Quote: (07-05-2011 05:01 PM)Blackhawk Wrote:
Quote: (07-03-2011 02:12 PM)Mr. Butterworth Wrote:
The only problem I have with THAT picture is... She doesn't seem to be doing anything special that would warrant me to "help her out" by holding her freaking purse while walking down the street.
Sure she's doing something. It's called "posing for the photographer and getting her picture in the magazines." Who the hell walks around casually showing the cover of a book you're reading to everyone else like that? No one, that's who. It's completely staged. If she were really reading "The Hunger Games" she'd carry it with the front cover towards her, because non-retarded people don't read books backwards from the back to the front. You're seeing product placement in action here --her sun glasses, her dress, her shoes, and her bag, everything was picked out for her by someone else, as well as knowing to get her hair and makeup done that morning. The goal is to look impromptu and not studio posed. And flash as many products as possible. You can be sure her promotion of this (already best selling) book is part of some deal.
Because she's only got two arms, she'll do some shots showing off the bag, others the book, and others showing off other props in her hands while trying to look graceful and photogenic. And yes, at her level she and her staff are making real money from this.
With models, actresses and to a much lesser degree artists, bookwriters, politicians, socialites and event chairs, you will get stuck being propmaster when the publicity cameras come around. If you're inexperienced, you'll dress like a dork like this guy. Notice the space left between them so they can crop him out of the picture. That's intentional and how it ran for most publications: with him cropped out. But the UK Daily Mail didn't bother and ran the full shot uncropped. Because they're lazy like that.
This guy's making a lot of newbie mistakes here: Here's between the camera and the model rather than being behind her; he's directly looking at the camera in what's supposed to be an impromptu street shot; he's dressed like a stage roadie rather than a companion; I could go on.
When you're going to go out to a situation where you will have to hold her purse (ie shopping), leave the house with a nice upscale boutique sales bag with handles that's completely empty. If you feel like a dork walking around with an empty bag put a newspaper in there you don't mind throwing away later. If she asks you what's in there, say a sandwich. When she asks you to hold her purse, put it in the sales bag. You ate the sandwich. You'll look much cooler as the guy hauling around an upscale shopping score than the guy holding her purse.
Only bother with this crap if you expect to take outside shots like when promoting a friend's restaurant, store, concert or theater opening. Some people believe having a woman's purse in these shots makes people think too much of the money they're parting with, dampening sales. If you're just shopping, it's easier to just place her purse on any counter and then making it clear you're the gorilla defending that territory until she returns.
You should have a small stash of upscale boutique bags to reuse for when you're going to end up carrying her crap and there's going to be photographers around at an event. (Even if the bags are hand-me-downs from a friend) I rotate a few, but my favorite is from shopping at The Hound in SF. It's so ridiculously overbuilt, refrigerators come in flimsier cardboard. Plus it clearly says "Gentleman's Clothiers" under the name, so it's clear who owns the bag: Me.
Even if I do stuff^h^h^h^h^h gently place a woman's purse into it.
Blackhawk, +1 for that breakdown. Good post.