In this week’s free Deke’s Techniques video, our Halloween homage continues as Deke takes a scarily washed out iPhone photo of an otherwise awesome costume (and model) and turns it into something suitably sinister.

As you can see in the image on the right below, Sam’s got the attitude and the make up to really pull of his supervillain alter ego. But the lighting, image quality, and happy suburban kitchen background spoils the ominous mood a bit.

But with help from Photoshop CC’s Field Blur filter, Deke manages to turn the comfortably domestic background into something much more mysterious. Then, he uses Camera Raw applied as a smart filter (another CC wonder) to enhance and energize the photo.

If you’re a member of lynda.com, you can watch an exclusive movie this week in which Deke shows you how he created those creepy character lines in Sam’s face to take him from a kid in a costume to a truly frightening mini-villain. If you’re not a member of lynda.com and would like to check it (along with over 360 other Deke’s Techniques out), you can get a free week’s trial by signing up at lynda.com/deke.

Happy Halloween, my creepy dekeSters! No joke.