Photographs of actors for magazine cover

When I conducted my analysis of Empire magazine front covers I gained some basic ideas on how to compose mine. Whilst my group was shooting the trailer I took some photos which I could use for the magazine and website front page. There were two options with regards to the pose which I had developed from the research. One was with the two main characters facing away from each other, back-to-back. And the other was with them facing towards each other. I got the two actors to pose against a white wall so that I could easily cut them out using the magic wand tool on Photoshop and then superimpose them into another scene or onto a plain background.

Photo 1

This was the first photo I took and I went for a whole body shot with the two actors back-to-back. My first thoughts were that I liked the back-to-back look but based on Empire’s conventions using a full body shot is rare. This is because with a medium close-up (MCU) which Empire generally use the audience can identify more strongly with the characters as their facial expressions and other non-verbal communication are more defined.

Photo 2

This was my second photo in which I went for a MCU framing as a result of the first photo. This one looked a lot better and actually ended up being my favourite photo. The actors touching each other shows unity between them and promotes an ‘I’ve got your back’ attitude. This establishes a relationship between the characters for the audience. The MCU framing also provides a little more intimacy between the audience and the characters which should result in a desire to know more about them.

Photo 3

Photo 3 is the same framing as photo 2 but I decided to try it without the flash. I had a couple of ideas for the background of the magazine cover and so I needed a slightly darker hue just incase I used an inside or darker location for the background. Doing this allowed me more choice when it came to choosing the background.

Photo 4

This is the last style of photo I took which was with the characters facing each other. My feeling on this one was that it showed the wrong kind of relationship between the characters. Facing each other implies a more romantic relationship whereas back-to-back implies a ‘partnership’ which is what their relationship in the film is. For this reason I decided not to use the characters facing each other on my magazine cover.