MPS 42A – Senior Project Notes Monday, September 9, 2024 Goals: 1. Personal Goal: Always keep my schedule organized, by adding every due date, every outing, every work shift, etc... This will help me visualize what needs to get done first, what has more urgency, and allows me to use any free time to work more extensively on my thesis project. - I believe during this time being able to get things done will help me with personal growth. It will help me to be more dedicated, organized, and busy. All this helps me become more ready for the professional world 2. Professional Goal: I really hope to keep high standards with my photos like every project I do that includes product photography. I want every image to be able to stand on its own without context and have high technical ability - With my project I hope to use as a portfolio to bring to restaurants to pitch my work for the food and beverage industry, showing how a good image can push their restaurants to higher levels. 3. Societal Goal: - I’m not sure what my project will bring to others other than bringing a strong portfolio for future potential clients. - As always, I help my peers in whichever way they need me to. I love lighting in studio, so I’m always open to helping my peers in the studio if they need assistance for any type of shoot. - I will honour my subjects (beverages) by attempting to create them perfectly and clean. The photos need to serve the drinks justice based on how I model it, in terms of product placements. Research Specific to the Company/Item - Company overview (history, values, target audience) - Brand guide – Ask them for the brand guide to work with a company; if they don’t have one, think twice about working with them) - Is it exclusive or inclusive? - Is it a new project? Research Specific to the competitors: - What are they doing that is working/not working? - Making sure you are not doing something too similar Research specific to the culture/times - Relevance to current trends - Societal norms - What is in the news? Research that production requires - What team will you need? - What information will you need? - What permissions/resources do you need? References Exercise: Popular: NPR MUSIC. “Mac Miller: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.” YouTube, August 8, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrR_gm6RqCo&ab_channel=NPRMusic. Professional: Caballero, M. (2024, August 14). Prime movers: As Logan Paul’s brand stutters, supplement makers and soccer’s biggest star seek their own sports drink fortunes. BevNET.com. https://www.bevnet.com/magazine/issue/2024/prime-movers-as-logan-pauls-brandstutters-supplement-makers-and-soccers-biggest-star-seek-their-own-sports-drink-fortunes Scholarly: Maitreya, Selina. How to Succeed in Commercial Photography: Insights from a Leading Consultant. New York: Allworth Press, 2007. Statement of Ethics The reason I love to do work in the food and beverage industry is because I am involved in the hospitality industry and time and time again, I have seen work that’s super well done but when you see work that is slightly mediocre or with errors in it I feel like you’re doing a disservice to the drink or food a restaurant might be serving. I always try to go about my life with integrity, respect, and responsibility. These principles are governed in both my work as well as my personal life. I admire Jena Carlin’s work due to her ability to create beautifully placed product action photos. There is a great deal of detail in all her photos, and her product placements always tells a story. I feel like the faculty at TMU Image Arts as a whole has changed my perspective in how to create work that is both conceptual while also technical and commercial. I want to work towards owning my own studio, hoping to get enough clients to kickstart my professional life in the food and beverage industry. What is a research question: clear, focused, complexed What Makes a good research question? Interesting make sure it’s something that excites you enough to keep you going through the many stages of research, development, production, presentation Relevant you should feel somehow connected to the question and invested in finding an answer to it Clear and concise a good research question avoids broad concepts and vague words. It expresses specifics about the who, what, where, and why it is talking about Why is social media harmful? Vs. how the mental health of teenagers is affected by social media apps like Instagram and TikTok Focused a good research question narrows Complex In Class Exercise Question: Marketing and photography play a vital role in the hospitality industry. When deciding on their purchase, people tend to eat or drink with their eyes first and more often than not, choose to buy based on what they see in front of them. Which brings us to an important question, how does photography affect the perception and purchasing habits of a consumer when looking at two images marketing beverages in different manners? Which one will they choose? Is the photography in the decision important? Partner Exercise: How does photography affect the perception and purchasing habits of a consumer when looking at two images marketing beverages in different manners? Which one will they choose? Is the photography in the decision important?
