Photo-shoot plan
Front Cover Model: I have specifically chosen a model that is in the demographic group of 16-19 year olds so that my magazines audience can relate to this, and to enforce the idea that this is a magazine for this age range. She is female, again, a nod to the audience itself through the representation on the cover. She has blue hair, which is aspirational for the audience- they can feel the desire to look the way the cover artist does, affirming their sense of identity. It also reveals a creativity in the artist, and a feel of self-expression, both qualities that the reader can relate to, and strive towards in their own lives. I aim to portray her with a kind of youthful integrity, and I do not want to sexualize the image of her in any particular sense, as the magazine is aimed at a female audience I do not need to conform to the male gaze theory. Makeup: A minimalistic and forward thinking makeup look will make for a really visually intriguing magazine front cover. A style inspired by what can be seen in Fashion Week would really captivate and inspire a young and aesthetic driven audience, looking for a fresh representation of art and music, and the ways they combine. I am looking to create a bright, but clean face, with aspects of bold and vivid colour, but in the simplest of ways, perhaps in accents around the eyes or lips. I have taken inspiration from images like these (see overview), and these are visually similar to the look I would like on my cover. Pose: I would like to position my model in a way that allows for direct mode of address- to allow for a connection between artist and reader, a key focus for vision. this will mean she is facing the camera, but I would prefer to have her turning in to the shot, with her body positioned almost side on, and just her head tilted towards the frame. As shown in the adjacent images I found as a source of inspiration, I very much like the idea of positioning the hand of my model next to her face, either with her head resting on it, or with a few fingers placed around or over her mouth. I feel that this pose is quite edgy, and suits the trend that fashion photography is setting, and even as a music magazine, vision is still highly concerned with its image, its representation of the style conscious consumer, and with staying on trend, and this pose will exemplify this feeling. Clothing: I will dress my model in a black item of clothing on top- this is minimal and understated, and so will not clash with other colours I want to use on the cover, will be distinguishable from the text overlaid, and will not contrast against the colour scheme I have chosen for my magazine to ensure a congruency throughout. I would like to keep her arms bare, further supporting the minimalist look I want the cover artist to give off- this appears effortlessly stylish, and connotes a laidback, yet style conscious edge, which is highly desirable for a 16-19 year old, female demographic. To accessorise a simple outfit like this, my model will wear a thin black choker, this item of jewelry is very on trend amongst young people, and will instantly add a youthful feeling to the cover, and suit an alternative audience like that of my magazine, as a nod to the 1990s, also mirroring the music that will be covered within. Lighting and background: against a dark grey backdrop as this will remove any background colours of textures that would distract from the image, and creating a flat colour surface to reflect light off of, that will not merge with the colours found in my models image or her clothing, I will shoot the photos inside, with artificial light sources, projecting an orange, neon looking glow onto my models face and arms. I feel this lighting choice will mean for a creative looking image, concerned with visuals in a way that a magazine named vision should be, without shifting the focus completely, as a subtle change. These images are visually similar to those I want to take for my magazines cover; I feel that glow photography is increasingly popular for photo-shoots of artists in the indie genre, and replicating this would mean instant symbolism of this trend. type: the shot type will be a medium close up, as completely conventional for music magazines. Shot
Front Cover
Contents page Image 1- Main image of cover artist, Emma June, linking to double page spread interview • Clothing: for this image, I would like to dress my model in an alternate outfit to the one she will wear on the front cover. I have made this choice because I want there to be clear and established differences in the images’ visual composition. My outfit choice for this image is, again, casual in style, and very youthful and current, my model will wear a slogan t shirt on top, tucked into black, loose, flowing culottes style trousers, that tie at the waist, perhaps with a longer sleeved t shirt underneath, in a striped print, adding a contrasting pattern, and instantly creating a visually interesting image composition. This is the clothing I may use for this outfit. • Pose: without direct mode of address now to appear separate from the front cover, perhaps a more simple, standing pose. • Shot type: a medium long shot is the choice I have made for the contents page’s main image.
