Research pages - Little Red

Research 6- Casey Jane

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Image 1:

This image is a close up of a black haired model, which is wearing a hooded cape. She is holding it, as if to prevent it from falling in the wind. She is looking up, in her eyes you can see the light which suggests either a backdrop of high location lighting. There is a stereotypical outfit, of a red cape and white dress, which inspires me to think about the colours of my models outfit. This may be the same or red and black dress. If I used a black dress, the model would look more gothic and give the image a darker feel.

There is a fast shutter speed and a narrow depth of field, which focuses the viewer onto the model. I really like the distance in the image, however I want my image to show more than the outfit, so may use a full body shot or have the model further away.

Image 2:

This image is far away from the model, which suggests she is small compared to the world. The high trees also add to this effect and make the model seem trapped. The model looks like she is running, which inspires me. This adds to the story behind the image and makes the viewer curious. It makes me want to imagine the wolf chasing her. In the image, the main red and white first captures the viewers attention, you almost don’t realise it’s a person until you look again.

There is a fast shutter speed and a wide depth of field, which focuses the viewer onto the model. I really like the distance in the image, I want my image to show more than the outfit so this distance would be effective.  

Research 5 - Anne Leibovitz

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Image one:  Merida from Disneys Brave:

 

Movie poster: above:

Image one mimics the movie poster above. I found this set of images very inspiring as the amount of  attention and care in these images is really shown. The models outfit, hair, props and even location match the poster. This inspires me to think about the book itself and notice the little things. I will be putting my own spin on the images, but I want the viewer to know the main theme. 

The image shows the model, stated as 'Jessica Chastain', on a horse. The location is a rural landscape, which matches the film as its set in scotland. 

The image has been photoshopped, by photographing the model then 'pasting' her onto the location. 

I wont be doing this on my images, however I could try applying a page of the book on top of the image via photoshop.

Image three:  Snow white:

Film still: Above:

This image mimics and slightly changes the film still above. It shows ‘Rachel Weisz’ as Snow White. She is holding a bird whilst there are other forest animals around her. The sun is coming through the crack in the trees, which seems to shine onto her. I particularly like this image and am inspired by the location. It reminds me of a little coven, or secret hiding place. I will try to find one of these for my images. There is a wide depth of field, and like the Brave image, I think it has been photoshopped. Yet it does look realistic and fairytale like, which I want in my images. The image gives a very exciting and adventurous feel, which has more of a children audience. However, adults can admire the beauty and think about their childhood. 

Research 4- Chris Biele - Red Riding Hood

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Image one: 

This image has a very dark theme and mood. I am particularly inspired by the amount of red and the co-ordination of the props. The outfit in the image is also very inspiring as the red and white contrast. The red symbolises danger and lust, where as the white symbolises purity. The wicker basket is full of books and apples, which inspires me to think about props. This reminds me of the brothers grimm 'wine and cake'.

The background is very dark and less exposed than the model, which suggests to me location lighting. There is also a narrow depth of field, which focuses the viewer onto the model. 

The roses in the image seem to be floating. Here they could be attached to the backdrop, thrown into the air or photoshopped on. 

There is also a bit of personality in the outfit, shown by the steampunk goggles. This again shows another side to the story.

Image two:

This image is a full body shot of the same model. Here we see more of the location and from clues, such as the window, we find out it’s a castle. This again adds to the dark, mysterious feel to the image. Here the model is looking down, which suggests to me she was almost blinking. However, it also suggests shyness, which doesn’t really fit with the dark tone of this image. We see more of the props now, the voodoo doll, apple, gloves and dagger, these fit in with the dark mood. It also inspires me to think about props, cake and wine and maybe a dagger.  Flowers would also fit in with the brothers Grimm edition.  The image has a wide depth of field, as the whole image is in focus. The image uses a rule of third, which makes the viewer focus on the  model. The bright red outfit contrasting with the grey background also supports this. This inspires me to think about outfit choice and maybe I should use non-stereotypical outfit choice, such as gothic boots or headgear? This image is very inspiring as its dark and gothic like, but also fits in with the story. This makes me want to make my images immediately capture the viewers attention and give a second, perhaps more darker side, to the story. 

