Evaluation Question 2

You might consider posture, gesture, angle, shot type, lighting, costume, expression, hair, etc

This photograph of Lady Gaga on the front cover of asos magazine inspired me to involve hands within the photograph on my front cover as they are generally placed by the musican's sides and forgotten about. Although asos magazine is prominently a fashion magazine I thought that this photo was versatile as it could easily be placed on the front of a music magazine.

Megan's posture is quite reserved and mysterious, she subconsciously provokes the reader to wonder what it is she has to tell the readers. I think it definitely has similarities to Lady Gaga's stance- it is almost as though she is attempting to seduce the audience by using her hands in a gentle and delicate way.

The gestures vary between these two photos, Lady Gaga is looking seductive and potentially promiscuous due to her confidence in herself. Megan on the other hand is looking a lot less timid, this should appeal to the male audience as well as the female.

The angle is the same on both photographs, they are both full on shots taken from directly in front of the singer. This perfect for magazine covers as it frames the subject so well and centres them making it clear that they are the focus of the entire magazine.

The Asos front cover uses lighting from above so that a small shadow is cast around the midriff of Lady Gaga which makes the magazine look a lot more three dimensional. I focussed the lighting directly onto Megan's face so that her features were lit really nicely and the negative space (walls) were less dominant and gradually became less lit as there begin to be shadows in the corners of the photograph.

For clothing I dressed Megan in a cropped white t-shirt that was quite a loose fit because that fitted in nicely with the tone of the magazine. I understand why Lady Gaga was wearing a structed formal dress as asos pride themselves on their fashion sense and so for them the outfit would be a key factor to the cover. I didn't want to detract the focus from Megan's face and pose by dressing her in a loud and garish outfit, so I settled for a neutral garment.

The eye contact each of the models on these magazines have is very similar. It is so intent on the reader, it grabs their attention. It is almost as though they are staring into the audience's eyes, it is a way of connecting to the audience.

I wanted the hair to be less perfected than Lady Gaga's hair on the asos cover. I think that the main difference between these photographs is the purpose of them. As asos is a beauty and fashion magazine, the hair and make-up have to reflect that and therefore aren't good examples of how I should have them for Megan. I gave Megan an off-centre messy parting and clipped parts of her hair back to highlight and show off her face. I then played around with hairspray, making it voluminous and slightly scruffy.