On Thursday Annabelle and I co-directed a shoot with our photographer Gaelle. For this shoot, I wanted to concentrate on directing and styling with the help of our photographer, Annabelle, and I was able to do this effectively. The initial concept was looking at the idea of being ‘Home Alone’ and Belinda upcycling her clothing, however throughout the shoot, I do not think this was conveyed. Despite this, it is a really successful blue featured edit that I know we can use in the magazine and for social media. The concept did not come through as much as hoped, however, the shots that take inspiration from ‘Posturing’ were very successful. This is because most of the imagery is very styling-focused and the introduction of the wine glass and focus on gesture did not work as visually planned. The narrative that I would have hoped to have shone through did not, however, this has lead me to explore further how I can incorporate narrative into this. I have found several points of inspiration, for example, the works of Sarah Bahbah; she is currently releasing a series of images daily on her Instagram that tells a narrative of her own relationship with love and relationships and her own destructive behavior. The narrative of relationships, space within herself, and reflection I think correlates well with our concept and also will work well to illustrate our narrative within the magazine and on social media. This notion of using almost film clips to illustrate narrative I think will fit well especially with the two models I have chosen for the next shoot in either Wild Park or Richmond Park as they have been best friends for years but have been apart throughout the pandemic and I think this interaction will be powerful. Expanding on the Idea of Lorusso, I think the skeleton of gesture and action will be taken forward however I want to develop this into a series of ‘film’ stills that tell a narrative as I think this concept will be more successful in conveying our concept and intentions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNIRdSjAOfI/
Throughout the shoot, we shot several tones of blue, with another styling that we aim to feature in the magazine catalog and on our Instagram. Initially, I wanted to just use one shade of blue however this developed into tones as this allowed us to showcase more looks. This also allows it to be flexible for the target market, and specific functionalities that one may purchase or maybe inspired by the blue edit.
The pictures featured below and on our social media at the moment are the initial edits I had taken from the shoot as the raw files are very underexposed and Gaelle knew this. She stated that she wanted to edit the images as this is her forte so Annabelle and I plan on letting her do this for the magazine indefinitely, and possibly for the social media too, so I am waiting to get these back to expand on the social media posts. This will be reviewed once we get the edits back.
As for today, I have worked on adding the green edit into the social media and also starting to plan the blue edit with the imagery that we do have – featured in my sketchbook media pack and also in screenshots. In order to start with engagement, I also have started to like, comment, and follow other relevant brands and people. I am starting to organically grow our following which is happening slowly but surely, before we pay for Instagram ads, according to the SMART goal that I set out. I think it is important that I try to grow the account organically before we use paid ads and then the algorithm will be more effective for our message to be promoted to the correct accounts.
All in all, I do think the project is going along well but the next few editorials need to be done as quick as possible so that Annabelle and I have plenty of time to finish the magazine and social media. Up to now, we are on track but really need to ensure that we are able to edit and work through any missing pieces at the end.
Social Media up to yet – 4/4/21
Social Media plan for myself and also to send to Annabelle so that she can work on Instagram posts too.