Working to a Brief : 1 (studio) - Shoot Day

The Day of the Shoot
We were told we had six hours to do the shoot, but not to rush it all in the morning as something may have been forgotten, creating images to fit the brief can take time and we have to get all three models right. We were aiming to finish shooting at around 2pm so we had enough time to pack up and get the equipment packed down.

Our tutor's gave us a list of what they expect to see at the end of the shoot day;
- A disk/hard-drive of the images shot on the day
- A detailed plan of how the group will execute the shoot on the day
- A model release form from all models used, Evidence of a selection process for the casting
- Receipts for all props used - Did you come in on Budget?
- Evidence of preparation in getting equipment/kit together

_____________________________________________________________________________

All photo's below are my own photographs taken by me on shoot day, for my own personal use. 

Everything went according to the plan and the call sheet, all crew turned up at 9.00am and got started straight away. We all discussed who was coming in at what time and spoke over things to check we were ready.  The booked equipment was brought into the studio at around 9.30am and was set up by the assistants and Photographer. Once we were all set up and each role was ready it was almost 10.30/11.00am which is when our first model Roxana Andrei turned up, right on time. She had her own black dress therefore did not need any of my black clothes and her hair looked great natural. Myself and Madalina (model recruitment) decided that her hair would look nice over one shoulder and the other shoulder bare so the crab could sit on it.  Make up was kept natural looking and we decided that she should look upwards for sophistication. The positioning of the crab was quite difficult and we used celotape to hold the back legs down. I kept changing the position of the crabs legs so they were all seen and noticable. I think this look was great for 'Cancer', showed the sophistication and elegance. 

Model 1: Roxana Andrei - 'Cancer' the Crab

The first shoot with first model Roxana went well and much quicker than we thought.  I liked standing on hand as Stylist and Prop Stylist, as I felt it was my job to make sure the crab was positioned correctly and looked good, I kept all loose hairs tidy and made sure the dress was hanging correctly on her shoulder. Once the first shoot was complete at around 12.00pm and photographer and the rest of the group were happy with the image, we were done with 'Cancer'. We had a a while until the next two models were turning up and this gave us more time to make sure the props were ready and we could have lunch.  These images below show myself and Ellie with some of the props used, the fish and crab.

Backstage: Fish, Crab & Studio Set-up

Ellie was a prop assistant and helped a lot with the fish as not many other crew members wanted to hold them.  We came up with how we wanted the fish positions on the model and were trying out many different positions with the lighting set-up on what would look best. The studio was set to the low key, black sophisticated look from the brief. The two images below show evidence of my Styling for the shoot, my make up that I brought to the shoot for the models and an image of a hairstyle I done on model 3.  Model 3 was used for scorpio, and it was my idea for this hairstyle because it was similar to the way a scorpions tail and sting look and also separated the look from the other two signs.

Styling (MY ROLE) : My make-up box & One of the hair styles I done

Models 2 & 3, Stefania and Catalina turned up at around 12.30pm/1.00pm and had a big selection of black dresses with them. They seemed like outgoing girls and had a lot to choose from.  Because I was stylist everyone suggested I choose which dress the model should wear, but I chose and then asked what everyone else thought to check that they liked it too. Together we chose model 3, Catalina for the scorpion shoot, and I chose a leathery studded dress to match the similarity with a scorpions shell.  At first her hair was down, but whilst standing watching i thought that it was too much of a distraction and wanted to tie it into a fishtail plait as mentioned on the previous stylist image.  Myself and a few others wanted the scorpion on the model's head, so that it was different from model 1's 'Cancer' image on the shoulder. But this was quite difficult with tape, but one assistant had brought string with him, and we used a broomstick to tie both scorpion toy and handle to make the toy hang. I was in front of the model on prop stylist duty to press the toy into place for the shot's, until we got an image we liked. Using the hanging technique meant that the handle would be in shot, but taken out in editing by the photographer.

Model 3: Catalina Dragne - 'Scorpio' the Scorpion 

 The third model, model 2 Stefania was used for the Pisces, fish sign. As stylist, along with assistance, we decided to make the model wear long sleeves because she would have to hold real fish on her arms. Once hair was done, hairstyle different to the others and a similar smokey eyed make-up look was done, by the models themselves and myself and team member Madalina, I gave the model items of the clothes I had brought in for her to change into. For the prop styling, I sprayed the fish with hairspray, for the smell and too keep them shiny. We also propped open the fishes mouths with small tubing. The pisces star sign actually curves round almost circle, so we tried to get her arms in an over under position with a fish on each arm. This technique worked really well and the shine on the fish came out perfectly.

Model 2: Stefania Lacob - 'Pisces' the Fish

Once all of us in the group were happy with the last two shoots, and I was happy with the stylising of each model, we said a huge thanks to the models and were done by around 3.30/4.00pm.  We packed up all of the equipment together whilst the photographer Matt, went off to edit and retouch the final images.

Evaluation Of the Brief 1 Star Sign Shoot
I personally think that our shoot went really well. I think that the overall outcome of the three portraits look very nice and show exactly what was needed. The brief says, iconic with a sense of calm and sophistication, which I think we conveyed very well in the images. I do think the models we a little worried by the props that they had to pose with, due to two of them once being alive. I think this made them feel a little bit 'nervy' and it shows slightly in their facial expressions but I do think they tried their best and did a great job. Our props were fantastic, the scorpion looks very realistic and the crab and fish look subtle but stand out at the same time.  We were asked to create images with a lot of deadpan space around them for text and marketing material purposes which we done, along with realistic props. The part that we struggled with was the age group, the brief says 25-35, but only two of our models were 25 and the other was only a few years younger, I personally think the topic and brief suits younger models because it seems as if it is aimed at a young adult (20's) audience, which works great for sophistication. The style/lighting set-up was also correct according to the brief, low key, black background with spot lights on the props for highlighting. We stayed well into our budget of £25 as the only things we bought were the two fish (£4.00) and the scorpion toy (£4.99).  I am pleased with the results as there is room for improvement to keep all three portraits looking the same technically. But I think I played an important role, worked well and contributed a lot to the group brief task.

Here are the final three portraits for 'Cancer', 'Scorpio', and 'Pisces'. All complete with realistic props, the same lighting set up, black and sophisticated and most of all, what the brief asked of us was completed.

'Cancer'

'Scorpio'

'Pisces'