Electronic Portfolio

Electronic portfolio unit 2 - 3 from bethbouchareb

Zombie Shoot - 12

In this shoot I wanted to experiment further with media make up and prosthetics, therefore I bought a zipper which zipped under to reveal a zombie, this tells the story of the well known myth of the dead, that in fact they turn into zombies waiting for an apocalypse. I used my friend Amber for this shoot and before setting off shooting in the studio I applied the prosthetics, which became quite difficult with the glue as it get dripping down me and my hands and down her face, which in a way could of harmed her safety however she was fine. I did the shoot which was easy enough, the only challenging prospects were the fact that the zip loosened on her neck however I just kept sticking it back down, the only other issue was that the lens wasn't working which meant I had to use a macro lens which meant I couldn't take full length body shots, however I just got over this and focused on shots of her face and the waist up. I really enjoyed this shoot.

 In this picture I painted the background black to make her skin stand out, i also edited her eyes grey and put eyeliner on them to make them seem as if they are staring more, however the focal point of the picture is still the zip revealing the gash under her skin and her flesh as it is the brightest part of the picture. I also like the composition of this picture, I like how it is not centred as it shows that something is not quite right which is almost one of the points of the shoot.

In this picture I went close to Amber's face and took the picture, as it focused on the zip more. In this picture I used the liquify tool to enlarge her eyes, I also turned her pupils completely black to show evil despite her face looking quite innocent through her expression. In most of those photos I edited on this shoot i used the burn tool under her eyes to make her seem more dead like however in this one I didn't because I like the way the weak face paint looks like stained mascara also suggesting that she has been crying and is still human like, bringing another side to the story that is not often expressed. The red of the blood is very bright like in the other pictures and becomes a focal point to the picture once again.








If I was to do this shoot again I would place the zipper so it meets the hairline so it doesn't stop randomly in the middle of her head. I would also use a different lens as the macro one kind of annoyed me.

Be Yourself Shoot - 11

In this shoot I originally was going to just do pictures of myself without make up and natural hair to show a form of accepting yourself, telling the ending of a story as it becomes your new equilibrium. However by the end of this shoot I thought that it could run deeper and I could address not caring what people think of you and continuing your life nevertheless. I personally think when people accept themselves the become a much happier being as they no longer live for anyone else but themselves. I really liked doing this shoot as the shots were very natural and just expressed me at the beginning so there was shots of me on the phone, with a camera, posing, just what i do every day. I am glad I did this in the studio as no location stole the spotlight from the main content of the picture which is the person. 

In this picture I made signs for everyone to hold which are what people can stereotypically be called (not personal to the models) and I got them to put their middle finger up to then lens to tell everyone to f*** off who judges them, so this photo is direct to an audience. I also wrote the sign "we're the kids our parents warned us about" because it is one of my favourite quotes and i think it describes my life as a teenager and it describes each sign and how their parents wouldn't approve, so this picture also represents the youth today and how they shouldn't care for not even their parents opinions. I put each picture in a different colour with colour balance, every colour is different which represents the person being different from everyone else, and each one being bright. I really like this picture and the message it sends.

In this picture it is quite controversial but only really for people who know me. the message of this shoot is to be yourself, however in this picture I have used the liquify tool to make my hair bigger and make my nose smaller, my nose being one of my biggest insecurities. I also used the spot healing brush to clear up spots and tidy my eyebrows up, however this picture remains to seem quite natural as it visible I have no make up on and my hair is naturally curly yet simply flatter. I put this picture in black and white as it represents truth which is the accepting of insecurities. Also black  ad white represents nakedness and the lack of make up suggests being bare. i also like in this picture how I am looking back into the lens as it seems like the realisation of something, the realisation that you can be yourself.

If I was to do this shoot again I wouldn't do anything different because it was spur of the moment and very natural which I like and was what I wanted.

Overall Project Evaluation

I chose the topic of storytelling and within this topic I did the sub topics of personal stories e.g. journeys, pregnancy, your own past and what it means personally. I also did the subtopic of examples of stories so conventional images of magazines. I also explored stories that already exist like pocohantus, the wizard of oz and the myth of the grim reaper.

At the beginning after I finished the few shoots I had planned, I found it very difficult to create photos based on story telling, the image bank helped, however I couldn't think of shoots I could complete. However then I remembered that all stories have a beginning, middle and end and I could just represent those parts, and I could represents simple equilibriums or perhaps even dis equilibrium's.

I feel like within this project I focused on studio shoots as opposed to location shoots, this may be due to my lack of studio shoots in my last unit, however I felt quite limited with studio shoot as it was more difficult to get models to college as opposed to anywhere I could meet them outside, also I had to consider their demanding schedule as well. I also felt more comfortable with studio shoots as I didn't have to worry about weather conditions which could affect my shoot, e.g- rain could annoy the model and get them to not corporate, it could get on the lens, it could ruin the mood of the photos produced as it could force it to have an opposite meaning.

