Photoshoot - Miss Georgiou

The reason why I needed to take pictures, was so that I could capture photographs that will be used for my ancillary texts; magazine advert and digipak for my artist. The photographs, taken in the photoshoot will be evaluated and only few will be selected to be included in my magazine advert and digipak. The reason why I needed to take pictures, is so that I had a variety to choose from, which is good as the more I have, the less stress I will have if one goes wrong and I do not have a back up. In addition, the photographs I take will act as a back up plan, if the photograph I planned to have for my ancillary texts does not suit well, then I will have another to choose from. The importance of taking a variety of different pictures, is so that I have a wide range of different shots that could possibly be used, and also it keeps me open minded on what would work with my ancillary texts and what doesn't. Therefore, by having many photo's to pick from, the better as I can experiment with some shots to see which suit my ancillary texts best and decide if I need to change what I originally planned to have on there. 

This picture conveys my artist looking back whilst walking, carrying her guitar, through a forest. The reason why I chose to capture this particular shot, through a long shot, is so that it conveys the artist fully and her surroundings. Furthermore, the image shows the artist's body language; walking and clearly shows her surroundings; forest which helps the audience establish what the artist is like through costume, body language and setting. I intend to use this picture for my magazine advert, because it shows the artist fully but also creates enigma through the setting that she's in, therefore grabbing the audiences attention due to the suspense created in the picture of her walking into the 'unknown'. The image is conventional to the genre through the setting of a forest. This conforms the convention of artists being isolated places in the indie genre, as we only see the artist in the image, making them the centre of attention. In addition, a forest is conventional to the indie genre, as it portrays the artist in a realistic setting which conveys realism so that the audience can relate to the artist. I've chosen this image because it illustrates her as free willed as she's in a open environment which could portray her as being open to her audience, building a relationship between the artist and them, because they're entitled to what she's expressing through her album. Also, showing the artist walking through the artist could represent her as being lost, but finding her way through this journey, and her looking back into the camera could suggest she's inviting the audience to come along with her. This could imply that her album is about her journey that she wants to share with the audience, and the forest setting makes it seem like a mystery, which appeals to the audience as they want to solve this mystery through listening her album. I think this photograph is good, because it demonstrates her in a mysterious setting which appeals to the audience as they want to solve it, and also it shows the artist in a long shot which implies she has nothing to hide. Therefore, the image promotes the artist and album through enigma and the isolated setting making her the focal attention. 

The next picture I took in the photo shoot, is an image of the artist through a mode shot staring at the camera. The reason why I chose this particular shot to shoot, is because I wanted to convey the artists facial expressions and the setting she's in, so that the audience understand more about her. By having a mid shot of the artist positioned in the middle, this grabs the audiences attention as she's centre of attention. This emphasises her being alone as she's in a isolated setting;forest, which looks gloomy and mysterious. Therefore, the mid shot creates enigma as you cannot see the bottom half of the artist. However having this shot is conventional to the indie genre, as it establishes the artists face which is important because indie artists tend to be unknown, therefore by giving greater emphasis to their face, this promotes how they look like to the audience. I intend to use this image in my digipak as the front cover because I believe her facial expressions and body language appeals to the audience as she is not showing much emotion, which intrigues them to find out what she's feeling through her album. Also, I believe this shot will be efficient when promoting my artist because you can see her face, and she is debuting so the audience will be aware with who she is straight away. I believe this shot will help build a relationship between between the audience and artist because it shows the audience her face, which could suggest the artist is not afraid to bare all and allow them into her life experiences through the album. 

