Construction Post 2: Week 2 video and photo shoots

Week 2 of production and construction consisted in part of planning for the future weeks of photos and editing, but mainly of planning and then carrying out the photo shoots for our album cover shots, as well as our various studio promotional shots.

Our Challenges

We had the small photography studio set up in the media department available to us some of this week, having to share it with one other group, the third group being in the main studio. The photography studio consisted of a small collapsible white screen, a camera on a tripod, and multiple lights synced up to the camera, with various diffusers and settings available. The first challenge was learning how to use all of this new equipment, which we all tackled very well with the help of the technician- we were proficient in its use quick enough to get all the images we needed.

A picture of me from the studio photoshoot. Note the dark clothing- this is because I have not yet changed into my costume, which is a lot brighter, as we are currently learning and experimenting with the equipment, so we don't run into snags and issues later, speeding up the whole process. Click to enlarge.

The first problem we encountered when shooting commenced was the availability of Tom. While us group members had already marked down when we were all available at the very beginning of the project, Tom wasn't as tied to it as us, and had his own commitments. We thus had to plan around when he was available- this meant we had a lot less time for his shots, but by maximising the time we did have by using all possible slots he was available, we ensured we got lots of images of him and nullified any danger of missing out on key pictures needed for the digipak and also the website.

Another challenge was the limited time we had overall- as we were sharing the studio with another group, and the studio was set up in a media classroom needed for other things unrelated to the music video project, we had limited chances to be in there. This further impacted the problem of finding time for Tom, but even with that out of the way, we had to be very efficient in order to take lots of pictures of all three of us main group members in the estimated two days we had.

My Contributions

My own contributions were similar to that of my fellow group members. I was one of the four people being photographed, and I had to stay in character as Guy Chapman as well as changing costumes so as to ensure some variety. I had to figure out a variety of poses, adapting them based on what feedback I was receiving both from my group while actually shooting and from the audience when getting feedback between shoot sessions. This resulted in me doing some calmer poses to better reflect the professional look the album and website need to have, as well as the more energetic ones I was already doing as part of Guy Chapman's characterisation. Outside of acting, I also took a lot of photos. When I was on camera, I directed the lighting, and also moved it around myself- the directions the lights were pointing had to be adjusted based on what the photos looked like, in order to finally reach the perfect photo. I also did the framing and composition of all the photos I took, working in tandem with the actor I was photographing, whom I directed to get the shots I needed. I took a lot of photos of Noa, Jack, and Tom, many of which ended up in the final products.

A picture of me acting as Guy Chapman for the studio photoshoot. I had to stay in character as with the filming of the music video, and the others took a lot of photos of me as I figured out different ways to show off Guy's personality. Click to enlarge.

A picture of Noa and Jack acting as Casey and Hugh, showing off their characters' sibling relationship. This relationship is very important to the identity of our band, and appears throughout the products- thus it was important to get photos such as these, which were taken by me, as of course both Noa and Jack had to be in the photos, and Tom wasn't a group member and wasn't available much besides. Click to enlarge.

Audience and Teacher Feedback

After talking to our audience, who said some of our more conventional pictures were sometimes a bit boring, we decided we needed more options for the digipak. This ended up being a very good decision, as we ended up using some of the less normal and more dynamic shots when we came to creating the final digipak. 

Another piece of feedback was that we were told by a teacher, who was familiar with the process of taking studio photographs and so on, to look more candid- we facilitated this by having conversations while shooting and having the photographer take pictures at surprising moments. This improved the overall quality of almost all of our shots.

Our Progress

Ultimately the second week was a success. Despite the limited time by the week's end we had a lot of professional-looking studio photos for our album and website. As we went along we faced and overcame many challenges, and implemented many changes, some of which we decided on ourselves, and some of which we received as feedback. While we could possibly have gotten some more full-body shots, overall we still got everything we needed, and to a very high standard as well, to be carried into the next stages of the project and facilitate their success in turn- the next construction stages are a lot harder without quality material to work from.