My most difficult shoot to edit was the lyric video shoot in which I shot pictures appropriate to the lyrics of the song I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts. Although this was interesting, it was the first shoot I felt I had to prepare for, which was time consuming, however the most time consuming part was editing all the pictures ready for the video. I first made a rough edit, putting the pictures where I wanted them to be placed so that I had a plan to follow by. Once I did this I edited the pictures I put them all in place in imovie and then had to edit the pictures to the lyrics to time which was difficult but would have been more difficult if I hadn't done the rough edit. I loved the outcome of my video despite all the effort, and i'm very glad I decided to do the shoot into the video.

My favourite shoot was the grim reaper shoot as it was the first time I had experimented with real props such as face paint, it was really fun to do and I loved the outcome. Due to the fact I used face paint instead of editing it all on the computer, plus I don't really like over editing pictures. The only heavy editing I did in the pictures I produced from this shoot was editing blackness over the eye so it produced  the socket skeletal part, I liked this effect. I also added blackness over the nose because I forgot to face paint it on, however I turned the opacity down so it looked more natural.

My least favourite shoot was my first attempt of the magazine shoot because it was simply a trial and I did it to prepare for the second shoot, I felt I hadn't done enough research of magazine photography for the shoot, therefore I didn't like the background I used, or the poses I made the model do and looking back on the pictures, I don't really like them however it was only a trial as I had to do a shoot that week and I had nothing else prepared. I think it was good to try this as it was only a preparation for another shoot.

In my next unit I think I will prepare for more shoots and think of more possible shoots when considering my topic, I would also consider doing more location shoots as I also think the weather will be more predictable in september as opposed to the spring weather we have had.

Grim Reaper Shoot -10

In this shoot I wanted to experiment with face paint and more planning with shoots and I think this worked well and I would definitely use face paint in shoots again. I painted half her face as a skeleton to represent the grim reaper but I kept half of her face normal to put a controversial spin on it of how humans can take life these days. The story within this shoot is a representation of how the end of a person life (a living story) comes to an end, or a typical story version of one. I got my idea from the story of American Horror Story which I have not watched but researched before doing the shoot, I made this link. I did this shoot on location as I feel I have used studio too much, the location I used I really like,it was at her house but it was a plot of overgrown grass, this gave the picture the feel of a fairytale setting.

In this picture I turned it black and white and then also added a different eye colour which also makes the eye more prominent. When this photo was in colour the red eye was more showing, however I preferred it in the black and white. I duplicated the layer and then blurred it slightly. I also cropped the image so there was no line showing obvious editing, even though you can see there is. I like how in this picture her hair is wavy, and this picture almost seems model like. The blurring of this picture blurs the line between her skeleton and her normal face which shows it is not that simple, which is an effect I really like.

Initially Paul did not choose this picture but I liked it so much I edited it anyway, with this picture I turned the curves up which made her face brighter. I then coloured in her eye so it was completely black, making her resemble a skeleton even more, I then went over with the black paint brush tool on the black face paint parts as they looked weak compared to the eye. I really love this picture and I put it in my final portfolio. I love the contrast of her white face paint to her mixed race skin and this is one of the few pictures I kept in full colour. I also love how her face is peaking through as it adds depth to the picture.






If I was to do this shoot again, I would do the face paint better, like I forgot to do her nose, I would make sure to do everything better and I would maybe try it in a different location, a more appropriate location like a cemetery.

Photojoiner Shoot - 9

In this shoot I had a model drop out and initially I was going to do a shoot showing someone depressed which would express the story of someone in depression and the photojoiner would represent how her life was in pieces, I think this would of made a good shoot and I will do it. However due to the model dropping out I had to improvise. Therefore during the half term whilst doing revision with a friend, i shot amber doing her work and this photojoiner represents the stress and how everything may not make sense and the story is more of a metaphor than literal as it represents the story of her life. This shoot was very quick and easy to do. 

I like this photo, I purposely chose to put the pictures in black and white and I had planned to do because the black and white represents monotony. In certain shots I zoomed in which represents focus and emphasises what she is doing. I also chose to do a few shots of her face as it shows her serious/bored which represents this is something she feels she has to do and that in fact the 'story of her life' is not one that she enjoys. Overall I cant say I liked or disliked this shoot because it was so quick and took literally no planning, it was a last minute decision.

Lyric Video Work Record- 8

With my 8th shoot I decided I wanted to shoot in a video format to display a story, with this shoot i downloaded the song 'I'll be there for you' by The Rembrandts and decided to tell the story of 2 friends and to convey the story of a song with 2 friends and convey the lyrics of the songs with actions and written words. Initially, this video is just photographs which play at the right time and match with the appropriate lyrics. I planned to do this shoot with two friends on location in the sun, however my models dropped out last minute therefore when I was next in college I did the shoot with students in my class, who happily helped. After taking the photos, I made a rough edit of the video on premiere pro, the timing was a bit off and the photos didn't fit to the frame. I then listed the photos which I was going to use and edited them one by one. After doing this I used Imovie to create my lyric video as it was an easier program to use.




What I like about this video is the vibe and how it is quite light and fun, however if I was to do it again I think I would focus on the actual photography and do the framing a lot better.