msc photo guidelines

MSC —Photography mood board guidelines

MSC / Photography mood board guidelines

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The briefIntroductionThe Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is looking to create a new set of assets for its global marketing toolkit.

While a previous set of assets used CGI, this new set will look to capture a set of inspirational images of fisherman at work at sea and at the quayside and (possibly) eating and enjoying their favourite fish.

We want to see our set of fisherman as implicit heroes and as great characters with stories to tell.

Objectives

1. People focus — Bring the story of fishermen from MSC certified fisheries to life for a consumer audience.

2. Product focus — Tell the story behind MSC labelled seafood products.

Look, Feel & Mood Please refer to the Photography section of the style guide and the MSC values. We would like to achieve a modern, contemporary, look and feel.

Avoid: Self congratulation, nostalgia, overly relaxed.

Implicit heroes We are looking for creative vision that depicts fishermen as heroic characters, without overemphasizing that heroic nature (this should be implicit, rather than explicit), characters who venture out to sea to bring back the fish we love to eat.

Characters We also want to show the fisherman as great characters. The photography will be accompanied by strong biographical captions that tell their stories, e.g. — "I love being a fisherman. It's my live and my passion." Please consider representing diversity of race, gender, age where appropriate/relevant.

Wide, Midshot & closeupWe are keen to set these characters in three contexts: the wide shot of seeing them at work at sea. Midshots of them landing their fish at the quayside, closeups of them eating their favourite fish dish.


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The brief / We would like to see the fishermen set in three contextsAt seaShots of our fisherman friends will see them set in the seascape that they work in.In this wide shot, our portraits of fishermen (some shots looking at camera, some looking characterfully slightly off camera, some attending to their work)

Bringing the fish to shoreIn these shots (again, looking at camera, slightly off camera, attending to their work), we'll see the fisherman set against a less expansive backdrop, landing their fish.

Eating their favourite fish dish (optional)We'd like to get some shots of these fisherman eating their favourite fish dish. This will deliver a sense of authenticity around fishermen and cooking.

Note: Picture below is not the best example of this.


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The brief / Other RequirementsFish and surroundingsSome consumers in some territories have issues with seeing close ups of dead fish, particularly single dead fish. Shots of dead fish should be avoided in closeup. Fishermen handled dead fish meaningfully are fine.

ClothingSome fishermen wear very modern clothing and we understand that. However, the Producer and photographer should be aware that fisherman should look like fisherman, while not asking them to be what they are not.

It might be the case that some items of attire should be changed if they look too out of context.

Large scale fishing activityThe MSC understands, and actively works with larger scale fishing boats. The shots of fishing activity, and the fishing boats that are selected, should reflect this and not be shied away from.

Technical mattersWe would like to share ideas with the chosen photographer around the use of camera, lenses, focus, movement that best meet this overall brief.

— Use strong colours and be eye catching

— Retain simplicity content should be kept simple and uncluttered and credible

— Make interesting use of focus and dynamic movement

Please take a range of shots bearing in mind they will be cropped to fit the sizes below.

OutputWe require all images to be taken in hires and delivered in both hires (i.e. big enough for 96 sheet billboards, CMYK) and lowres (web quality, 96dpi, RGB).

Delivery of thumbnails to select the images we want.


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Natural portraits + actionMSC want to capture the fishers at their most natural and showing emotion.

Bringing the character / personality out of the photo.

We are looking encapsulate the following actions with the help of quotes;


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Not overly posed!


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But if it is posed make it more natural!


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The fisher - no stereotypes please


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The fisher - a varied mix would be better


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If there is a father and son / daughter working the boats, this would be a great opportunity to tell two sides of the story from different generations.

The fisher - families


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Getting some great saturated colours could be achieved in camera or post.

As long as the photo has the potential to pull out the colours, pre or post.

Vivid colours / high contrast


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Clarity - do not hide faces and no backs


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There is a need to include fishermen with species in frame and with out.

Below are examples of taking a similar portrait with and without the species.

With species Without species

With fish and without


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An alternate to taking a portrait without species to crop the photograph and omit the species.

Showing species Cropping out species

With fish and without / cropping


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In some cases we will need to go quite wide on a shot with as much in frame as possible for digital banners. This will allow us to pull out from a focus point in the distance.

5.13 am –31 miles off the North Sea.

George started work 4 hours ago

“ For me, it’s about making sure the fish you eat is sustainably caught ”

Going the extra mile, for you.

Original photo Used within a banner

Framing and composition


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In other cases we may need to build new compositions for online banners, there would be a requirement to cut out the fishers and place on a difference background to create a parallax illusion.

The background shots should ideally be taken every time a portrait is taken, this will make it slightly easier to match up the lighting of the fisher and the background when compositing.

Backgrounds


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This shows how we may need to repurpose different backgrounds

“ “ MSC is not just a label. It certifies the work that we carry out.”—Xxxx Xxxx, MSC Fisherman

Look for theMSC ecolabel

Backgrounds / Uses


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Where possible, vivid colours would be the preferred choice for this campaign.

Requested by some regions, consumers would associate more with with blue skies rather than dull grey skies.

Dull, but could be good for higher contrast shots Vivid, for more saturated shots

Lighting environments


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We cannot show any of the fishers smoking in these images.

If we cannot avoid the fisherman with a cigarette then these will need to be removed in photoshop or similar software.

Original Cigarette removed

No smoking please


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There has been a global consensus that stakeholders would prefer not to see the Fishermen’s earrings.

If this is not possible, the earrings may need to be removed in photoshop or similar software.

Original Earring removed Alternate shot

No Earrings if possible

Thank You

msc photo guidelines

Design

set of fisherman

shots of dead fish

single dead fish

fisherman friends

story of fishermen

close ups of dead fish

new set of assets

clothingsome fishermen