Evaluation
When we first got given the task to create a look for a magazine cover, I had an idea in my head straight away which I thought would work really nicely. I went home and researched the different trends of Spring Summer 2015 to make sure that I could fit this idea in with these trends and found that there were some shows which it could relate to. I arranged the shoot quite easily and found a really good photographer who was a friend from school who is now studying HND Photography at college. I looked through her previous work and really liked her style and so asked if she would like to get involved with the shoot. She was very keen to and even booked the studio at her college for the shoot to take place in. It took a little longer for me to find a model but eventually I asked another old friend from school who I thought had the right face shape to work with the style I wanted to go for. She was happy to do the shoot and so we booked it for a date in the half term. I was keen to do it and was excited for the end results. However, on the day off the shoot, the model cancelled on me for no reason so I was forced to cancel the shoot. I was really angry about this as i had put a lot of hard work and effort into preparing and researching for it. The photographer was extremely understanding and was happy to book the studio at her college for another time so we could do the shoot again, now it was just about finding a model at such short notice. I put a post on Facebook asking if anyone wanted to get involved. Only 1 person contacted me so I didn't really have much choice and we arranged to redo the shoot the following week.
This new models face was a completely different shape to my original model and at first I didn't think this would be a problem. I got to the college to begin the shoot and met the photographer. She was extremely professional and very helpful with everything. She knew what she was doing and was able to offer very good advice on the style of shooting. I applied the makeup and the wig to the model, which I think I did quite well with, I had previously cut the wig myself, despite never cutting hair before and I was actually really happy with how this turned out, I feel that the fringe I cut in was straight and at the right length. I feel as though the style was nice and soft and it worked with the look. However, at first I had wanted to do purple lips but as the model had blue nail varnish on and wasn't willing to repaint, I applied blue lipstick instead. However, I wasn't entirely happy with this, I feel that purple lipstick would have contrasted better against the white skin rather than blue which gave the whole look a really cold and icy feel which I didn't want.
We began shooting and found that where the wig was too shiny, it was affecting the lighting causing a glare to be seen in the photos. The photographer messed around with the lighting a lot, changing the settings and the types of light but the only way we could get rid of the glare was to have very extreme lighting which really washed out the model and made the detail in the hair and makeup difficult to see. The model also wasn't very comfortable in the shoot and I feel was too stiff and didn't produce brilliant photos. She seemed to keep to the same poses despite direction from myself and the photographer.
I had also envisioned the shoot to be set to a white backdrop however there were only black ones in the studio so we had to photograph against that. We realized the lighting as it was, wasn't doing the look or the shoot and favors so we attempted to change it by adding coloured gels over the light to create different effects. Although these photos came out a lot better and are really nicely done, they weren't cover photos and I felt that I could not use them for the final image. I do feel however, that they are a good addition to my portfolio and are good photos but just not for this task.
I finished the shoot not very happy with the outcome and a bit down thinking that this is what I would have to work with and what I was going to end up with.
I thought for a while about what I could do to make them better, but I really didnt think that they worked for my original magazine of Japanese Vogue as although they do more avant garde looks and more out-there styles, this just didnt corrolate with their usual covers and I wasn't happy to say that these were my final images.
I got in contact with a girl that I went to primary school who has a really photographic face and lovely feature to see if she would be available to do a completely different shoot. The only date she was able to do was Monday the 7th of March, the day before the hand in date for the presentation. It was a very tight schedule to get it done but I felt that I just couldnt hand in the original photos or work with them in any way. I researched some trends and found that their seemed to be a lot of use of graphic and coloured eyeliners on the catwalk. I also found that the hair was kept quite natural and loose in most of the shows, with very clean and glowing bases. I decided to do a clean make-up with a gold winged eyeliner. I had no way of contacting a photographer on such short notice to arrange the shoot so I ended up taking the photos myself without any good lighting in my living room. I really wasn't pleased about this and if i could have done it professionally in a studio with a proper photographer and lighting i definitely would have and do not feel that the shoot was an acceptable one to do, but my hands were tied and this was the best I could come up with in such a short space of time. I felt the shoot, however, didnt good awfully and we did get some nice photos out of it. Probably not the quality i would have hoped for and they do look quite amateur but i felt that i could work better with these photos than the original ones.
I spent the morning of the day of the presentation, editing the photo to the best of my ability after downloading photoshop and created the best cover i could with the resources i had.
I was quite pleased with the ends result and felt that it was the better option of the two shoots.
I really wasnt happy with how the presentation went however, i felt that i was completely unprepared and looked extremely unprofessional compared to the other girls in my group. I feel that this isnt acceptable and i am disappointed however i feel that i really did the best i could do in the situation i was in and couldnt have done much more to help the outcome.
If i could do this whole assignment again however, i would do it completely different and much better.
