ASSIGNMENT: PORTRAIT OF A MUSICIAN

DUE : JULY 7

PORTRAIT OF A MUSICIAN

This is an example of what we call a “press junket” shoot. A musician is ready to release an album in a few months, so they need some PR photographs to start to prime the marketing pumps and get the info out to the world. These are usually multi-day shoots, and can require as many as 20 – 30 different shots from the photographer. We are only asking for two.

TWO (and the setup shot)

The two images we want are described below. The second shot is to complement the hero shot.

The ‘portrait’ is to be used for commercial applications for the artist. From PR to web inserts, and there are a lot of them, this is the image he/she will be using for the next 6 months. It has to be special. It has to be interesting. And it has to be created with the knowledge of this use in mind.

Boring, ‘sitting there’ shots are not gonna work. Neither will one of them singing at a mic work… so ‘live performance’ shots are not allowed.

This is a shot that can be used to ‘sell’ the musician.

It should be something of a “personality” shot.

Questions to be answered:

Do they have to have an instrument with them?
Will they be posing with the instrument or will it be more of a ‘prop’? (if used at all)
Will the musician be smiling and warm or cold and aloof? (Different genres call for different approaches.)
Will the shot be in the studio in controlled lighting or outside with the ‘elements’ as part of the mood?
Does the genre of the music help determine the style of the shot?
Will you need any additional props to help the photograph along?
Will you need any special permits for a specific location?
What does that specific location bring to the photograph?

The photograph can be 3/4 to full, no headshots. The subject must be at least 40% of the shot, so this is not quite an environmental portrait where the subject is only a tiny fraction of the shot.

The image can be vertical or horizontal. It can be in color or black and white and please, no text on the image (other than your name).

Some examples of interesting musician photographs to get you thinking out of the “headshot portrait” mode.