Research 3- Model - Ana Silva:

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Image one: 

This image is very fashionable and the link between the model and fruit really inspired me. It inspired me to think of props and the model. Here it is the red fruit and the light red cheeks of the model. I could have the same here, except it being the red of the cloak, red hair and red cheeks of the model. 

The location is very plain, a forest which again inspires me to use dark and less detailed backgrounds. 

The image itself is very saturated, this is seen by the bright red, and the way the skin is more orange.

There is a narrow depth of field, which focuses the viewer onto the model. 

The outfit is very simple and the model is looking away from the camera, suggesting shyness. 

Image two: 

This image raises suspicion and mystery. It shows the back of the model, walking through a mess of trees, in a forest. This inspires me to use a forest in my images, I could also do a dark side of the story, such as in the brothers grimm tale. The outfit matches the mystery feel, it being so simple and also looks like something out of a horror film. There is light in the background of the image, suggesting the model is 'walking towards the light'. This again gives the image a darker feel. 

The image is desaturated, which inspires me to edit the images in a way that represents what i want to convey. For example, if I wanted exciting and bright images, I would increase the saturation. If I wanted them darker, I would desaturate or only lower the saturation. 

Research 2 - Little Red - Brothers Grimm

The brothers Grimm version of little red riding hood, named 'Little Red Cap' shows a darker side to the story. I will pick out the important parts of the story and state how they inspire me.

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Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little cap of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else; so she was always called ‘Little Red- Cap.’

One day her mother said to her: ‘Come, Little Red-Cap, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing; and when you go into her room, don’t forget to say, “Good morning”, and don’t peep into every corner before you do it.’

‘I will take great care,’ said Little Red-Cap to her mother, and gave her hand on it.

The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red-Cap entered the wood, a wolf met her. Red-Cap did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.

‘Good day, Little Red-Cap,’ said he.

‘Thank you kindly, wolf.’

‘Whither away so early, Little Red-Cap?’

‘To my grandmother’s.’

‘What have you got in your apron?’

‘Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger.’

‘Where does your grandmother live, Little Red-Cap?’

‘A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood; her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; you surely must know it,’ replied Little Red-Cap.

The wolf thought to himself: ‘What a tender young creature! what a nice plump mouthful—she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both.’ So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red-Cap, and then he said: ‘See, Little Red-Cap, how pretty the flowers are about here—why do you not look round? I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing; you walk gravely along as if you were going to school, while everything else out here in the wood is merry.’

Little Red-Cap raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunbeams dancing here and there through the trees, and pretty flowers growing everywhere, she thought: ‘Suppose I take grandmother a fresh nosegay; that would please her too. It is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time’; and so she ran from the path into the wood to look for flowers. And whenever she had picked one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after it, and so got deeper and deeper into the wood.

Meanwhile the wolf ran straight to the grandmother’s house and knocked at the door.

‘Who is there?’

‘Little Red-Cap,’ replied the wolf. ‘She is bringing cake and wine; open the door.’

‘Lift the latch,’ called out the grandmother, ‘I am too weak, and cannot get up.’

The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he went straight to the grandmother’s bed, and devoured her. Then he put on her clothes, dressed himself in her cap laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.

Little Red-Cap, however, had been running about picking flowers, and when she had gathered so many that she could carry no more, she remembered her grandmother, and set out on the way to her.

She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself: ‘Oh dear! how uneasy I feel today, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much.’ She called out: ‘Good morning,’ but received no answer; so she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very strange.

‘Oh! grandmother,’ she said, ‘what big ears you have!’

‘The better to hear you with, my child,’ was the reply.

‘But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!’ she said.

‘The better to see you with, my dear.’

‘But, grandmother, what large hands you have!’

‘The better to hug you with.’

‘Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!’

‘The better to eat you with!’

