Costume & Props Research & Planning

For inspiration for my costume & props planning, I first of all did an image search to find out the typical type of clothing and make-up for someone who likes rock/metal music, or is in a rock/metal band themselves. I also looked at sites such as http://asylumindustries.net/ who describe themselves as being a shop for "alternative clothing and band merch".

I found in this research that the kinds of clothing items that are typical for people into this genre to wear are leather jackets, boots, eyeliner and sometimes checked shirts, so I will use something similar to this for mine as it will communicate the genre to my target audience easily. Below are some examples of the images I found that gave me this impression:

I also think that I may use a prop such as a guitar or microphone to make the genre more obvious to my target audience.

In terms of models, I plan to have both males and females so that my potential audience isn't limited by gender. For the setting I may use either somewhere outside, such as having the model posed against a wall, or in a studio, but I think it will depend on the props I use and the impression I want to give.

My ideas for an outfit for my models so far are:

Male model: Black jacket, a t-shirt that shows a band name, black jeans and possibly a small necklace of some sort. Props I may use include a microphone or a guitar. The hair won't be styled in any particular way as I don't think it matters as much for male models and won't connote anything.

Female model: Black leather jacket, ripped jeans or a skirt, accessories such as bracelets or earrings most likely with spikes, high-heeled boots, and a casual top. I will probably use a microphone for a prop with them or have them posed naturally, and feature them as an exclusive interview.

To experiment further, I will be making a collage of different ideas and seeing which outfits look best and which ones connote the genre and appeal to the target audience the most efficiently to make the photo shoot look professional. I don't think buying the clothes will be a problem as I will make sure that the outfit I want to put together is similar to items I already own, or that my sister already owns as I may ask her to be my model because she is older and would relate to my target audience more.