So I had a bit of a change in plans as I started to actually work on this project. The cursed aesthetic likes to evade me when I make things from scratch, so I was feeling very discouraged trying to model something on my own. I opened Lens Studio and started messing around with various templates to try and get some creative juices flowing, and then decided it could be fun to use several templates layered on top of each other to create something wild and cursed. I went with templates and concepts in Lens Studio that I had not used before so there is also an element of unfamiliarity with each object and asset that I used to help create a less clean look.
I started with a distortion effect to change up the size and shape of the users head, as well as to enlarge the eyes and mouth, and flip the mouth upside down. Already, the user looks less human for a human and leans into the uncanny valley.
Next, I added a distortion overlay to mess with shape even more. However, I turned the speed and intensity down so the viewer can still recognize the first distortion effects applied directly to the face.
Finally, I added a second overlay effect called Night Vision to somewhat invert colors and give the sense that you are in a horror film.
I started messing around with face mesh templates and settings, as well as pre-made materials in Lens Studio. The iridescence material defaults to a shiny and paler blue-purple, but it is editable so I switched it to a yellow-green. This lead to the face mesh making my head look like a watermelon. I layered the Shiny Face script with it and adjusted the textures until I got to the shiny and swirly pattern seen here:
I then played with adding a dead-eye effect. It was more difficult to edit than many of the other assets in Lens Studio since the texture was a pdf, and I would have to spend time working on in Photoshop to change the iris color. I did end up deciding that this particular eye effect honestly made the filter look less cursed since you don’t get the real eye movement of the user. These red eyes did not make the final version of the filter.
Finally, I added a blur effect at 1.30x so the camera never looks quite sharp enough to be fully in focus.
