Hello everybody, I am seeking advice from you guys, here's whats up: I am currently in last year of high school(5HAVO for the Dutch people), and I have chosen my next study, it is going to be "Image And Media Technology(IMT) at the HKU in the Netherlands. It is a study where you create for example, televion ads, promotional clips, musicvideos, essentially about every artificial thing that moves on the internet and television. But before you get accepted, you have to make some assignments. If you are dutch, you can check out the PDF here: www.xgbeatz.com/media/pdf/opdracht_IMT.pdf Here is a short translation in English: 1. Create a photoshoot that consists of a maximum of 12 photographs, the subject is "Leisure and Pleasure". Find a place in you environment where young people gather to relax, choose a dynamic location(with a good amount of "movement"). I have no experience with photography, I am familiar with the rule of third and that you should always shoot with the sun in your back, but more guidelines are absent in my brain, so any suggestions about composition, lighting, subject, location and eventual storyline development are very welcome. 2. Create a typographic collage. The goal is a self-portrait, a typographic self-portrait. Take a number of words/texts that symbolise yourself. Not only is it important that the words relate to yourself, but the typography needs to match as well(size, color, font, etc). What's important is the composition. For this collage you use typography from newspapers and magazines. You will create your work on A3 format paper(210mm × 297mm). Ofcourse you don't know what I am, what I like and what symbolises me, but I hope you can give me some composition tips and possibly some awesome examples of correlating collages. 3. Develop/create of a scene. You will develop a scene of which the image beneath is the beginning or ending shot. You will do this by creating(or shooting) the 5 most important shots of the scene.Explicitly indicate the sequence of the shots. You may also elaborate what you think your shots cannot tell(what they don't/can't show clearly in your opinion) with a maximum of a 100 words. The main goal is to create a (short)story consisting of images. You can do this anyway you like, photography, painting, drawing, cut-and-paste from real life material, photoshop, etc. Keep in mind that you will be creating a scene, not a full story. Aside from that, your composition, crops(close up, wide shot etc) and camera position are important ways to tell your story. You are also free to include text within your shots. We(the admission committee) try to indicate the elements which are important to us when reviewing the assignments. But don't let these listings deter you. The main goal is to motivate your choice for this study and that you show us your conceptual and visual skills in the best way possible. Here is the image: http://www.xgbeatz.com/images/Shot.jpg Suggestions? The assignment is due 40 days. Thanks in advance.
well for number 1. find a place where young people gather. Im not sure what you consider young, I am 22 and if that is the age group your looking for you should try going to sports bars, night clubs, pool halls (billiards), generally anywhere with a liquor license. I hope this helps in anyway
For number one, I would recommend an outdoor setting. They want a location with movement, so everything would end up blurred if you shot indoors. Daylight allows you to get either blurred, or frozen movement. Don't think "oh, I have to use the rule of thirds and the sun has to be behind me". Rules can be broken, and rather easily so. The point of the rule of thirds is to add interest to a photo and force you to look at it longer. You can achieve this through other methods. Shooting with the sun behind you will keep your camera from blowing out highlight by dulling/removing the harsh shadows. Personally, I never shoot with the sun directly behind me. It makes it look flat, which I don't like. I sometimes even shoot with the sun in the picture ! It's no big deal if you do it right. Use light to your advantage. It's the most important aspect of a photo, so it should never go ignored. Sunlight creates harsh shadows, while overcast days will have diffused light and soft shadows. Colors appear more vibrant when in diffused light, and it causes the photo to have a surreal feel. The limitation of this project is that you can't physically control the light, so you need to ask yourself what time of day you want to shoot in, and whether you want hard shadows, or soft shadows. Composition: whatever feels normal should be avoided at all costs. You don't want a "normal" photo, you want an amazing photo. You want someone to look twice. If it's all squared away, I'll glance at it and then move on. You want to make me think "I never thought of it like that!" so you want to show me something different. Not insane, lest your audience get a headache. Just interestingly different. That's why the rule of thirds is used, but it's not your only option. You could use frames within frames, which is where you frame something inside the photo without just using the edge. Any shape will do. Also, think about perspective. Eye level is the least interesting because it feels like an everyday thing. But sometimes eye level will engage the viewer most. You also have worm's eye, which is from below; low angle, which is below but not as low as worm's eye; high angle, which is from above; and bird's eye, which is from directly, or almost directly, above. A unique perspective is likely to emphasize some aspect of the photo, causing people to look twice. From how things are written out, I would guess that they want more artistic than photojournalistic. Before you snap the shot, figure out what it is you want to communicate to your viewer. Just having a mission will subconsciously help you achieve it What camera will you be using?
Thanks for the replies. Young people, just people that do not sit in offices everyday from 9 to 5, ik would say up to 25 can do, but more in the direction of 16 is better I think. @socsaint Good tips, the camera model is negatable btw, I have realised that the technology in this assignment is nog important, it is all about the framing, composition and subject, I might as well use a phone camera. I will note these things in my dummy(a book with blank pages) and take it on the road, thanks.
Not really sure about the rest of the stuff, im into the music industry more myself i just play about with photoshop and ---- but as for the first one about young people. Weather allowing, go for the like of said above pool/billiard halls, night clubs etc however if you have a nice day try tennis courts, public parks, internet/ gaming cafes, 10 pin bowling, ice skating rink, colleges schools, shopping centers/malls. im just firing out ideas, some may be better than others but thy would be the sort of places i would look for young people and people hanging out. ranging from about 8 - 25 ish
From your response, I'm assuming it's a point and shoot. I was asking so that I'd know if there was a point in bringing aperture and shutter speeds up . It's true that it's more the photographer than anyone, but there are some basic functions that allow photographers to truly express themselves
Thanks for the tips, guys. Aperture and other focal tricks are not necessary, the only thing that is important is composition and subject, but thanks for the input, I appreciate it!
