So… I am ready to photograph my star.

Just to recap, my mission statement is:

“UP2DATE thrives in promoting pop music through the current trends to those with a passion in pop. Looking at the new artists, fashion, top hits, hot gossip and your favourite celebs, we aim to inform, entertain, and develop readers and keep you up to date and involved with the latest news.

Using Richard Dyer’s theory (the paradox of the star), I will need to try and present my star’s image as an extraordinary pop artist but also someone ordinary like my readers. This will intrigue my readers as although they are huge and famous, they can also relate to them.

From learning about Mise en Scene and Camera, I know that I will need to encode my magazine with lots of features that reflect the pop genre. These details will then be decoded by my readers. (My target audience which is Generation Z’s: teens and young adults) If I am successful in composing my magazine and star image, then hopefully my audience will be lead to purchasing my media.

Thinking about Mise en Scene:

COSTUMES: I will need to use my plan to follow what my star should wear. I have planned two main costumes: one is very clearly pop as it includes neon and fun colours, and the other is slightly more modern and toned down. It is constructed with jeans and a white crop top. I will then style these outfits with many different props and accessories (such as popcorn, bracelets, a belt, etc) to make them more exciting and edgy. \

LIGHTING: From looking at other pop magazines and the genre of music, the lighting used is quite bright and fun. This means that when photographing my star, I will need to be very careful of shadows and how dark the photos come out. This week we learnt about flash photography so I may resort to this if the photos are too dark.

ACTING: This was also included in my plan for the shoot. I will get my model to act very relaxed and as though she is having a lot of fun. Pop music is very uplifting and nothing too overly serious or depressing. I will get her to laugh and smile. Pop music can also be quite sassy so as well as some fun shots, I will also get her to have a serious side where she isn’t frowning but also isn’t smiling. Poses I will get her to try are crouching down and standing to the side; looking over her shoulder to the camera.

MAKEUP AND HAIR: I am going to do my models make up so that it is kind of natural with a bit of glam. I will use metallic eye shadow with some bold mascara. I will also contour and highlight her face quite a bit to accentuate her features. (Modern pop music is not as extravagant and cringe as it used to be so I don’t want to go too over the top with the makeup) With the neon outfit, I may add some neon eye shadow to make it even more fun. For her hair, I am going to plait 2 dutch braids. With these, I will then pancake to make them even fuller and interesting. They will not be too tight and will include lose parts to shape her face. (If they were too tight, she would look as though she had no hair.)

PROPS: I am not planning on using any props as I don’t want them just to be there for the sake of it. However I am still going to bring some candy floss, popcorn and confetti to try out in case the photos are surprisingly successful with them included.

SETTING: The actual photo shoot will be in the white studio. This means that I can then easily take out the background when editing the photos to be used. It also allows even more lighting for the photos, hopefully eliminating shadows. There is also a black studio however I decided not to use this as my models hair is brown and didn’t want her hair to blend in with the background.

As well as Mise en Scene, I will also need to think about the actual camera techniques. I could have great Mise en Scene but if the actual pictures were not taken well, it could ruin the narrative. With my DSLR camera, I will need to remember the 3 main features: