Photoshoot

Photoshoot

The purpose of taking pictures throughout our filming process, is so that we can include these images in other tasks of the course. It makes sense to take pictures at the time of filming so that we do not need to go back and take the pictures another time which can be time consuming. Instead, the artist will already be in the correct costume and location which helps to create the desired effect. The images that we took throughout the filming process have been included in our linked tasks to our music video, such as the digipak and our individual magazine advert. It is essential that we take multiple pictures which are varied. This is so that our group members can use different pictures to make the products individual, however all have a similar theme. Additionally to this, varied pictures are engaging for the audience as they do not want to be looking at something too similar throughout every side of the digipak for example. The varied pictures also help to represent the artist and convey different emotions, which may engage the audience as this gives them an insight as to what the albums content may contain. 

One image which I have taken is an image of the artist overlooking scenery of London, more specifically overlooking Tower Bridge. I intend to use this photo on my Digipak. This is because I do not feel as though the image is engaging enough for the audience to use as the main image on my individual magazine advert. However, this is a good image to use on one of the multiple sides of the digipak as this is conventional to the soul genre and allows the audience an insight to what the album may be based on. I think this specific image works well as it helps to build a relationship with the audience through the use of facial expressions and representations of the artist. Within this shot the audience can see the emotionless expression that the artist has, which could suggest how low and vulnerable she is feeling, almost as though she has given up. The audience may be able to relate to this as they may have been in a similar situation at some point, and can sympathise for the artist. The overlooking of the London scenery could suggest that the content could be a mix based on the surroundings, and the artists emotion, which is our aim as our music video to "Hometown Glory" is based on the artists low emotion, and reminiscing on her hometown and past life which is based in London. When I came to the editing phase of this specific picture, I decided to use multiple layers to keep some of the picture remaining in colour, whilst the rest remains in black and white. This suggests to the audience a contrast between positive and negative thoughts which could further suggest that the artist is reminiscing on memories. This also gives a unique edge to the photo as the audience are engaged, questioning why the photo is styled like this. 

The next image is similar to the previous which I have used, as this is overlooking London standing on a bride, however is surrounded by different scenery. I have taken this particular image as the scenery is simplistic, allowing the audiences attention to be focused mainly on the image and not diverted elsewhere. It also allows the audience to focus on the artists facial expression. I intend to use this picture on my digipak on a side where this just has one image on. This is because the image is not suited to the main cover of the digipak/advert as it needs to be mainly focused on the artist. I think that this image is conventional to the soul genre as it captures the emotion of the artist. It almost seems as though she is day dreaming, making the audience sympathize for her as this suggests the artist is trying to escape her surroundings for a short space of time. This could suggest a theme of guilt or unhappiness throughout the album and content of the lyrics, which may in turn build a relationship with the audience as it may seem as though the artist is singing for them, and they can relate as they may have been in this situation themselves. The image presents the artist as down to earth and humble as she is willing to express her natural emotion for the benefit of the audience, to empower them and make them feel as though they are not alone.

Another image that I have used is of the artist standing on a bridge, looking downward. I intend to use this specific picture on my digipak on the track list side. As again as previously mentioned I think that the image I want to use for the main side of the digipak will be a close up shot which represents the artist and the album in a unique way. I have taken this particular image as it has several typical aspects which represent the artist conventionally. The artist is looking downwards, this suggests that the artist could be day dreaming, possibly wanting to escape her thoughts and emotions which she is feeling at the current time or situation that she is in. This can be inferred to the audience that the artist is feeling guilty, possibly based around the subject of love and family. Not only does this make the audience sympathise for the artist, they could possibly relate as they may have been in this situation before and are looking for comfort in music to show that they are not alone. Additionally, the audience may admire the artist as she is willing to show her raw and natural emotion for every body to see in order to comfort others, this enables the audience and artist to begin to build a relationship as they feel as though the artist is humble and down to earth.

