1. My Pictures

2. In order to create a promotional, magazine poster, it is essential that there is a strong, centre image to capture the readers’ eye, luring them into buying the CD. For this reason, we had arranged a photo shoot where we took pictures of the artist, whilst reflecting this gothic, rock theme for the magazine which will be present in our music video. Nevertheless, we considered to have an edge into the heavy metal side, in order to show variation that would hopefully appeal to the target audience of goths and rockers, as this has been proven successful in broadening the target audience. For example, Cheryl Cole whom appeared as a gothic rock chick in Q magazine. Through the following slides, you will notice how I’ve attempted to show variation through out the facial expressions as well as the body language, understood, as they are similar to that of a range of different rock musicians.

3. On the left we have two successful Disney Channel musicians who’ve branched aside into the rock, music industry. From these images, we see their style reflecting this conversion in to rock, yet their facial expressions seem friendly and approachable. Due to this, I felt that it may be beneficial to display some positive faces, encouraging the reader’s to buy the CD. Nevertheless, when looking at their poses, Demi is successful in showing a form of angles that I have attempted to mimic as you can see on the top, right hand corner of the page. Despite her smiles, I have attempted to present a more serious face that will intrigue readers as well as focus on the serious outlook of the music video. Selena Gomez on the other hand has managed to show a friendly face that I have demonstrated on the right to see whether it will engage the target audience. On the contrary, when asking for their opinions, they felt that I should be more domineering, in order for me to reflect their social tribes of rockers, goths and emos. For this reason, I will not be using this image as it will not appeal to our target market and does not represent the narrative of the music video very well. As a result, we will choose more serious and strong facial expressions.

4. As you can see, the famous rock artist Haley Williams has this rock appeal due to her drastic colour choices of luminescent red that gains any reader’s attention. For this reason, I have decided to go for a red lipstick that will pop out and hopefully engage the reader’s, making them pause to read the advertisement regarding the music video. Similarly, you will notice that Haley Williams has very pale skin that has been enhanced by her pale foundation. To mimic this ghost like presence, I will edit the image afterwards to allow the makeup and overall artist to stand out. In order to take this a step further, we considered editing the eyes, making them a piercing red to match the lipstick, but when thinking about this, we wanted something slightly more dramatic to make the readers stop and read the double page spread advertisement. We felt that green would encapsulate readers, so we will edit this colour in to the eyes instead. Finally, you will notice that she wears black and white that contrasts well against each other yet this has a very traditional outlook. Instead, we decided to go for clothing that may seem more rebellious. We then thought about making rips within the clothes and putting them together with pins, as you can see on the right, this is more effective in appealing to our specific target audience.

5. As you can see from the two famous female artists on the left, they both pose to the side, creating a seductive and intriguing image that lures in the target audience. When looking at Avril Lavign, she looks away from the camera as though she is looking into the distance. This lack of engagement makes her look as though she is in control, whilst maintaining an intriguing factor as the target audience want to know what she is looking at. Similarly, I have created an intriguing pose, but I am looking directly at the camera as though I have spotted them looking at me, where the target audience are perceived as being my victims. This also has a sense of control, that is similar to the image in the top left corner, that manages to create a sex appeal. Despite this, I focused on creating an image where I look authoritive and in control. You will also notice that both images on the left are mid-shots whilst the image that Rachel took was a long shot, this is to show variety as it is necessary when picking out a final shot. To convey this sense of power, we decided to go with a completely black outfit that suggests supreme confidence and dominance that overpowers any other image that is seen within the magazine.

6. When looking at this image of Evanescence, you will notice that there is a lack of good lighting, nevertheless, this effect is very good as it adds to this sense of this gothic atmosphere. This is then taken to extremities as her face seems to be concealed by her own shadow, as she happens to have half of her face within good light. This suggests mystery and this effect accentuates her pale skin within the dark, black surroundings. Taking this in to consideration, we felt that we didn’t want to use bad lighting as we wanted every little detail to be seen and enhanced. Due to this, we thought we could manipulate the artist’s long, black hair that would cover her face. Yet still, this would not be affective as the target audience would not see her face properly, therefore, her piercing green eyes and bright, red lipstick will not engage the readers of the magazine. When we then focused on the fringe, we could see her face clearly yet her eye was hidden, similar to that of Evanescence. This brought about a mysterious factor that we liked. We then experimented with a few shots and then resulted in the image on the right, this expression looks as though she is looking through the camera at something intriguing, that automatically engages the readers of the magazine. To add to this, her body language is stiff as though she is frozen, forming this ideology that she is possessed, creating a horrific ambience.

7. Here, we have the famous pop star, Cheryl Cole, however, similar to Demi and Selena, she approached a stage where she transitioned to the rock side, in this case heavy metal. By looking at mise-en-scene, she consists of black clothing that is similar to the outfit that I am wearing, however, she takes it to extremities by having metal studs sticking out of her blouse. As I have said earlier, we added rips to the clothing with metal pins, to create this anarchist outlook that may appeal to those who are rebellions, broadening our target audience. Unlike the other images, that I have analysed, Cheryl happens to have the raw outside elements of rain and what looks like a storm that creates and adds to this harsh ideology presented. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to mimic this as we were taking the photos inside, and if we were to do this, it would involve loosing our lighting facilitates. When analysing the image, however, we knew that the rain was edited in and we considered having this effect. Although, during the photo shoot, we did similar strong stances that evoke a sense of confidence, a good example of this, is the image on the left. We really liked this image, but if we did edit in rain, it would look unusual if the artist is dry, so we decided to terminate this idea.

8. The image of Vanessa Carlton on the left is very intriguing as she looks directly at the camera as though she has nothing to hide. This conveys yet more dominance that is idolised by fans of hers. Her dark hair is straightened and stands beside her face, contrasting with her pasty white skin. As I had mentioned earlier, we would like to create this effect, making the artists look ghost like and supernatural in order to appeal to the audience. As you can see from the long shot on the right, the artist stands in a strong pose, and the heels accentuate her long legs, making her look even more domineering. Likewise, the image on the left had facial expressions that glare at the camera, looking beyond this as though looking at the readers. This consists of a horror element that reiterates this serious portrayal that we require. For this reason, it is likely, that we will choose this image for our poster, although, a lot of editing is required to make her look perfect in order to convey this supernatural outlook.

9. As I had said earlier, we were considering having a low shot to make the artist look overpowering. This has clearly been instated in the image of Evanescence on the left, so we decided to attempt a shot like this. As you will notice, the shot is overcrowded by band members, creating this outlook as if there is no escape. This as well as the dark facial expressions clearly demonstrate a form of control and authority. Evanescence have also managed to do this shot once again, as you can see from the image below, where it looks as though she is coming for the reader. Immediately, this creates yet another claustrophobic effect that encapsulates readers in this rock atmosphere. When looking at the image that Rachel has taken, you will see that the positioning of the hand looks as though she is about to pounce upon the reader and the scratching effect upon the face creates a negative tone. However, when looking at the facial expressions that I present, it looks as though I am hiding something, yet still this may come across as vulnerability, a reason for which we may not use this particular shot for the promotional magazine poster.

10. The End