Introduction
Storytelling. That was the point of this project. It was intended to primarily teach us skills but overall, it demonstrated to us how there are a vast number of ways to tell a story; stories can be told through something so simple as a photograph. The key to telling a story through an image is manipulation and signifiers to convey meaning.
Barthes’ Narrative Codes
Barthes’ Narrative codes (1970). Within Barthes’ theory, he argues that it is possible to separate signifiers into five codes that, when intertwined, create a narrative.
With relation to my final series of images, I have used this theory to ensure that I can convey the moral journey of my character the symbolic code was particularly important to the clarity and overall coherence of my series. The fact of the matter is, how we establish and identify the villain within any story is often done via some form of weapon or clothing that has connotations of evil.
An example of this would be Kylo Ren or Darth Vader from Star Wars. Within the image, it is denotable that he is wearing a mask and carrying a lightsaber. The red lightsaber contrasted with his black clothes draws connotations of evil and ‘the dark side’. It is fascinating how those who know Star Wars are accustomed to identifying the moral standing point of a character simply by the colour of their lightsaber.
I attempted to carry this over to my own project through the use of props. In one of my images, I used a dagger to depict the idea of power and evil. The reason for this is that, in the realm of morally grey characters, often it is power or obsession that drives them, and focusing simply on key signifiers of this has allowed me to provide clarity when communicating the meaning of the images. Contrastingly, some of my images use lighting to illustrate connotations of certain emotions.
My Images & Editing
My images can be split into categories, the first of that being the ones that are focused on something specific. The thing I learned most from creating the images than actually taking them is the power of post-production. Without it, these images surrounding power would be nothing. It is amazing how changing such small things have changed the course of the image and really ostracised the meaning. The idea will be to communicate emotions by light.
Here you can see I have intended to depict evil and passion by the use of low-key chiaroscuro lighting in the first image and then overexposed high-key lighting for the second. This was once again done to solidify the contrast in emotions that a morally grey character often experiences within their character arc.
Conclusion
Morally grey. That is what I wished to convey with this series. My photos focused in different aspects of this so that I could collectively depict what it means to be a morally grey character. The struggle between connection and power, how the two can become intertwined in a version of reality that is not of the real world.
References
Bethany Harrison 
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