Photo shoot

-UNFINISHED-
3) Explain what photos you will use for your album and digipaks- why?
4) Before and after to show photoshop skills (advert and digipak)

We are conducting a photo shoot for the purposes of advertising our artist to the audience. The purpose of doing so is to create a relationship between the artist image and the audience. This is also intended to show the artists emotions through frozen image. Below are the before and after images, to show how I used photoshop to help my progression within the images.

1)

This image is of the artist looking solemnly towards the floor. She is closed in and surrounded by doors and bars. This is symbolism in showing the artists entrapment- she is unsure which route to take (or "what doors to open") in her life to make the correct decisions, a heavy theme within the music video. The bars along the right show she is trapped, as they replicate prison cells. The edges of the image is blurred to show disorientation within her life. The image is in black and white, to emphasise the darkness within her life. This goes against the idea of colours in a spectrum and the northern lights, as well as challenging the typical codes and conventions of the electro-house genre. I think this image is effective in showing the artists indecisiveness within life, and her fragile state. Her fragile stance is shown through her slouching on a black chair. The black is symbolic of empty space and the idea of 'nothingness'- which is how the artist is portrayed to feel within the video. Her trousers merge into the chair, showing to the viewers that she is camouflaged and 'hidden' from showing her true feelings.

2)

The second image is similar to that of the one previously discussed. The main differences being the fact that the artist is hiding her face, either due to shame of emotions or confusion of her life choices. There is a slight 'fisheye' effect within the camera to make the image look slightly more disorientated and effective, this highlights the artist within the image. The doors and 'dead ends' within the image show to the audience she has different life decisions to make, however her body language shows she has isolated herself and is delaying making these decisions. The door handle in this image (and that of the one above) is intended to suggest to the audience that she cannot 'handle' making these life choices.

3)

This image is a high angled shot of the artist slouching on crooked staires. Her black clothing opposes the neutral cream of the staires, thus becoming the object of the viewers attention. Her clothing also is intended to give a 'hard-edged' image, to show she is unwilling to portray her emotions due to trust issues. Her leather jacket emphasises this with the hard exterior blocking her from 'opening up' to the audience. However, we have left the jacket open with a floral patterned shirt hanging out to suggest she has begun sharing her feelings, and she is 'on the way' to trusting the audience enough to share these stories. Again, the idea of being claustraphobic is apparent in her body laguage due to the limited space she is crowded into. In the top right corner we see the bars that are apparent in the previous images, this suggests she is trapped in an endless cycle. The idea of stairs is that she can either go two ways in her life, which coincides with the theme of the music video. The image is given an antique touch with the flash on, to ecceuntuate her figure from the background. Using the flash on the camera also helped to contrast the creams and the blacks, this implies the mental conflict she is experiencing within the video.

Below is the edited image, this is the most drastic piece of editing within the photoshoot. I used a neon outliner to highlight the

4)

This image designed to show the artist is 'stuck behind bars'. This point has been made for the previous images, however this is the more prominant example. The image has been angled diagonally to portray an uneven and discombobulated lifestyle. The artist has been fitted to be shown through one of the gaps between the bars, this is to show she is small and vulnerable in society due to her emotions.

5)

This is my personal preferred image. There is a clear division that splits the screen, on the left, the artist is slumped on the stairs looking up towards the light. On the right, there is an open door in the bottom corner that has no light coming from within. This is significant in the idea the artist is struggling between 'heaven and hell'- if she goes up towards the light, she will be met with a better lifestyle, whereas if she goes back, she returns to the darkness and confusion. This is for the audiences understanding of the mental turmoil the protagonist suffers within the music video. Her black clothing suggests she has just come out from the darkness, her head is turned towards the light to show her eagerness to enter the lighter stages of her life, however her limp body language suggests to the audience that she is still being dragged behind into the darkness.

For the digipak images I feel that image numbers 1, 2, 4 and 5 are the most suitable. They look professional and the colour scheme works well within the theme of the music. 5 is my particular favourite as it clearly conveys the artists struggle between her two alternating lifestyles. I feel it looks the most professional. 

Analysis of Group Adverts

This is Edens interpretation of our artists magazine advert. I think the magazine is good in reflecting the traits of the northern lights and the genre of music we are portraying. There are many other features that link to the ideal magazine image that we have so been aiming to design.

I think this is a very good magazine advert. The typography reminds me of the style you would find in a circus advertisement, this links in with Florence + The Machine by contrasting reality to fantasy. The pink also stands against the black background and resembles the colour you may see in the northern lights, and an expected colour one may find in a night club- this links to the electro-house genre. The background has a theme of space and an outer earth experience, which  the artist aims to give the audience within her album. This could also suggest she feels alienated and isolated from every day life. The glow emphasises the text and the image, attracting the audiences attention to what they are intended to look at.

In the end, we decided to pick the magazine which focuses on the iris. We made this decision because we found it suited more with the artist, album and storyline of our project.

