A2 Advanced Media Studies Portfolio: December 2012

This is a movie I put together to show a collection of images taken for my trial photo shoot. I set up the camera and equipment for the shoot but I had to be the model in the shoot because my model was unavailable at the time, therefore I didn't take the photos.

I still carried out the shoot because I wanted to get an idea of how the lighting would work when I came to shoot my model. This has helped me think about what composition and framing I want for my actual photo shoot for my digipak and magazine advert.

When making this movie I used the song I am going to be using for my music video.

I realise there is blue tac on the wire of the lights and I will make sure when coming to shoot this with my model it is removed because it ruins the composition and doesn't look professional.

At the end of the images there are some photos taken of when I was setting up the camera and equipment for the shoot.

Analysis of each frame:

one: the indirect address reflects sadness and doesn't connect with the audience. The band on the model's wrist doesn't work very well with the composition of the frame.

two: the direct address along with the dark lighting above the model creates quite a dangerous atmosphere, this was just an experiment with lighting and looking at this frame I realise I don't want a dark feel to the model.

three, four and five: a bit of camera shake ruins these frames and I want the eyes to be seen more which isn't achieved in these frames because of the positioning of the fairy lights. In frame four the model's mouth is open because she is talking which means the frame doesn't work well.

six and seven: very similar frames with the same positioning of the lights but six uses direct address whereas seven doesn't - because of this I think frame six works better.

eight: very strong image in terms of composition and the lighting of the frame. This is an interesting effect because half the model's face is lit up and one half isn't which can have deeper connotations of her being undecided and having a dark side as well as and angelic side.

nine, ten, eleven and twelve: these frames are similar but the focus seems to be sharper on frames nine and ten. Also, I think the direct address is much more powerful in frames nine and twelve.

thirteen and fourteen: these frames aren't very lit up around the eyes of the model because of the positioning of the lights.

fifteen, sixteen and seventeen: I started to introduce fake flowers in these frames to see how they would affect how the frame works. I don't really like these frames because of the lighting but I do like the reflection in the model's eyes from the direct address in frame seventeen.

eighteen, nineteen, twenty and twenty one: Similar to the last three frames but the camera angle changes to a close up of the model's face. I think the lighting and direct address makes frame eighteen the strongest.

twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty five and twenty six: twenty two doesn't work because there are ceiling lights on as well which means the background is shown. I like the way the lights fall down the side of the model.

twenty seven: similar to the previous five frames but flowers are used. I don't think they add much to the frame.

twenty eight: camera shake means everything in the frame is slightly out of focus.

twenty nine, thirty, thirty one, thirty two and thirty three: twenty nine and thirty one are the strongest frames because of the lighting and overall composition. Thirty two and thirty three have a very dark atmosphere to them.

thirty four: experimenting with the artificial lights. An almost silhouette effect is created from the light behind the model.

thirty five: another experiment with the lights and seeing what happens to the composition when the lights are in the frame.

thirty six and thirty seven: I really like the composition of these frames and the strong lighting with the direct address creates a really powerful image.

I like the effect of the model’s make up smudged around her eyes because it reflects the emotion in the lyrics. The direct address is very strong and powerful.

Comparing direct address with the indirect address, I think the powerful frame from the direct address definitely works better because of the connection with the audience.

Here I experimented with the lighting in the swimming pool. I wanted the model in this position because I think it gives the effect of freedom and relaxing.

Here I experimented with photographing a sequence of the model jumping into the swimming pool. Some of the effects created work really well but when I moved the camera to follow the sequence the lighting changed. I don’t think I’ll be using any of these photos for any of my ancillary tasks because of the lighting and how it affect the photos.