I was reading my daily dose of blog posts when Paperback Writer turned me on to the Morphases Editor. It’s a supercool real-time “face manipulation generator”. Paperback Writer used it to better imagine what a character in one of her novels looks like.
For Research’s Sake
I search through magazines, TV promo shots, movie images, and more to find visuals of key character features, clothing, attitude, setting, etc. Some writers may think that’s cheating(scroll thru the comments to find differing opinions), but I think of it as collecting resources for inspiration.
I usually select a special music playlist, as well as a ‘bucket’ of images that help remind me of the tone and look that I want for one of my novels. I don’t always find what I’m looking for, but now I have one more resource for my list. Alert! This online editor may take up hours of your time. There are so many different tweaks and combinations to choose from. The images blend well together. And it’s free! You’ve been warned…
If you check out the Morphases Editor, let me know what you think!
Go One Step Further?
After acknowledging how helpful the generator might be in imagining characters for my novels, my next thought was of all the personal disguise possibilities. The main website (www.Morphases.com) allows you to submit your own photo for manipulation. What might you look like with a longer forehead? A different nose?
Think of the possibilities!
Maybe you’ll like the new manipulated you enough to hand the picture over to a plastic surgeon, and then you could become an international spy, or at least trick your mother… Ok, ok. For disguises that do not involve pain and permanent damage, check out this fun WikiHow article on How to Disguise Yourself.
(No, this is not me in disguise. I wish. This is going into my character bucket for a future novel.)
Josephine: Sorry about that, I’ve now emailed you the entry.
Thanks for visiting!
Jamie, if your entry is here, I do not see it.
Can you please email it to me?
Thanks!
Was just reading your post on finding time to write. Very interesting with the Pavlov connection.
Yes! I’ve had the exact same thing happen. I find a real-life person who I immediately want to make into a character in one of my novels.
I’ve been seriously tempted to take a picture – not wanting to make people feel weird has always stopped me. I try to search for an equivalent online image, but alas, it doesn’t always work.
Now I’m going to read your King of Oblivion excerpts with your ‘real-life’ villain in mind.
That’s an awesome tool. Definitely dumping it straight into my bookmarks.
I have quite a folder full of celebrity photos that I’ve decided look like characters in my novels. It certainly is a useful technique, and really helps me keep on track. Though I will sometimes simply see people on the street that I think look like characters; one of the villains in King of Oblivion, I decided, looks just like the woman I saw at Borders the other day. The trick, for me, is remembering what *she* looked like; I thought it would be impolite to take an unsolicited picture of her.