*ooof*: An Act of Philanthropy

A new image! Oh, if that isn’t something that gets the Army excited… Even after a flurry of photos from CinemaCon, WonderCon and the Empire Jameson Awards. But wait… hold on… something looks familiar.

Benign, poised, demure Richard Armitage in a shot by Sarah Dunn 2014

A b/w of Richard Armitage – dropped into our laps like an act of philanthropy after sufficient teasing by someone who knows how to use the marketing tricks of the trade photographer Sarah Dunn. I had expected an as yet unseen image from Dunn’s shoot with Armitage last year. Instead we receive something current *yeh* with the sleeked-back let’s hide the 90s footballer ponytail *meh*. Initially I was slightly disappointed as this looked like a half length of the larger group shot that Adam Brown photographed from the current Empire “Director’s Cut” edition and tweeted. But careful perusal revealed that this is actually slightly different – and flummoxed me as much as it delighted me in the sense that it is always nice to see a new picture of Mr A. You see, I got completely sidetracked by the whole issue of fake group shots, because I initially assumed the image of Armitage, Nesbitt, Brown and Fry which this single portrait harked back from, was a composite. And I launched into a whole spiel on how composites are created when I prepared my notes for this *ooof*. I might as well use them now…

In the day and age of the global village, with people moving fast between places, getting six people onto the same set for the sake of a 20-minute photo shoot is near impossible. Busy schedules, promo obligations and acting engagements make it unlikely that six actors can find the time to be in the same place at the same time. Luckily, with digital photography, that is not necessary anymore, because group shots can be easily constructed as a composite – and without the unsuspecting public noticing the fake group conviviality. The photographer can shoot person 1 in London, person 2 in New York and person 3 in Timbuktu with three weeks in between – as long as she keeps all details (save the sitters) identical. So with the camera always at exactly the same spot, the same height, trained at the same angle, used with the same aperture, shutter speed, WB and ISO, and the lighting set up the same way – intensity, angle, attachments – it is theoretically possible to shoot individual portraits that can combine into a composite in post-production and still appear like one organic shot.

With the group shot of Armitage, Nesbitt, Brown and Fry I had assumed that Dunn had her camera and settings “frozen” and then got the four actors to pose one by one, to later photoshop them into one image. I had worked on the assumption that those four busy, successful actors would not be in the same place at the same time to pose together. A suspicion that had been fuelled by the fact that Armitage had been flipped in the group shot for Empire. (Trust the fans to notice that. We *know* where the man’s hair parting sits, which side he wears his… tie clip (!!!), and how his smile always edges up on his left cheek.) That is until I copped on that there had been an opportunity for them to get together – the Empire Jameson Awards. So bin all my notes about composites and start anew. But no, bear with me, I am getting into some “investigative photo critique-ing”

I looked back at the single portrait of RA, suddenly realizing that here was an image that had not been flipped horizontally. The parting was on his left, the tie clip on the right, and smile sat on the usual corner of his mouth. But what surprised me was that his posture in the looked identical to the one in the group shot. In the group shot tweeted by Brown, RA appeared flipped – parting right, tie-clip left. As the body posture looked so similar to the single portrait, I got sidetracked into believing they had actually flipped and photoshopped RA’s head onto the group image, but no – his whole body was flipped (indicated by the lack of breast pocket in the group shot, hidden by the lapel). However, what still stood out was that neither Nesbitt nor Brown are flipped, but both RA and Fry. Two conclusions: Nesbitt and Brown were photographed together. And Fry and RA had to be flipped for the final composite because of the larger arrangement of the group including youngsters Sophie Turner and Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who probably were shot separately from the four men. I presume, they flipped RA for composition purposes: Had he sat with his back towards the two youngsters, the image would have appeared to have two separate groups of people in it. The way it is now, Armitage acts as the hinge that joins the two groups: His body is turned towards Turner and Brodie, his head is directed at the camera, and his placement slightly in front of Nesbitt anchors him to the group to his left.

