Vision MKG. Cover Girl. Waterfront. Eddie Becker records the process of a fashion photo shoot for Vision Magazine, including interviews with the photographer and the model. He then interviews three bystanders who watched the shoot. They discuss their opinions about fashion and the media's representation of women.
00:00Copy video clip URL Outside a shopping center near Washington, DC, on a rainy day. Crew for a photo shoot stand about under cover. The videographer, Eddie Becker, discovers that this is a photo shoot for the cover of Vision Magazine, a Hispanic magazine. “It’s like the Washingtonian. Statements of economy, fashion. It’s pretty sophisticated.”
03:12Copy video clip URL A fountain outside the center. Visitors passing by, the photography crew standing around waiting for the rain to stop. Becker and a magazine rep talk about the magazine. Audio is low.
06:20Copy video clip URL A stylist working on the model for the shoot. She fixes her hair. Patrons pass by. The stylist continues working, applying make up. An assistant grooms the model while the stylist adds accessories to a glamorous costume.
13:04Copy video clip URL Interview with the editor of Vision Magazine. He says Vision is a magazine unique to the market “because it appeals to the highly educated of the Hispanic community. Hispanics are rarely looked upon as educated. This magazine benefits our own culture. He explains that the cover shoot today shows the typical Hispanic woman: sophisticated, exotic, well-proportioned. It’s different from the people you see on the street.” He says the model, Maria, is from Minnesota. She has a physical status that benefits the magazine. He says educated men and women are the target audience. He says we’re trying to provide a different image of Hispanics to the United States.
16:21Copy video clip URL The photo crew milling about waiting for the sun to shine. The editor converses with the crew to determine if it’s time to shoot. Interview with the model about how she feels. She says it’s fun. To her it means an opportunity.
18:27Copy video clip URL The stylist team adding final touches to the model.Various b-roll of the team setting up to shoot.
20:55Copy video clip URL The model takes her position on a flight on concrete steps. The crew prepares to shoot. The photographer says he’s testing the balance of the light with a Polaroid. Two photographers take turns getting the individual shots they need.
25:27Copy video clip URL Becker talks with the model about what kind of image her pose suggests. She says it suggests fun. Various shots of the crew preparing to shoot while the rain falls. An assistant holds an umbrella over the model. Someone else gets a light meter reading. The crew confers with the editor about the pose. They’ve added a security guard in the back ground, shoot a Polaroid of the scene, and discuss to determine how to readjust framing and composition.
30:10Copy video clip URL Interview with the security guard who’s been asked to pose in the background. He says he’s juts curious to see the outcome. The photographer places him where he needs him. The editor says the image of the police signifies the woman should always be protected, an innocent woman with the care of someone who represents the law, manhood. He adds this is a strong theme in the magazine’s imagery.
32:26Copy video clip URL The photo shoot. The photographer takes several shots of the scene. The photographer changes the film while the crew works with a second photographer on other shoots.
34:27Copy video clip URL The photographer explains he shot two rolls of film at two different exposures. He’s going to develop his test shot to see if he needs to adjust this exposure. He says in the studio he can trust his instincts, but on location it’s a little harder and he wants to be sure his exposure is right. Though an experienced photographer, he says he’s new to fashion photography. He says the image of the girl and the security guard was kind of a counter balance. Some might think she’s a prostitute, or that she’s an important lady. His whole world view is influenced by his religious belief. The root problem of man is a misuse of love. Now I’m taking photos using sex to sell stories. There’s a problem in that if I make it a problem, but I’m using it as a change to show role models.
38:40Copy video clip URL More of the shoot.
38:47Copy video clip URL Change of location. Interview with a man and three women in a small room. They had each observed the shoot as bystanders. They talk about the magazine shoot, the degradation of women, exploitation of women, selling magazines and eroticism. The man comments on the photographer’s statement that the root problem of man is man’s misuse of love. He agrees with it. One abuse, he thinks, is exactly what the photographer was doing: using sex to make money. He thinks the photographer was a pervert. A woman in a red shirt felt the use of the security guard had more of a sexual connotation. She said being around the shoot, she got the sense the woman did not feel beautiful. Another woman, Kelly, notes that the model was treated more as an object. The man says that’s another example of abuse of love. He adds the editor was “full of shit.” He says he wants to counter the macho image of Latinos but then puts women on the cover as sex object. Kelly says she spoke with the model’s brother and mother. They both seemed proud. They are sons and daughters of a Venezuelan diplomat. he said it was her first time on a shoot. The man thinks it’s stupid to be proud of this kind of exploitation. They are influencing her to think this is something important. Another woman suggests maybe she sees this as being well-known and in terms of money. The third woman, Mika, says this is a classic scenario: using glamorous women to sell a magazine.
46:04Copy video clip URL The man adds that Playboy shoots once a year here: “They never say this is to portray women as real human beings. I don’t know why the editor felt compelled to tell you they were trying to portray woman not as sex objects but as sophisticates. When asked what sexually turns him on, the man says a beautiful woman. But I am like that because of my conditioning. Hopefully, I don’t abuse that. Maybe when I was 14 that woman on the cover would have gotten a response from me, but I see it differently now. I see her as a victim.”
50:00Copy video clip URL Mika asks what the long gloves on the model represented. The man says it’s erotic. Another woman says it makes other women victims because they feel insecure about their looks: “Personally, I think why not? If you’re young and beautiful why not run around in a sexy dress if that make you feel beautiful.” Kelly notes that that’s a personal decision, but publicly when someone puts an image before you and says this is the way you should look, it promotes self-hate. They add articles that tell people how to look like that. Becker says she thought her image projected fun. Mika says, “It didn’t look fun to me. She couldn’t hardly move. The clothes were too confining.” Kelly says the addition of the security guard suggests possession. Another woman asks, “Do you hate modeling? Should we cut it out?” Mika response, “No. It’s how models look, the fact they can only look a certain way. There are none who are fat or have a mustache.” Kelly says women go on diets, buy make up, wear clothes promoted in magazines regardless if it’s their personal style.
54:50Copy video clip URL END
0 Comments
You can be the first one to leave a comment.