Shoot 8 - Work Record - Violin Shoot

Plans for the shoot:
My plan for the shoot involves my model, a violin and a masquerade mask. I plan to portray the deep emotions associated with the violin, which I will hope will be shown through the concept of the mask, which I am using to represent the idea of the 'Phantom of the Opera'.

What I hope to achieve:
I hope to achieve two different styles of photo with this shoot: half of the shoot I plan to look at close-ups of just the face and the violin, primarily focussing on the mask. With the rest of the shoot I plan to take away the mask and experiment with how the body and the violin work together - getting my model to hold the violin in different ways, such as behind her back, across her front etc.

What I actually achieved:
The model I planned on using for this shoot wasn't available, so I had to use someone else, who was more than happy to do the shoot for me, expect she wasn't wearing dark clothes like I would have wanted, so the actual outcome of some of the photos didn't have the dark, moody feel I wanted them to have. However, I did also have some spare studio time where I photographed just the violin and the mask together, which I feel looked really effective and reflected the ideas I had planned for"

What I am going to do next:
Next I am going to begin to plan for my exam piece. Alongside this, I have a guitar shoot I want to plan for where I will use a model in a hippie-inspired shoot. I also have a ukulele hawaiian-themed shoot I want to plan for at some stage too.

Topic

By the end of this lesson you will have clearly demonstrated that your understanding and exploration of your chosen exam topic has increased and you understand the potentials of the topic.

                                                                                                                                        

To further explore my chosen topic of Musical Instruments and Musicians, I have conducted some research into the use of musical instruments in other forms of media and performance. One of the biggest ideas I came across was the use of instruments/orchestras in plays or musical productions. As I have access to a violin today, I have chosen to re-create the theme of 'Phantom of the Opera' as both the musical and the violin are both very dramatic, and I feel they will work well together. In order to explore this, I have a masquerade mask which my model will wear in the studio whilst she plays and holds the instrument in various different ways. 

Target

By the end of this lesson you will have demonstrated a clear understanding of the potential and possibilities of your chosen topic by undertaking practical work that adds to the shoots in your practical folder.

                                                                                                                                        

One of the main potentials I have discovered which is associated with my chosen topic is the idea of album covers and albums booklets/sleeves that come with the actual CD - they are used to persuade customers to buy the product and also provide extra entertainment alongside the actual music.

Today I am going to continue creating the product I began to produce during tuesday's lesson, adding more photos of my shoot to the album booklet. Once I have completed this to a standard I am happy with, I hope to conduct another shoot in the studio considering that there is space and my models aren't busy, to create my products for a band rather than a single musician - such as a poster, other promo shots or album covers. 

Album Booklet

Target (12/03/2013)

By the end of this lesson you will have clearly demonstrated that your understanding and exploration of your chosen exam topic has increased and you understand the potentials of the topic.

                                                                                                                                        

My own target for today is to explore my topic further by completing the edited album covers and album booklet I shot for last lesson. Most musicians, whether they are instrumental, singers, or a mixture of both, will release an album/CD/LP during some point in their career to showcase their work. In order to reflect on my topic of musical instruments and musicians, I am going to create an album cover design based on research I have completed into famous and well-known album covers. With my album design, I am going to look into using a repetition technique to create a pattern with the images I have previously shot. 

Inspiration:

Shoot 7 - Work Record - Katie Album Cover

Plans for the shoot:
I plan to use a friend as a model in the studio. I want to shoot the model posing with different faces and looking in different directions. I then plan to use these images to create my own album cover. All professional musician's will have a goal in life to release their own album, and the artwork for these albums can really help to persuade customers to buy the product, so they have to be interesting and eye catching.
What I hope to achieve:
I hope to achieve a set of photos which I can use in a repetition effect in which I will use to create my own album cover. I also hope that I will have some extra photos I can include to use for an album booklet design too.
What I actually achieved:

What I am going to do next:
With my upcoming shoots I am going to explore the genres associated with certain musical instruments. I have two shoots I can conduct very soon, involving a violin and a ukulele. With the violin, I associate it with darkness. power and drama, which is what I will look to portray in my shoot. With the ukulele, I associate it with fun, happiness and Hawaii, which is what I will look to use as a theme in that shoot.

