Photo Shoot for our CD Cover

This photo-shoot consisted of Connor and Lilly as we wanted to reinforce the connection between these two and Connor's drinking throughout. We tried many different poses yet used the same mise-en-scene throughout which was a wine bottle as alcohol, Lilly and Connor are the main features of our whole project. 

This Photo-shoot will create the same tone and message as our video as we want the audience to understand the dark, depressing tone that runs throughout.

Setting Up - We set up the white sheet so that the photos would be professional and would have successful lighting as the dark areas would fit nicely with the white background.We set up a small stall for Connor so that we could have the camera on the same level as him, we then had Lilly standing behind him so that she was clearly present but the audience would notice Connor first as he is the artist. This was decided because of our research as the artist is normally always featured on the album cover as the most important focus which is important as it shows their popularity as if the audience can recognise them by their face and nothing more.

Lighting - We used one of the professional lighting lamps so that the lighting improved the quality of the photos so that we could edit the tones to make them darker rather than lose the quality of the images by trying to photograph them in dark lighting, but when we tried to use both the photo was too bright.

                                                         

This is what the images looked like without the professional lamps on; the quality is poor. Therefore despite us wanting the images to be dark to create the correct depressing tone and mood it was necessary to shoot the photos using the best lighting and then edit them to produce the right tone. We can easily edit them to change the brightness, however, the quality has to be good from the start.

Mise-En-Scene -  We chose the mise-en-scene carefully as we wanted everything to have a message to it. The bottle is a part of the iconography as we have used alcohol throughout as it is an important aspect of our music video. 
              

We dressed Connor in all black as he had to portray the darkness and depression he feels, this will then contrast with Lilly's white clothes and white fingernail polish. We chose white for Lilly because we dressed her in a lot of white for the music video as white is a sign of purity and is also linked to angels which reinforces the fact she could be dead.

These colours being binary opposites worked well as it coincided with the tone of the video as the colours were continued throughout the music video. The contrast of Lilly's white nails on Connor's black shirt draw attention to her presence and the bottle when she holds it which is successful as she is the reason for his alcohol abuse.

We chose to leave Connor unshaven as we didn't want him to look fresh faced as he is meant to be depressed and mentally suffering. Therefore showing rough facial hair increases the visual aspects and makes our model visually represent the tone and message.

Shots Of Connor On His Own:



We tried some shots of Connor alone just incase we changed our plan. This was to ensure we had covered every option incase the shots of Lilly didn't go as we had hoped. We tried to make them interesting and attractive by using the alcohol bottles as this relates to our music video while also giving the photos some more features to look at.

I think the shots with the bottles work better than the two first shots as he looks too bare and there is nothing in the image to attract the audience to buying the CD. I feel these shots aren't successful as they won't attract an audience as the photo seems to be quite plain and simple without much of a message.

- We had Connor looking at the bottle as if he is relying on it and aware of his problems.

- In one of the photos we had Connor holding two bottles to show his extensive drinking.

Despite none of these images working the ones with the bottle definitely work the most therefore we will keep this variable the same throughout as it relates to our music video and message. The photo's needed more mise-en-scene to fill the empty space in order to attract the audience.

Our Shots Of Lily And Connor:



These images include Lilly, these are more successful as her arms frame Connor and fill some of the empty space. By using Lilly in this position it visually shows the hold she has on Connor as she is draping her arms around his neck which could be classed as quite suffocating. The fact the alcohol is still in shot highlights how she has made him rely on alcohol and caused his drinking problem.

These photos are more successful than the other ones as Lilly adds another successful visual aspect which makes the photo more interesting and eye catching.

We made Connor turn his head from left to right in order to show how he is turning away from life and his problems, the fact he is looking away could be in desperation or despair which matches our tone and mood.

We tried Lilly standing behind Connor with her arms on her hips to show her power, however, this didn't work as well as the arms.

Some of these images don't work as the last few shots show Connor holding up the bottle as if forcing it into the shot, this makes it look too set up which doesn't work. The bottle should tie in with the photo not forcibly stand out.

The Chosen Image:



We chose this as our final image for our CD front cover as Connor is looking up at Lilly and she is holding the bottle, Connors hands are creating a nice feature as he is holding his hands quite intensely. Lily becomes almost angel like as she is standing over him in her white clothes, he is in black as he is depressed and in danger due to the alcohol bottle she is holding as she is the reason he is drinking. He is looking up at her with quite a forlorn look on his face as if he is desperately missing her and looking at her for help.

Edited Version:



This is the edited version which will be used on the CD front cover. 

We made the image black and white by decreasing the saturating.
We then enhanced the brightness and contrast in order to improve the lighting. 
This gave the image a clear white background to make the dark clothing and Lilly's hair stand out.
We then created another layer for the wine bottle so that we could make it red to stand out against the black clothing. We couldn't make it too red as this would be unrealistic as red wine isn't very red when it is in their normal dark bottles. 

I feel the edited version is successful as the contrast of black and white makes it stand out and the red wine bottle looks realistic yet successful as it has a slight red tint compared to the black background and white label. This makes the alcohol stand out without ruining the other features of the photo. 

The editing made Connor stand out more while making Lilly face a bit due to her clothing being the same colour as the background, this however, was successful as she looks quite ghostly which relates to the video as she appears spirit-like standing  behind him as Connor is focused on more in the image.