By
Andile Mncube[i]
Pietermaritzburg
After the 31 May 2011 episode of
Top Billing I was anxious to get my hands on the June issue of Top Billing Magazine.
This was after I was enchanted and inspired by Nicky and Lee-Ann’s “Breakfast
at Tiffany’s” photo shoot. It was during my lunch break when I finally got it
on Thursday 2 June. When I reached my desk I went straight to page 14 to read
about the shoot.
Being an armature photographer
myself I was very much interested in studying the print quality of the shoot. What
captured me and captivated my attention was the perfect use of lighting in the
shoot, combined with natural light, which rendered natural tones of the couple
and romantic atmosphere of the location, the Table Bay Hotel. I was very keen
to see the scene of the deck where, on TV you showed Lee-Ann flirting with the
camera and Nicky’s eyes adoring her face. In the magazine this scene is
perfectly laid out and has the same sentiment as on TV. The combination of
lighting and natural colour can also be observed in the magazine pictures with
the diffused shadows and textured three-dimensional appearance of the objects
in the scene. BRAVO camera crew!
Another scene that grabbed my
attention is the shoe scene with Lee-Ann, where on TV the set designer explained
how she used the shoes to make them appear to be little stars in their own
respect during the photo shoot. What I like about this scene was the positioning
of the camera, which was lowered to render a majestic appearance of the shoes.
In the magazine there is one shoe at the background, which appears to have a
lacy print design. The Table Mountain backdrop outside the window behind the
shoe (while I don’t think it was intentional) upsized the shoe to give it a
statue appearance against this background. Again, fabulous work!
I was very much surprised to learn,
in the mag, that Nicky is not a model. And there he was, so natural and
flexible and confident in front of the camera. I was definitely fooled, during
when I was watching TV, to believe that he is a professional model. And Yes,
this question was asked in the mag interview.
This has left me with one more life
debt, to find and watch the “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” movie DVD.
Thanks to Top Billing for talking
us through the step-by-step creation of glamour and lifestyle. I was greatly
INSPIRED by the shoot.
[i]
Andile Mncube is a Monitoring and Evaluation practitioner for a KZN provincial
government department. He is also a founder, managing editor and principal
photographer for a Pietermaritzburg-based youth digital publication, Enterprise
Exposure Magazine. He writes in his personal capacity.
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