Image 2- a collection of Britpop vinyl records strewn together, linking to ‘Top 20 must know Britpop hits’ • Props: a number of records, placed together in a layout that appears as randomly thrown together by coincidence. Records will include: the smiths, blur, oasis, pulp, suede, the clash, joy division, and the cure. These are all bands associated with the Britpop genre, and will suggest the content within the article, as popular and well known artists amongst the indie genre, they almost act as an advert for the reader, as the images on a contents page should. These are examples of they types of records that will feature. • Lighting: natural lighting to ensure best picture quality results, with most consistent and even lighting to help separate and define album and single covers as they are ‘tossed’ together and against one another. • After effects: I will balance the colours in Photoshop, and increase the image contrast to provide a sense of depth to the image, creating a feeling of many records and cd’s- a collection that is admirable for any music fan, for aspiration purposes in the audience.
Image 3- A live performance, linking to ‘Live performance reviews’ • Location: a live gig, preferably one with screens showing either the artist performing, or some iconography that represents them, or the genre as a whole, as this will provide a focal point for the image, and probably rest on the lines of thirds, making for great image composition, and expressing a level of professionalism. • Lighting: bright, neon performance lighting- strobe lighting maybe- a strong visual priority must be shown in the live show for this image, as a key focus of this magazine, and the target audience. • After effects: I will brighten and increase the contrast of the image on Photoshop, to increase and intensify highlights and shadows.
Contents page
Double page spread Clothing: for the full length shot of my double page spread, I will dress my model in a more formal, fancy outfit- a blue velvet dress. This look is distinctly different from the other two outfits she will wear, but still within the same edgy, youthful, and on trend style that I have tried to set up around the artist to directly represent the target audience. and their own styles. This style of dress is highly fashionable right now, and the velvet material will add an element of texture to the page that will really differentiate from the background, and give a professional, and expensive look to the image and the photo-shoot. This is the dress she will wear. Lighting and background: I plan to use the same backdrop for the double page spread images as I used for the front cover image- a dark grey colour to create a plain and flat surface to reflect light from. However this time I will use artificial lights to project pink lighting onto my model. Pink is a key part of the colour scheme I have planned to use from the very early stages within my magazine, and to employ this throughout the magazine instantly supports a brand and issue continuity, which really is essential in the production of a successful music magazine. these images have inspired me. Makeup: following on from my ideas of minimalism and additions of colour, I will use pink to accent the eyes of my model, once again relating to the makeup seen in fashion weeks, as this is established as a quality of the artist, and to continue this prolongs the idea of her character, making for a consistent feel through every photo. Pose: MY MODEL WILL LEAN AGAINST THE BACKDROP FOR THIS PHOTO, IN A CASUAL AND LAIDBACK STANCE, PERHAPS WITH ONE LEG UP AGAINST THE WALL, THIS IS A REALLY FEMINIZING POSE, BUT ALSO CONVEYS A KIND OF COOL STYLE THAT IS HIGHLY CONVENTIONAL OF THE REPRESENTATION OF ARTISTS IN INDIE MUSIC MAGAZINES, AS IT SHOWS A LEVEL OF CARELESSNESS, BUT NOT SO EXTREME THAT IT WOULD SUGGEST A ROCK MAGAZINE. I would also like her to have her arms in front of her body, perhaps with one hand on her hip- a confident pose that instantly links to a music artist. These are the sort of natural poses I would like to achieve. After effects: in after effects I will sharpen and enhance the original image by removing any blemishes or stray hairs using Photoshop. I will also use selective colour to bring out the pink in the photo CREATED BY THE LIGHTING, THIS WILL REALLY BOOST THIS PINK GLOW. I WILL ALSO USE THIS TOOL TO BRING OUT THE BLUE IN MY MODEL’S HAIR. I WILL ALSO DEVELOP THE HIGHLIGHTS AND SHADOWS THAT ARE NATURALLY FOUND IN THE IMAGE, AS THIS adds a depth, and a level of professionalism to the photography.
Double page spread