Shoot 6 - Work Record - Forest/Piano Shoot

Plans for the shoot:

For this particular shoot I have been inspired by a specific image I found on the art community/website DeviantArt. In order to successfully shoot this idea I have, I need to draw out a piano to use in a similar fashion. As I want to photograph in various locations, I need to draw the piano onto paper in order for me to move it, unlike this photographer who drew the piano onto a wall using chalk. I also need to make sure that the piano I 'make' is quite big as it has to be visible in the photographs. I also need to plan the location for the shoot, and I intend on going to the forest again as I want to incorporate leaves into the composition.

What I hope to achieve:

I want to achieve some photos which reflect the instrument in a fun and quirky way, which is why I feel drawing the piano will look more effective rather than printing one off. I also hope that this becomes a 'stepping stone' on my way to achieving photos of people playing actual instruments.

What I actually achieved:
Although the outcome was quite different to what I had expected, I am still really happy with the results  as it allowed me to combine lots of different scenarios with my 'piano'. It was also an improvement on my last forest shoot as I had people with me to help with holding the piano in place for me.
Here are a few of my favourite photos from today:

What I am going to do next:
I am now happy that I have completed a lot of the location work that I initially wanted to do. I now want to start thinking about moving on to some studio work, where I would like to create my own album covers and music performances. 

Shoot 5 - Work Record - Songwriting/Forest Shoot

Plans for the shoot:

I initially planned to have a friend come in to model for me, where I wanted to paint keyboard keys up her arm and darken the rest of the image. However, my friend was ill and as I had no alternative who was willing to do this for me, I have decided to continue my 'songwriter' ideas in the forest. For what I have in mind, I will need to print off several sheets of sheet music which I will scrunch up to represent failed pieces of music/songs.

What I hope to achieve:

I plan to achieve images that show more of the theme 'destruction' - the more angrier, painful side a songwriter experiences when they are creating a new piece. It is a very stereotypical image for people to sit under trees in the forest and write and create new songs, so this justifies my choice of location.

What I actually achieved:

Overall, I wish I had had someone with me to shoot, as a lot of my shot ideas either featured hands (holding a pen to paper, scrunching the paper etc.) or feet (trampling on the paper, kicking leaves etc.), and obviously, it was hard to use myself as I had the camera. However, I am pleased with a few of the shots as I feel that the comparison between the paper and the dirt was a really strong idea. Here are a few of my favourites:

What I am going to do next:

I want to use a similar theme to this shoot but I am going to use the idea of an inspiring image, where I create a fake instrument, and photograph it in different places within the forest. 

Shoot 4 - Work Record - Guitar at Home Shoot

Plans for the shoot:
My plan for today's shoot is to use the guitar I have at home to capture different close-up components of the instrument.

What I hope to achieve:
I hope to achieve a set of photos that will reflect the detail and importance of all the different components of a particular instrument. I would also like to experiment with a photo-joiner technique on this particular subject as there is enough detail to re-construct the object in a creative way.

What I actually achieved:
I am quite happy with this shoot considering that it was completed at home where I don't necessarily have the sufficient equipment to achieve high-quality shots, whereas at college I could have used the studio to achieve better quality lighting. However, I am happy with my work now that it has all been edited as the colours and lighting can be changed to make the images look of a better quality. I am more happy with the close-up shots as the guitar fills the whole frame. Some of the others shots such as those of the whole guitar don't look as effective as I would have preferred to use a plain white backdrop rather than the carpet.

Here are a few of the edited shots from this shoot:

What I am going to do next:
I am hopefully going to complete a few last location shoots where I will re-assess my 'songwriter' work and hope to improve this. I hope to use the forest as a traditional, yet quirky backdrop to my work. I have also recently signed up to DeviantArt, as I wanted to be able to save some photos that I saw as inspirational. I have found one photo in particular that has inspired me for my forest shoot.

Target (01/03/2013)

As the weather has warmed up ever so slightly and it isn't as windy today, I am going to continue with the idea of the life of a songwriter. I am hoping to go into the forest to photograph crumpled sheet music on the floor to represent more negative emotions and a 'failed' song.

I may also use my time to imitate what some of my peers call 'cheesy Tumblr pictures', where I will focus on photographing visually attractive photos and editing lyrics and quotes over the top to represent a part of the musicians life.

My personal target for today is to push myself further and go out of my comfort zone and photograph in public where I would normally feel uncomfortable and fear that people think that I am 'weird'.