Successful Images Double Page Spread
Hayley McCarthy City College Norwich AS Media Studies
From my primary research, both Wire Magazine and Classic Rock Magazine featured a close-up of the artist. This engages the audience with the artist, as this tightly-cropped shot type heightens emotion. When taking the photographs I was conscious to take mid-shots, allowing me to crop the photograph in order to ďŹ t the margins of the page. Stretching an image will result in a worse resolution, so it is better to crop the image hence retaining the resolution.
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In order to retain this connection between the artist and the reader, I wanted my model to appear  relaxed. In order to achieve this, I placed the photo shoot in a setting which she is familiar with, this did leave a cluttered background, but this can be edited out in post-production. Also, I was more lenient in what I asked her to wear, stating that it should mainly black and not too distracting. This allowed her to choose clothes which she ďŹ nds comfortable, whilst still retaining the edgy image which has been constructed.
From the 44 images taken, I have selected 6 which portray a sense of character and uniqueness. As I had decided upon an edgy character I mimicked some original poses from the cover photo shoot, with my personal favourite being the upturned lip snarl, offering enough attitude without becoming overwhelming. For the majority, eye contact has been maintained which is once again stereotypical of a magazine image. The final image shall be edited to remove the background.
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Construction of artist featured on my blog here: hayleymccarthymedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/pre-production-planning-artist.html
Pros: • Image remains focused even when cropped • Not too much glare on her glasses • Maintains conventional eye contact • Crossed arms suggest guarded nature which article portrays
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Cons: • Expression not overly passionate
Pros: • Not too much glare on her glasses • Maintains conventional eye contact • Crossed arms add to constructed attitude • Emotive expression
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Cons: • Image appears slightly soft when cropped • Expression contrasts tone of article
Pros: • Image remains focused even when cropped • Maintains conventional eye contact • Convincing expression which subverts conventional ‘model’ looks - giving personality to the artist • Visible choker as seen on front cover (aiding consistency)
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Cons: • Some glare on glasses • Hands would be cropped out of image which could appear unconventional.
Pros: • No glare on glasses • Maintains conventional eye contact
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Cons: • Image appears slightly soft when cropped • Expression similar to that on front cover, doesn’t necessarily offer another side to the artist/portray their constructed personality • Twirl of hair towards the right is quite distracting
Pros: • Image remains focussed even when cropped • Despite being placed towards the left of the image, it can still be cropped to fit dimensions of the page
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Cons: • Right arm not symmetrical to left arm, resulting in an unbalanced composition • Lacking a different expression, hence not portraying the constructed attitude which the artist possesses
Pros: • Emotive expression
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Cons: • Some glare on glasses • Image becomes soft when cropped • Does not maintain conventional eye contact
On the left are the two images which I deem to be most suitable. The main dierences between these two is the arm placement and slight head tilt. Until I see the edited image on the page I cannot make a ďŹ nal judgement on these two images. Because of this, I shall edit both of these images - as I did with the front cover images - and place them both on the page to decide at a later date.