Answers.Body: <p>Without having seen the movie, it may be difficult to get it down exactly, but here is what I came up with. </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Duplicate your layer twice, so that you have three copies.</li>
  <li>On the top layer mask out the person. </li>
  </ul>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3Q7sM.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3Q7sM.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Set the mask feather to around 30px. </li>
  <li>Copy and paste the mask to the other two layers. </li>
  <li>On the middle layer, set the mask feather to 60 and the mask expansion to 60. (can be adjusted to suit).</li>
  <li>On the bottom layer, set the mask to subtract mode and add a 'Turbulent Displace' effect to the layer. </li>
  <li>Adjust the size to suit (I chose 30) and you can keyframe the 'Amount' to have it animate on or off. I also added the expression 'time * 500' to the 'Evolution' property to add some movement. </li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Here is what mine ended up looking like: </p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3soRF.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3soRF.gif" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>Hope this is close to what you're after.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-01-21T01:02:50.643Z
Answers.Text: yes!  the keyframing is a bit fast/bouncey but I'm sure I can slow that down.  otherwise this is exactly what I needed
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jodast
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-01-21T00:54:25.677Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-01-21T00:54:25.677Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Clif
Answers.Body: <p>This is a desired look that stills photographers have been creating with Helios 44 lenses. It's quite possibly a native analogue effect see swirly bokeh.  To simulate the effect using the above using @clif's three layer solution. On the bottom layer with spherical distortion, radial focus blur, and some circular smearing increasing at the boundary of the image.</p>
  
  <p>Ref:  <a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/967/27986297808_2f0f5ebaf2_b.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://live.staticflickr.com/967/27986297808_2f0f5ebaf2_b.jpg</a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-02-26T23:23:17.253Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-02-26T23:23:17.253Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: OysterBoo
Body: <p>I want to create a distortion effect around someone's head, kind of like what a swirly bokeh would do.  There are two different shots that I could find that use this effect in the film 'Midsommar', one in which there is a swirly distorted effect around a head, and another where general swirls around the screen appear.  While it looks like a keyframed liquify effect from PhotoShop, I'm not sure if it can be recreated in after effects.  How can I do this?
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/8YlPr.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/8YlPr.png" alt="enter image description here"></a>
  <a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/a24-midsommar-QW3GavVLEeTa3Rpkx1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://giphy.com/gifs/a24-midsommar-QW3GavVLEeTa3Rpkx1</a></p>
  
Tags: <video><premiere><after-effects><effects>
Title: How can I recreate this distortion effect from Midsommar?
UserDisplayName: Jodast
ThreadText: # How can I recreate this distortion effect from Midsommar?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-20)
  
  I want to create a distortion effect around someone's head, kind of like what a swirly bokeh would do. There are two different shots that I could find that use this effect in the film 'Midsommar', one in which there is a swirly distorted effect around a head, and another where general swirls around the screen appear. While it looks like a keyframed liquify effect from PhotoShop, I'm not sure if it can be recreated in after effects. How can I do this?
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/8YlPr.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/8YlPr.png)
  <https://giphy.com/gifs/a24-midsommar-QW3GavVLEeTa3Rpkx1>
  
  **Tags:** video, premiere, after-effects, effects
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-21. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  Without having seen the movie, it may be difficult to get it down exactly, but here is what I came up with.
  
  * Duplicate your layer twice, so that you have three copies.
  * On the top layer mask out the person.
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/3Q7sM.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/3Q7sM.jpg)
  
  * Set the mask feather to around 30px.
  * Copy and paste the mask to the other two layers.
  * On the middle layer, set the mask feather to 60 and the mask expansion to 60. (can be adjusted to suit).
  * On the bottom layer, set the mask to subtract mode and add a 'Turbulent Displace' effect to the layer.
  * Adjust the size to suit (I chose 30) and you can keyframe the 'Amount' to have it animate on or off. I also added the expression 'time \* 500' to the 'Evolution' property to add some movement.
  
  Here is what mine ended up looking like:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/3soRF.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/3soRF.gif)
  
  Hope this is close to what you're after.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: yes!  the keyframing is a bit fast/bouncey but I'm sure I can slow that down.  otherwise this is exactly what I needed  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2020-02-26. Score: 1
  
  This is a desired look that stills photographers have been creating with Helios 44 lenses. It's quite possibly a native analogue effect see swirly bokeh. To simulate the effect using the above using @username_1's three layer solution. On the bottom layer with spherical distortion, radial focus blur, and some circular smearing increasing at the boundary of the image.
  
  Ref: <https://live.staticflickr.com/967/27986297808_2f0f5ebaf2_b.jpg>
  
  
  ---
  
  