I have taken an image throughout the filming process of a candle holder, which has many different warm tone colours, which I intend to use on my digipak, more specifically on the message to the audience. I have taken this image as I feel as though this is a unique image to use on my digipak. Most of the sides on my digipak include some picture of the artist mainly a close up or her looking somewhere else as though she is day dreaming. I feel as though this image is both conventional and subversive to the soul music genre. It is subversive due to the fact that not many artists have chosen to do something like this before, because as previously mentioned most digipak are kept quite simple with a black, or dark background or with a picture of the artist to show the emotion and passion in the lyrics. However, I do believe that this is conventional to the genre due to the colours that are used. Pinks and red symbolize love and romance which is what the album is based upon, giving the audience an insight to what they can expect. Furthermore, the orange tones used throughout suggest positivity, which gives an insight to the artists personality as even though she is clearly in a depressive state and feeling low, she is still trying to remain positive in hope for the "light at the end of the tunnel". This shows the artist as strong willed, which the audience may begin to build a relationship with the artist as this is something that they admire her for.

Another image which I have included on my digipak is shown on the main, front slide. This is of the artist looking downwards. I have chosen this image as it again represents the artist stereotypically. It seems as though the artist is upset and down about a particular subject, which could suggest the themes which run throughout the album. This may interest and engage the audience as they may gain an insight to the humbleness and how down to earth the artist is. Additionally, may make the audience build a relationship with the artist as they feel as though they are not going through the situation alone, as though they have someone else who is also going through the similar situation. of the artist trying to forget about something she feels guilty about, by staring into space. Furthermore the picture is conventional to the soul genre through the representation of the artist. It could be portrayed to the audience that the artist is staring into space. This is where it is known to have "zoned out" of the current time not being intact and forgetting about their inner emotion. Inferring guilt which could be a possible insight to a theme which occurs throughout the album.

Lastly, I have taken this particular image to be the main image for my individual magazine advert. This particular image is conventional to my chosen genre of soul due to a number of conventional aspects. Firstly, the use of colour is conventional to my individual magazine advert through the main use of the colour black and white as this is the effect of the whole advert. The effect helps to represent the artist stereotypically. Black suggests the artists depressive state and emotions swell as the colour white contrasting this with connotations of innocence and vulnerability. The two colours combined allow the audience to sympathise for the artist as feeling both vulnerable and depressed must be difficult to cope with. Allowing the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they can empathise with her, or may have been in this particular situation themselves. This presents the artist as down to earth and ordinary which the audience can relate to as she is similar to the audience, just like a regular person. The use of black and white could also suggest to the audience how the artist is reflecting on her past life and reminiscing on happier times before she found fame, which could lead to an insight of what the audience can expect from the album. Another conventional aspect of the image i have chosen for my individual magazine advert is the positioning and facial expressions of the artist. The artist is seen to be looking down in the image, with an expression which makes her look fed up and upset. It appears as though the artist is day dreaming, which she is possibly trying to escape her current thoughts of guilt and inner emotion. This could be family or love based which makes this more relatable for the audience. In turn, this could begin to build a relationship between the artist and audience as it seems as though the artist is able to trust them with how she is feeling, this also may feel to the audience that they have somebody to talk to about a situation almost like the artist is the audiences friend, which may be comforting to them. 

In conclusion, I found taking pictures for the photo shoot an enjoyable and easy task to complete. This is because all we had to do was take several photographs of the artist in which she was already in the clothing from filming previous to this. We had taken photos even in natural states and random places to capture what may work well on our digipak. The more images that we had taken, the more chance we had of finding an image which would work well with our theme. We felt that the shots that we took worked well as we took images that helped to portray to the audience what our music video was based upon, this could be seen through scenery and facial expression of the artist which gives an insight to themes which occur. One problem which our group encountered with picture taking is that the majority of our group liked the same picture in which one would want to have for a specific reason. Looking back, we could have taken even more shots to avoid this problem and have planned out specific images we needed to take rather than the artist posing naturally as we had multiple shots which looked similar.