Proposal for Emulation Project

For my proposal, I will emulate Annie Leibovitz's "Magic Realism" style. I think that this style is beautiful. It turns photography into a dreamland, airbrushing the picture in a dreamlike way, and taking familiar themes and adding a new twist onto them. For my photo, I will do the story of Hansel and Gretel, but with a new twist. I will set it up inside, with a wooden table in the center of the shot. In front of the table will be two chairs, one to the far left and the other to the far right. Sitting in the chair to the right will be Hansel, who will be dressed in classic German Lederhosen (shorts, suspenders, high socks and shoes). In the chair to the left I will have Gretel, dressed in a cute classic style dress with pigtails. Standing behind the table, I will have the witch, with crazy messed hair, lots of makeup, an apron, and an oven mitt, leaning slightly over the table and (she is the only one looking directly at the camera), giving the camera a grim smile. Unlike the classic story however, I will have the table filled up with fast food (bags from McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC, Taco Bell, milkshakes, fries, hamburgers), and have Hansel chowing down on a hamburger, and Gretel eating out of a KFC chicken basket. In the background, I will have a wall of shelves filled with the more traditional foods, such as candy, cakes, pies, and other sweets and pastries. Another idea for what Hansel and Gretel are doing is eating their food but looking directly at the camera in a sort-of shocked and scared way. Another, more expensive and high-maintenance idea would be to have the floor under their feet covered in food, to add the effect of having a massive amount of food, and to also go along with Annie Leibovitz's campy and over-the-top style. Like Annie Leibovitz, I will use artificial lighting, and use flush lights to give the indoor scene a more natural-looking light. Also like her I will need a lot of setting up and set design to go along with her style. After the the shoot, I will photoshop it in a way so that it has high contrast, a large variety of colors, and so that it looks very unrealistic and dreamy.