I had informed my lecturer that I desired the additional factual box containing signs and symptoms of anorexia to be placed above the writers review box as a way of enhancing the overall look and layout of the page, this allowed its visual appeal to be significantly enhanced whilst providing valid areas for the reader to be enticed by, this would guarantee the success of my double page spread. However she was not pleased that I was intending to leave the fact section untouched - in essence she explained it required more input, in this case through the insertion of an image to further emphasise what was being described. By including a photograph of something related to eating disorders then this would help to illustrate the message more clearly to the audience that anorexia has a quite severe yet noticeable symptom crietria. Therefore through my lecturers peer assessment it was recommended to me to fulfil my own expectations it would be beneficial to employ the use of this extra image to ensure my article looks as authentic and appealing as what it could possibly achieve. To do this I captured several image of an anorexic girl on my LSD camera with a tape measure, this was a slightly stereotypical marketing strategy of the illness yet refined what was being explained in the fact box most effectively, as measuring ones self is a common perception of the disorder held by many members of the general public who have no informed knowledge on the illness itself.
The primary photograph that was took was in fact a test shoot to highlight if the technology was working to its optimum, yet despite this factor I feel this photograph works quite well for the message I am attempting to direct towards the audience. The models pose is almost identical to how I pictured it during the scripting stages - she's brought one of her legs forward enough effectively that all of the eye line gaze is brought towards this leg in particular as ultimately it is the area the tape measure is officially orientated around. She has also enhanced the 'dieting' effect by pulling on the measuring equipment which tightens her already frail frame drawing emphasis upon her physical ailments, which I desire to highlight the destructiveness of anorexia itself. Her posture is great, by having one leg placed behind her it looks like she is pushing herself towards the audience in the sense that she is making her pathetically thin body that even more noticeable to the reader - that way she can;t be missed so instant gaze is brought upon her. Significantly the lighting actually turned out extremely effective despite it being an ordinary bulb from mediocre household lighting so I am slightly impressed the quality hasnt' been as damaged as what I anticpated. The door frame in the background could easily be cropped out and removed in the editing stages if i was to use this image.
After our primary take I instructed the model to change her position around slightly, this required her to 'twist' more towards the camera lens, as if the whole movement of tightening the tape measure caused her to jerk her posture about. This way i could see how she would be perceived in a new angle rather then opting to create a similar shot to the one you see above. This ultimately will give me more variety in my images to choose from. She also altered which legs was used for the measurement, this time orientating it towards her left rather then the right in the previous image. Immeditelly when i viewed this back I was not impressed with how the model came across to me. I could easily identify a number of noticeable issue that were not present in the original phtograph. to begin with he is leaning too far forwards towards the equipment, almost as if she is 'thrusting' her leg into the frame for the audience to observe, I feel as if her body language is aggressive and too forward which may deter the reader because it personifies the sense she is desperate for the attention. Its almost as if she is promoting anorexia rather then highlighting it which goes against the message I want the audience to identify to. Secondly the lighting as I expected initially has not enveloped her frame very well, unlike my first image there is a greater amount of shadow over illumination of the body, I ant her scarily skinny frame to be recognised more significantly so bright overhead lights are essential to create that effect. Unfortunately in this shot it appears darker then what I had originally perceived which would mean more colour enhancement in the editing stages if i was to select this photograph which would impact my time management negatively as I am already slightly behind the schedule I had proposed. In essence I do not have the time to simply 'throw away' editing an imperfect image when it would have been sensible for me to selected the best quality one in the first place.
A final image was taken just to clarify I had opted to experiment with alternate angles of the model and to provide a wide image and a unique set of shots that could be filtered through identifying which most appropriately conceived to the nature and genre I had stated. After I viewed back this photograph I had already made the important decision in mentally that I was to incorporate the initial image I had captured in the shoot over the remaining two. The reasons for not selecting this specific one are almost identical in description to the corresponding screenshot above in that the colour consistency was too dark for what I had imagined and that I did not own the appropriate use of time management to sit and correct these flaws when I am under extremely tight time cosntaitns. In addition to what I have stated really was displeased at the angle the model was balancing herself at, it looked as though she was due to fall over - there was not a very professional stance about her. Although on a positive note I was delighted with how the body was emphasised effectively by the tape measure, I just felt the canted angle this shot was taken in ruined the effect of the entire photo and set it off balance, it undermines professionalism and strips it of a regal look. In finalisation I will not be using this particular image as to orientate with my factual text.
Now that i had concluded to myself I was going to employ the use of the first image I took in the shoot to accompany my factual text about anorexia I uploaded it onto the Adobe Photoshop editing software as so I could easily alter the consistency and hue of the overall quality of the photo. I felt this was necessary due to the colour balance being slightly off (it was too dark in some areas with a large quantity of shadow) and in addition cropping was required so I could effectively remove the doorframe which was present towards the right hand side of the image. Once the document was safely in the programme I clicked and selected the effect control tool box for the photograph and began experimenting, alternating between unique hue, shadow presets and saturation levels to locate the appropriate effect for my image. The idea I had was to brighten the darker tones to bring profound emphasis onto the physical aspects of the anorexia (e.g the thinness of the legs) to highlight significantly the physiological complications for the illness. Moreover I also reverted to use the clone stamp tool (which is located in the main tool bar to the left) to copy the whitewash of the walls and duplicate it over the area of the doorframe which is fairly noticeable. This removed the notion this photograph was taken in a home and not a professional environment whilst aiding it in having a sleek and smooth feel to it, with the exact same consistency of colour reverberating throughout the photo.
Seen above is the final completed draft of the edited image for my fact box about the symptoms of anorexia. As what can be identified from the original photograph, the colour and brightness has been significantly improved, with the tone of the skin more colourful and healthy look (an oxymoron to the fatigue and lifelessness that accompany's the physical complications of this illness) whilst also redeeming it of professional quality as it removes any blemishes and perfections that may be present giving a clear cut image to focus upon. The lighting has been directed more towards the tape measure, with profound emphasis to draw attention to how unusual this girls behaviour is (measuring the width of ones leg isn't normal) this unusualness may seem intriguing to my audience who are likely to be more interested in the nature of the text if the photo has an intriguing quality to it. Most importantly it relates directly to the content of the spread as this photo in particular truly defines the world of eating disorders and categorises effectively the behaviours which act as an unwelcome baggage along with them. It is highly noticeable that the doorframe in the right hand backdrop behind the model has been removed via the clone stamp, this adds the consistency appeal i was attempting to create as it is less likely this image will be identified as one not created in a studio environment and gives my work a flawless, very professional appeal. The next stage for me is to insert this into my double page spread document and position it in the correct area to gain maximum attention from my readers whilst additionally conveying effectively with the other elements on the page (mastheads, kickers, pull quotes, further images etc) as if any of these clashed with this photograph then it could mean there is a competition for dominance in the product which strips away the mainstream look and deters a maximum audience as too many conflicting aspects can be off putting to look at.
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