Construction Post 2: Week 2 Production

In our second week of production, we completed the studio photoshoot for our professional promotional shots and album cover photos. 

Overview of the week:


I think that week 2 of production was very successful.

We managed to shoot a lot of professional, high quality photos that we will use for our promotional material and for our album cover. We made use of our school's white screen and lighting kit to create bright photos of each individual band member and of the band as a whole. This included a variety of shots from different angles and framing, and with the performers using multiple poses, facial expressions and props.

Casey in different framing

I learned a lot about the kit used during photoshoots, including the lighting used to create the flash and the various hardware that synchs the flash with the camera. I had a chance to work with more kit I have not yet had experience working with and I had a lot of fun photographing other members of the band.

My group worked efficiently and professionally, and shared out the roles equally so that we all had a turn using the camera. In this way, we all walked away with the same valuable experience.

Overall, I am very happy with how the photos that Noa, Emilio and I took came out, and I am confident that we can create a high quality album cover and a lot of professional promo shots when we get to post production.

My contribution:

During the second week of production, I:

• Shot a lot of the promo shots, including most of the photos of Casey.
• Performed in front of camera as Hugh Tyler. 
• Adjusted the intensity of the lights to create a better image. 
• Helped organise the schedule for when we would be filming each person.

Challenges we faced and how we overcame them: 

We had a short two day time limitation for our photoshoot, as this was the only opportunity for us to use the photoshoot kit before it was dismantled. This was especially a problem as we could only have the whole band available for one forty minute period, and the same amount of time to do Tom Brown's individual shots.

Tom's promo shot

In order to make efficient use of our time, we scheduled what we would shoot in each school period so that we could immediately arrive at the start of the session knowing what to prepare and what costume to change into if necessary. We agreed to schedule the photoshoot so we could get all the necessary shots of each band member done in the space of forty minutes. Although a little longer was needed for Casey as, being the most prolific member of the band, she needed a larger amount of shots, we managed to finish all of our promo and album cover shots before our deadline.

One challenge we faced during the photo shoot was the shots for the individual band members. It was difficult to create candid looking shots without making them look forced. We overcame this by allowing conversation between the photographer and the performer whilst the shoot took place to create a relaxed atmosphere, so that when the performer laughed or smiled, it was genuine. This resulted in photographs where the subjects look like they are enjoying themselves, which is an important when attracting an audience to a brand, as audiences find attractiveness in artists who appear like they are enjoying their work.

On the flip side, as a subject of the photoshoot, I personally found it difficult initially not to 'freeze up' in front of the camera and smile forcibly. I helped myself get over this by thinking of happy or funny memories to make me smile in a genuine way that didn't look forced.