And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Red-Cap.

When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud. The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself: ‘How the old woman is snoring! I must just see if she wants anything.’ So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it. ‘Do I find you here, you old sinner!’ said he. ‘I have long sought you!’ Then just as he was going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother, and that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a pair of scissors, and began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf. When he had made two snips, he saw the little Red-Cap shining, and then he made two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying: ‘Ah, how frightened I have been! How dark it was inside the wolf’; and after that the aged grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to breathe. Red-Cap, however, quickly fetched great stones with which they filled the wolf’s belly, and when he awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he collapsed at once, and fell dead.

Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf’s skin and went home with it; the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Red-Cap had brought, and revived, but Red-Cap thought to herself: ‘As long as I live, I will never by myself leave the path, to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.’

It also related that once when Red-Cap was again taking cakes to the old grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Red-Cap, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way, and told her grandmother that she had met the wolf, and that he had said ‘good morning’ to her, but with such a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been on the public road she was certain he would have eaten her up. ‘Well,’ said the grandmother, ‘we will shut the door, that he may not come in.’ Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried: ‘Open the door, grandmother, I am Little Red-Cap, and am bringing you some cakes.’ But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice round the house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Red-Cap went home in the evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the darkness. But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts. In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child: ‘Take the pail, Red-Cap; I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in which I boiled them to the trough.’ Red-Cap carried until the great trough was quite full. Then the smell of the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and began to slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was drowned. But Red-Cap went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to harm her again.

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How the highlighted parts inspired me: 


loved by everyone - gives me the idea of her outfit, must be fashionable and model must look nice and kind
a little cap of red velvet - outfit? as much red as possible 
piece of cake and a bottle of wine - Props to be used - in a basket? 

under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; - Location - forest matches both this version and normal
how pretty the flowers are about here - Location and props - have in images
She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, - location? Large doorway? 
nd scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Red-Cap. - Show confrontation between both 
But Red-Cap went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to harm her again. - Path? Walking home? Mid air shot? Show happiness and safety

Research 1 - Source material - Old Illustrations:

Sketches:

Proposal:

For this assignment, I plan to photograph a fairy tale themed image. I will look at different fairy tales, but at the moment i am looking at red riding hood. I also want to photograph  a book and think about overlaying the words on the image. My reason for choosing this theme is because books make children more imaginative and open their eyes to new possibilities.


I am going to photograph using my digital, Canon 1100D and have my images in colour. This is because I want the bright red of the cape, if i chose red riding hood, against a forest. I may try film, as the vintage feel and grain may add to the image.
My images will be mainly fashion and could be seen in a magazine or a professional photography portfolio.  They will show entertainment and give viewers ideas for fashions and outfits.

I don't need any skills, except learning to use location lighting.
I will need the location lighting, which can be sourced in college. I hopefully should gain access when I need but I could book it out for a specific day. 


I wont need permission to photograph in the rural area around me. I already have a model saying she will be photographed. I need to source the cape and any other outfits, perhaps a basket , if I do red riding hood.  If i chose any other fairytale, I will need to look at the outfits and scenes. 

I can see a few issues with this plan, one being tripping over leads and lighting being damaged while shooting in a location. This means I will need someone to guard and warn any passers-by about the cables. 

I will need to research other photographers to gain inspiration and look at angles of their images. I may also look at the fairytale, maybe red riding hood?, and see any key points i could work from. I need to find a time suitable for the model to be shot and where I can find the cloak/cape from. 


Week 1: Write introduction - Think about initial ideas - Set up blog - Start research
Week 2: Write proposal -  Continue research - Look for outfit
Week 3: Begin taking images - Edit- Analyse
Week 4: Reshoot if needed - Edit - Analyse 
Week 5: Experiment with editing techniques
Week 6: Development - Reshoot? In studio? - Edit - Analyse techniques
Week 7: Development and editing 
Week 8: ^ Same - Work towards completion of file 
Week 9: ^ Same applies and complete all work - Write an evaluation - Complete file