On the issue of flipping an image – is it allowed? Well, anything is allowed, when it comes to Photoshop. But there are always little hints, and to the discerning viewer, manipulation is stands out like a sore thumb (or a characteristic crooked nose, as in Fry’s case). While it is easy to cut individual figures out of a picture, the pasting back in usually is much more difficult. Joining two groups together – even when the lighting and set-up have been meticulously preserved as in this instance – is always tricky. It is hard to find exactly the right spot on an image to place the cut-out on, for instance. When a figure in an image appears to be floating, you can be sure that they have been photoshopped in. Also, getting the respective heights in correct relation is equally tricky (Is Sophie Turner as tall as RA? Well, possibly with *those* chunky heels…). Sometimes you can tell an image is a composite when you look at the less conspicuous or interesting details such as the backdrop or a patterned carpet. While the backdrop here looks continuous, the carpet pattern shows some irregularities where the pattern doesn’t really match up (check in front of Sophie Turner and between RA and Brown).  But hey, those are niggles.

As for the single shot of RA that I *really* meant to get into today – I think what Dunn does really well is conversion into b/w. You may not like her set-ups (the fake film noir – although I do not find this image noirish at all; it does not have enough strong shadow for that) and her penchant for strongly, discernibly posed images, but she creates very good b/w versions of her colour images.In this one she has chosen to add some visible smudge effects around the sitter – possibly to conceal the backdrop. I actually like the way she creates the impression that RA is sitting with his back to a corner. What I have noticed in a couple of her images already is that she manages to place extra emphasis on the sitter’s face, and his eyes in particular. (A definite favourite of mine in that respect is the shot of RA in leather jacket, gazing up to the heavens…) This image is another example. Note how you can even tell from this b/w image that the sitter’s eyes are of light colour, i.e. blue. I assume this is due to Dunn applying a yellow or possibly green filter when she converts her images into b/w. The yellow filter makes blue appear lighter; green would make skin details appear slightly more “rugged” – lines, as well as stubble and note how “beardy” Mr A looks in this image… (A blue filter would lighten the blue eyes even more, but had she used that, his tie and suit would probably look lighter.)

I have read criticism of the photographer’s decision to blur out the beautiful hands. I personally think it is in keeping with the blurry, vignette-y effect of the image that the hands appear smudged. They are only on the margin of the image, and by blurring them out Dunn puts more emphasis on the parts of the image that are in focus, i.e. the head. A closer crop might have been advisable – making this portrait a head-and-shoulders rather than a half-length/seated portrait. Overall, I find the edit rather well done – the composition is pleasing to the eye with the head in the lower half of the upper mid third. The pose is a little bit too demure for my liking (the clasped hands), and more suitable for the corporate portrait of the scruple-less CEO of a predatory multinational who wants to look like a philanthropist (the minutely inclined head – that is probably the *real* Armitage coming through?). I do like the facial expression Dunn has caught Armitage with, though – there is a bit of humour in the eyes, yet sufficient mystery around the closed mouth with the typical Armitage non-smiling smiling lips to keep the viewers’ attention or maybe that is just us…

Someone comes to mind…

“You need some good press, Thorin.” Balin was unhappy with the latest press coverage that Erebor Mining Co had received after the debacle with the Industry Awards. Not only had Thorin’s childish, abrupt manner at the Elrond dinner filtered through (some of the house staff obviously could not keep their mouth shut), but Thorin’s dance floor escapades after the awards ceremony had also found their way into the tabloid press. With new revelations about the apparently hereditary greed of the Erebor family – in the light of multiple acquisitions that Erebor Mining had recently and quietly conducted in the background, industry commentators had warned over an impeding market monopoly, should Erebor win the contract on the Lonely Mountain site against Elrond Industries, Thranduil Co, the Eagle Estate  and Dale Developers (dubbed by insiders the “Battle of the Five Armies”) – Thorin badly needed something to boost his reputation.

The opportunity to prove Thorin’s philanthropic credentials to the press vultures, and the wider public, arrived in the post a couple of days later. Balin practically bounced with excitement, as he handed his CEO a letter from a little-known charity. “This is it. Read this, and I tell you what to do!” Thorin carefully scanned the letter.

A wide smile plastered itself on the handsome mining tycoon’s face. “I see. An unrelated cause to show that I care. This is made for me. A few donations, some public appearances in support of ASS, heck, I will suggest myself as patron of the ASS! They need a figure head for their cause, and I have got the right head for that”, Thorin’s eyes twinkled.  “Good thinking, Balin. Now, get me that photographer on the phone. I need a portrait session. And I have just the right pose in  mind that will cement me as the benign patron of a good cause.” He paused. “Let’s just hope I won’t make an ass out of myself in the process…”

~ by Guylty on April 29, 2014.