Analysis of Magazine Poster

This is the first draft of my magazine poster. The colours in the smoke were designed to replicate those of the northern lights, and the image of the smoke was intended to give a diverse outlook to the northern lights- as you can see the colours of the smoke transends into a darker blue. The pink feathers are also used to show the purplish shades people see within the northern lights. The connotations of smoke and the dark pink/ red feathers that fall down the right of the page are intended to suggest danger, which links to the story line of the music video. There is also a subliminal connotation of religion within the image. The feathers are falling, and as they are red/ dark pink they are in the direction towards 'hell', whereas the smoke is rising, and the mixture of blues suggest that it is shifting towards 'heaven'. This has been created to link to the lyrics of Spectrum (Say my Name) within the religious context the lyrics promote. Contrastingly, the pale blues and white connotes innocence and naturalism, which is another, light-hearted and up-beat side to the album. This is also reflected in the "Rolling Stones Magazine" comment, to show sarcasm and wit. This could narrow down the audience to those who understand the wit behind the comment without offending.

This magazine poster coincides with the music genre in the colour scheme of darkness with a mixture of lights, this could signify club lighting for a dance track. Likewise, the poster challenges the typical conventions of the electro-house genre as it has a simplistic and symbolic meaning, where the typical album artwork would maintain a vast array of colours with a robotic typeface (Example on left). This album artwork cooperates more with the electro-house genre than that of the artwork my group has created. The colours are more prominent, and the blurring image suggests it is a staccato paced sountrack, whereas the softer colours and focused images in our piece contrasts this- therefore it could be suggestible that the advert is designed for more of an indie genre.

At the bottom right the 'Island Records' logo does not suit the image, as it blocks off the smoke effect and cotrasts against the background colour. This will have to be considered within the final poster to ensure the logo does not attract a substantial amount of attention. Some may argue that the poster looks ameteur due to the crossing links between smoke and feathers, with the array of colours. The text could have been centred to show structure

Within reflection, although the smoke and feather look looks dramatic, there is no obvious relevance to the artist, nor the song. With this in mind I created the second magazine.

This is the second and final magazine poster. At the top we have the band name and album title, the centre focus is an eye, which is a significant symbol within the album. Below, there is information about the singles being released, then finally, like in the first magazine, a humorous comment and recommendation from a popular magazine that caters for this and similar genres of music.

The eye, we thought was important to suggest that the artist can 'see' the improvements in her life, she sees her mistakes and accomplishments- to which she opens up to the audience. The iris is the outline of the eye to suggest a planet like figure, showing that the artist is almost on another planet to ordinary lives- she feels alienated due to her life experiences. The colours within the iris are to imitate the spectrum, and how there is a burst of colour through the ordinary and bleak lifestyle many people live.

With acknowledging the music genre from the previous poster- I decided to add in more colours to the iris, in a spectrum resembling style. I have decided to challenge the typical genre of electro-house by keeping the simplistic image on the front. The challenging of the music genre also relates to how the artist challenges a happy and ordinary lifestyle. Therefore, challenging the music genre portrays her unique and individual attitude towards life. These colours go with the electro-house music genre in that it replicates club lights. The eye is a reference to the notion of looking, this could refer to the theme of the music video in the audience gaining an insight into her alternating life.

This is my preferred magazine advert. The image has more of a connection to the music video we are creating, it is also interesting for the audience and suits the genre of the music video, in the fact that it is diverse, simplistic and replicates common club lights, which being a dance track, is suitable.

Sub Culture

Sub-cultural youth can be defined as:-

"A group of people who are united through common values. Be this music, clothing and other aspects that go against mainstream themes, these people are connected by sharing the same views, opinions or image."

Subcultural views may be:-

• Conformity and rebellion
• Attitude towards capitalism and consumerism
• Traditional or 'Neophyte' (subject to a new skill or belief)
• 'Trival' or 'gang' rivalry

There are three theories on subcultures:-

1. Grant McCracken- "The postmodern world is full of diversity, being dynamic and creative. Looking at the array of values and ideologies, we cannot say that all subcultures come from one culture."
2. CCCS (Centre for contemporary cultural studies) - "All subcultures are branched off from one main culture- it is a reaction to the mainstream conformity."
3. Hebdige- "Although some people think subcultures only appear to be different, deep down they are the same. Looking deeper, there is enough richness to warrant renaming 'subcultures' as 'little cultures'.

Within our music video, the most suited theory to apply would be Grant McCracken's, as we intend to show our artist as being unique and separated from originality and the normal lifestyle. We will do this by showing her different fashion taste and different personalities, how sticking with 'the bad guy' isolates her from the world, whereas in her good alternate reality, she is happier and becomes more socially accepted through her new-found 'spirit' and attitude towards life.

Risk Assessment

Assessing the likelihood of risks within the duration of filming our project is important for consideration to ensure that the person(s) filming and being filmed are at the lowest risk possible of any health and safety hazards breaches. All aspects of potential hazards will be considered to reduce the risk of injury to each person(s) who are involved within the project.

Assessing the risks will be beneficial in avoiding any injuries or destruction that may be caused, we will ensure to be vigilant and cautious with all actions performed in the making of the footage.