summer day to buy lemonade from the little girl saving up to buy a pony. The jar in the middle is the tip jar, but it is made out of refresh icons from an Internet browser, hinting at the refreshment on hand when drinking lemonade. The overlay on top of the frame is sweat drops, also representing all the hard work from both the buying and selling parties.

And that concludes the gallery for my Sound Synesthesia project. Be sure to look out for more things, if I decide to post them up. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow with some weekly Visual Journal entries? Who knows. Until then, enjoy.

Long TIme, No Post

So I haven't posted on here for a while, which means I'm about to bombard this thing with pictures. First off, a tour of my apartment (albeit a month late). (Puts on best tour guide voice)

Ahem, We'll start today's tour upstairs, in my bedroom. If you look on your left, you'll notice my closet. It's quite deep, but also quite narrow. I added three rows of shelves to make more space for the lack of room I had for a dresser. On the right is my command center. It houses my iMac, my laptop, and my television. The television is hooked up to my Xbox 360 and Playstation 2. The lapto is hooked to the monitor on the left, and the iMac is ready to share the screen on the left, in the event that I find myself doing video or Photoshop work. That happens a lot, actually. If you turn all the way around, you have the rest of my room.

Now I know it is quite small, but it gets the job done. My room has just enough space for my command center, my bed, and my piano. Consequently, someone stole my power supply and sustain pedal, so I haven't tickled the ivories in ages. Unfortunate. I painted the shelves blue and red, which makes no sense, but it's okay. I like it the way it is. And there you have it, that's my room. Now if you make your way out the door, you'll find yourself in the hallway.

Right now you are looking down the hallway towards Matt's room and Campbell Street. If you turn around, you'll have this lovely view.














This is the view down the hall the other way. Shane's room is at the end, and just to the left of his room is my bathroom. Let's journey there. Are we having a nice time?

This is my bathroom. It's pretty standard, and has a shower, a sink, and a toilet, which is off to your left. Maria Sharapova spends her days on the wall in my bathroom as well. That's it for the upstairs part of the tour. I'm sorry we can't tour Matt and Shane's room today, but for the sake of privacy, I'll say that their rooms are larger. I got a bathroom to myself out of the deal, which I would not trade for a bigger bedroom. And now we'll turn around and hike down Mount Everest, our staircase.

Behold, Mount Everest. Only the strong survive the journey up and back. It has taken six lives so far, and many who attempt to make the trip return to base camp in need of hot chocolate. Mount Everest is also patrolled by the best Southern Dog Pup from the South, Harley.

Ready? Let's go.

This is our living room, also known as "base camp." It houses our DLP TV, another Xbox 360, satellite, a Nintendo 64, and a full 5.1 surround sound setup. All computers in the house can also connect to the receiver to play music through the surround sound. There is ample room to hang out at base camp, with two couches, a recliner, a cushy reading chair, and a papasan. The experience at base camp is second-to-none. Now, moving on, we'll walk to the back of base camp and gaze upon the entire bottom floor.

From this view, you can see Mount Everest on your right. To the left of that is the hallway, leading to the kitchen. Inside the hallway is a closet which houses our bikes, a bathroom, and a separate area for men only.






This is the "man closet," which houses all of our non-bike related tools, bits and pieces of hardware, and anything else fitness and man related. On the right, you'll notice a punching bag, installed by my roommate Shane. This is where any aggression is taken out. There is a lot of punching that happens in this house. Now let's turn around and head towards the end of our tour, the kitchen.

On the left is our pantry. With enough space to hold even the biggest of people's food, it easily accommodates anything out heart could desire. Talk of having a cow in the house is underway. Naturally, as shortest person in the house, I get the bottom shelf. Shane gets the middle, while the Ginger Giant, Matt, gets dibs on the top shelf. Let's turn right.


This is the back of the kitchen, and also the back of the apartment. It houses a dishwasher that is constantly full, a mini-fridge, and an oven/range. Just recently installed were the bars which hold pots and pans, a lifesaver when you have three of everything. Turning right one more time, we have our last view of the apartment.



This is the home of Harley, the Southern Dog Pup from the South. She sometimes sleeps in here, and takes her meals from those two lovely blue bowls. I considered having bowls made of gold, but the metal's considerably low melting point prohibited that, due to Harley's hot puppy breath. There is a back door just to the right, which is where you can make your exit if you have no further questions.

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

And I'm back. In other news, we're now three weeks into the semester, and I've found myself swamped with work nearly every day. I have enough time to do it, and it's been fun, but it's tough to learn Photoshop on the fly. I'm getting the hang of it, but my stuff still isn't that great. Next post will be the Brian Horne Gallery of Semi-Sensible Photoshop Works. Also, I landed a job at Best Buy, which means all three housemates will be working at the same location. Fun. I have class in an hour and a half, so I'm going to do a few things to prepare myself for a three hour marathon of experimental films. Wish me luck. Back later tonight with the gallery.

Watching Cosmos

I like to think I'm fairly intelligent, but the more I watch Cosmos: The Complete Collection, the more I realize how little I know, and how tiny and insignificant I am in this giant universe. Watch it, seriously. It's incredible.

Big update to come tomorrow. Goodnight, for now.