Test Shoots

Book Design

Evaluation, Image Making, Research, Test Shoots

Pages from my book ‘Daylight Robbery, made in InDesign. Due to making two different sized books and with both having a ratio slightly different to 2:3, I spent a large amount of time experimenting with layouts and finding the best way to feature my images within the book without needing excessive cropping. For my small book, the dimensions were 152mm x 95mm, with a 155mm x 100mm cover and my larger book was 120mm x 184mm with a cover of 130mm x 191mm. Due to shooting in portrait and landscape, I was unsure on the best way to include the landscape shots within the book as the ratio didn’t fit with the images’. I worked around this by not cropping any on the landscape images and just included an area of border all around them, with a slightly larger section on the bottom. The portrait/vertical images were much easier to use as only a slight crop was needed and I was able to use an equal border around the whole image. I wanted to include two images which would feature at the start and end of the book, feeling up the whole spread, demonstrating their importance within the story. For the beginning image, I chose to use the heist map as I wanted to give the image as much space as possible within the page as I wanted as much detail as possible within the frame to be seen, such as the getaway route etc. For the ending image, I chose a portrait of the bald character as I wanted to leave the viewer with an interpretation of what the ending could have been. The image was shot from within the getaway car’s boot with the character looking towards the viewer; I wanted to create a narrative of the character looking at the contents of heist or possibly he had killed the crime boss character which appeared towards the end of the book and put him in the boot, just a few possible interpretations which could be created by the viewer.

Shoot Two – getaway car(s), character two

Image Making, Test Shoots

For my second shoot, I needed to introduce another character to the series as well as establish the getaway vehicle for the characters. For the character, I wanted to create someone similar to the character of Terry in the Bank Job – a lower end criminal who carries out the orders from the crime bosses. The characteristics of this sort of character includes bald, fairly slim but built stature, stubble, wearing an overcoat with dark clothing, possibly with jeans. Actually, finding a person to match this description was fairly straightforward as coincidently I knew a quantity of men who fit the description and I could use for the project. As for the clothing, I wanted to match the outfit to the previous subject within my last shoot, which led me to choosing a classic looking blue overcoat, black turtleneck, bootcut jeans and vintage boots. For the getaway vehicles which would be used within the series, I wanted to use historically accurate getaway cars which were used in British bank heists during the 60s and 70s, which led me to use a cream Jaguar Mark 2 1969 and a Ford Escort from 1973. For the location, I wanted to use a similar environment as Terry’s car dealership in the Bank Job, so I used a large garage which had car lifts (which were useful for creating more detail / depth of field within the frame), roller shutter which could be used as a backdrop for subject/car and also random objects laying around the room which I could incorporate within the shits. 

I started the shoot with establishing the kind of detail shots I wanted to take; I focused on capturing the interiors of the classic cars, subject’s hands and other details within the garage. I particularly liked the shots of the red leather within the vintage Jaguar as it worked well with the luxury/extravagant 70s style; for instance, the photo of the gear stick gives enough detail while allowing the viewer to create their own narrative of what’s occurring at that particular moment during the storyline. I then began including the subject within the scenes, shooting both direct portraits and action shots. I decided to both use 50mm f/1.4 and 24-105 f/4 lenses as the 50mm gave me a wide aperture for if I encountered low light or wanted a shallower depth of field for my portraits. The zoom lens gave me more flexibility in well-lit situations, meaning a could use a range of focal lengths to my advantage, for instance shooting at 70mm for a portrait or using 24mm to get as much of the scene within the frame. Using 24mm was most useful for when I wanted deliberate distortion such as making the wheel larger than the subject or for capturing the car interiors without too much difficulty. For the direct portraits, I wanted to create as much emotion from the subject as possible without directing them to appear a certain way. I didn’t want them to purposely look tough or aggressive as I wanted the shots to be as authentic as I could get them. This led to portraits which portray the subject as being traditionally masculine but also being reserved with deeper emotion.

I’m very pleased with the photos from the shoot as I think they correlate well with the previous photos which I shot and also resembled some of the films which I researched during the project. My favourite photos from the shoot include the environment shot which I shot from a high angle and also the shots taken from within the car, such as the shotgun cartridges hanging from the mirror and the photo of the rear seat which was shot to look like the character is looking over the shoulder to see behind the car. My favourite portrait from the shoot focuses of the character but also has the car lifted in the air behind him, producing a gritty, vintage aesthetic.

Test Shoot One

Image Making, Test Shoots

For my first test shoot of the documentary fiction unit, I used my research into British criminal to create a Godfather style detailed stills and portraits. I wanted to shoot a set of images to depict the person in charge of the whole crime storyline, like a traditional crime boss. I decided the best way to represent this would be to use an older looking man wearing smart attire, such as a tailored suit and hints of gold. I wanted to shoot a wide range of detailed shots which would be used in various moments in my book without showing the man’s personality and then one full portrait towards the end of the book. For my detail shots, I decided to incorporate the man’s hands with various objects (such as guns, books, phones etc) leaving the viewer to create their own narrative of what is happening. To establish the subject’s power/wealth, I wanted gold to be a prominent colour within the frame, achieved via the use of watches, rings, belt buckles etc. My favourite shot displaying these focuses on the subject opening a drawer which has a golden knob and with a vintage phone on the desk, inferring a storyline to the viewer. Another shot which I particularly like focuses on the subject’s hand holding a black book with their gold ring matching gold initials on the book. For the portraits, I decided to shoot with a 24mm wide angle lens as I wanted to incorporate the characters home as much as possible; I particularly like the neon sign behind the subject producing a vintage 70s aesthetic as well as producing an interesting lighting within the final shots. I’m really pleased with the final photographs which I chose out of 400 shots taken during the shoot. I believe the images match a similar style as Snatch and produces the 70’s style which I was planning for. For my other shoots, I need to create another character which will be actually doing the crime; I’m thinking of creating a character which is visibly less wealthy than the first and particularly is working or driving a getaway vehicle. As for clothing, I want the next character to look less professional and wear more stereotypical British style 70s clothes, such as big coats or duller colours. I want the two characters to be drastically different, showing the chain between the upper and lower criminals within the storyline.