FEARLESS YOUTH PROJECT

The assignment started with being set a topic and theme. The theme was ‘’Fearless Youth’’, so I went brainstorming. I managed to come up with a few ideas of how to portray that topic, however the idea that appealed to me the most was to do the photo shoot based on some tribal aspects. After a deep research and inspiration of other artists I decided to change my idea on the design completely. (yay…. The joys of being an artist hehe)
I wanted to make it more striking, dark and editorial themed in order to suit my personal photography style more.I decided that my photos will be very strong in contrast with use of black and white colour and tones to make the images more edgy. I have done a mind map in my sketchbook and managed to come up with a moodbard as an inspiration.

(My personal sketchbook sketches)

I gathered the team together, as per usual…. With a stylist, models and make-up artists. I then started looking for props on Ebay to complete the look. Surprisingly that was the hardest part…. I often try to find the cheapest option to buy props that would complete my vision… otherwise I would of gone bankrupt by now.
So here I was... searching for bone remains of animals online…. And asking random facebook friends about it… I’m normal - I swear, although this is not the weirdest thing I’ve done for a photoshoot.
I couldn’t find anything, so I ended up buying a sheep skull on Ebay for 35 pounds. Yay. I planned to re-sell it after the photo shoot… but guess what.. it actually makes a lovely table decoration at my flat hehe

(My personal sketchbook pages)

Another thing was finding a fur coat. I wanted to find something contrasting with long hair, so I could make it stick out like spikes. For daysss… I could not find anything…. And then here it was, right in front of me…. The problem was that it was on someone. So here I am, being an amazing, normal human I am, I walk over to the girl and casually ask her whether I could lend the fur coat she's wearing for a photo shoot. Chances were thin…. But guess what – she said YES!
So, yeah...I can be very resourceful hehe ;)

I decided to shoot in the studio, in order to create a high contrast with bold features, without any distractions. I decided to use two speedlights with big square diffusers set facing the background to achieve a bright white colour, and then two or one speedlite with rectangular softboxes on in order to light the objects in the background, cast a deep, direct light and cast some shadows for a more dramatic effect. I shot images on Nikon D300 and with 50 mm lens.
The day went very well, I always love shooting days. It was great to work with a talented team and produce something special together while having so much fun.

Through images, I was trying to portray a rebellious fierce atmosphere through youth to suit the theme of the photo shoot. Through dark, winged sharp make-up I wanted to create an outward expression with a hint of tribal aspect which is meant to connote to wildness, freedom and rebellion. The fur coat with the brushed up – hair strands, creates a very unique, almost spikey-looking silhouette which is quite wild and uncontrollable. The images are meant to aim on the message about a youth’s will to express themselves, their change in character as they break away from childhood days – and transformation into an adult. The images, through styling, make up and face expressions – convey the message of being youthful and rebellious, ready to take on the world. Through the compelling stare and a neutral face expression, I was hoping to show attitude and power, being reserved and maintaining to oneself which ultimately created a slightly aggressive, intimidating atmosphere.

FASHION FILM

So, BARE with me, I have never produced a moving image before and this was a true challenge to my skills! But there’s a first time for everything!
Along with the photo shoot I decided to shoot a Fashion Movie. I used my camera with some stabilizing tools like fig rig. The whole process took like 30 minutes, so it’s very last minute. I tried to film variety of shots, emphasizing the clothing and the atmosphere of the set. The shots are fairly simple with variety of pan and tilt shots, zoom ins and zoom out, longshots and close ups. The editing was done using Adobe Premiere… and boyyy was it hard to get used to that programme…. So yeah, editing is fairly simple too. Don’t expect any fire explosions and alien special effects any time soon hehe

(Behind the scenes shot of me filming)

I did apply some slow-mo for a more dramatic effect… does that score me any brownie points?
I think the moving image turned out successful for the first timer, I am very proud of it due to it being my first ever Moving Image. I think it delivers dark atmosphere of the theme and would please the target audience I set out for due to its artistic yet very high fashion style.

YOUTUBE LINK :

Let me know your thoughts!!!

I hope you enjoyed this post!
Cheers,
Marta x