This image shows the artist walking towards the forest carrying her guitar. The reason why I took this particular picture is because when actually taking the picture, it was quite windy and I thought it was a good opportunity to get the artist walking away whilst wind blowing. This shows how Im using natural situations to help with my ideas when it comes to shooting. Furthermore, I decided to take this picture as I believe it portrays how the artist is on a journey and is focused on this journey because she's looking straight forward into her path. This could connote the artist as being determined which the audience could admire as it gives them an impression of her being strong and focused on what she wants to do. Also, I think this shot is good as it creates enigma within the picture as the audience cannot see her facial expressions therefore leaving them wondering what her emotional state is, whether its happy or sad? they will open up more in the digipak to find out. Therefore I intend to have this image in my digipak as one of the photographs showing the artist. I was inspired by Gabrielle Aplin's digipak to include an image that portrays the artist on a journey, as in hers she's walking along a beach holding balloons. So I wanted to incorporate the idea of the artist being on a journey by taking this shot of her walking away with her guitar. The guitar helps in conveying that she is instrumentally talented, but also it could suggest that it comforts her and helps her cope. Also, instruments are conventional to the indie genre, especially acoustic guitars as they produces sounds that is suited to the indie genre and also indie artists tend to be instrumentally talented and like to express themselves further with playing instruments to give further meaning. I think this photograph will help build a relationship between the artist and the audience because she is showing other elements to her with the guitar, therefore showcasing bits of herself to her audience so they get to know her more. Also, by walking away from the camera this could suggest that she's inviting along the audience to join her on this journey and that she has no regrets of it because she's determined to get to the location, in consequence making the audience intrigued to follow her in this journey to experience what she's feeling through her music, building a relationship between the two. 

Last but not least, this image like the ones seen before was taken in the forest and shows the artist expressing herself through a mid shot. The image illustrates how the artist feels frustrated or fed up through the body language seen in the shot. This could link with my music video by foreshadowing how the artist is feeling because she's in a complicated relationship therefore there are going to be times were she feel frustrated. I intend to use this picture in my digipak as I believe this image is good as it shows the setting and continues the theme of the digipak of being vintage due to the filter seen throughout. Also it conveys the artists facial expressions and body language, so giving the audience an insight of how she is feeling. The image is conventional to the genre, especially through setting,costume and hair. The setting is a forest which is a real setting, therefore connotes realism which is conventional to the indie genre. Also, the oversized denim shirt is conventional to the indie genre, as artists within this genre usually wear casual clothing and show no signs of voyeurism because they don't convey themselves as glamorous but instead authentic and relatable to the audience. Also, linking with the point of indie artists not caring overly about their appearance, the artist's hair is in its natural state of waviness which portrays the artist as being natural and real. This connotes her as authentic, genuine and also ordinary, which helps build a relationship with the audience as they may feel she's not trying to seem better than them. 

My overall experience of taking photographs at the photoshoot for my ancillary texts went well. I found it quite easy taking pictures for my ancillary texts because I already envisioned what I wanted them to look like and where it'll be. What I felt went really well was the communication and directing towards my artist when taking pictures. We were confidently able to corporate with each other and understanding my visions for what I wanted the pictures to look like. Also because the artist is a close friend of mind, it wasn't awkward trying out new poses and shots in the photoshoot and having her feel comfortable letting go and expressing herself the way I wanted to, really helped during this process. What I struggled with slightly was the lighting that was in forest as it was quite dim. However, I continued taking the pictures regardless of the minimal lighting I had, as I knew I could adjust the brightness through the photoshop process when editing my ancillary texts. 

From the pictures from the photoshoot, I believe the overall representation of the artist that comes across from the images, is that the artist is only human and is relatable to the audience. This is through the emotions expressed in the close ups and mid shots showing her facial expressions and body language, and also is seen through mise en scene; costume,hair and makeup and setting and iconography. All the different elements portray the artist in different ways for example; blue clothing portrays her as being sad which links with what she feels sometimes in our music video for wings, body language of her walking away portrays her as being on a journey which people could relate to if they had a certain journey they were personally going through and the setting of a forest could convey the artist as being free and mysterious because she's in a realistic setting. Therefore, there are many elements that portray the artist in different ways that the audience could relate to her.