July 24, 2007
Great moments in political campaigns
Gerard Van Der Leun has had an interesting career, including running Penthouse -- the men's magazine -- for many years as editor-in-chief. As you might expect, Gerard knows a lot about the publishing world, as well as what goes into shooting and selecting the cover photo for a glossy monthly mag.
He puts that experience to good use, examining this month's cover of Esquire, featuring the Silken Pony, the erstwhile nominee of the Democratic Party -- and the favorite of haircare professionals the world over.
According to Van Der Leun:
As a magazine editor, I've got to admire th[is cover]. It's got every current trick in the book, including the recently popular trick of forcing you to figure out just what a lot of the cover-lines actually say. [Upper right: "Hat It Feels Like / Nnual Lmanc of / Xtreme/ Xperience / Pg. 89" -- worked that number in, didn't they?].
Here the cover subject, John Edwards, is raised to magazine iconic status.
Shot slightly from below for that Mount Rushmore effect.
Cuffs rolled up once to make the hands seem larger and expose the manly wrist.
Wrist watch is digital so you know he's down with the techno stuff.
Three-quarter pose so he seems slimmer than he is.
Big plunging tie package dropping just over the belt-buckle, right next to "FUN," and pointing down.
Forefinger on the belt just so and separated from the others to enhance the impression of casual yet assured strength.
Head raised slightly up to smooth out any hint of a double-chin and the chin itself framed with shadow to give it that jutting out Pattonesque character.
Sober yet somehow compassionate expression and the eyes gazing off into the visionary distance.
Studio shot against a seamless paper background.
Given, via Photoshop I would imagine, a kind of glowing halo of light in which John Edwards stands magnificently alone, anointed with a slight sheen of makeup powder and ready for his date with destiny. All in all, it's a bang up job.
I'd say to get this shot took the following crew of people at a minimum: One photographer, two camera assistants, two make-up folks, one clothes stylist, one hair specialist, three gophers, and two of Edwards' handlers. For a man of Edwards' rank at a photo shoot there were probably more to make him feel as important as he needs to feel, but skeleton staff above could do it in a pinch.
Following the shoot we would move to the selection of the actual photograph. There were, if the photographer was doing his job, hundreds of frames taken with a large format camera -- probably a Hassleblad -- out of which one would be selected.
In the case of Edwards it was most likely, although not certainly, selected with the approval of the Edwards' PR/Image machine, possibly Edwards himself. The ceding of cover photo approval to the celebrity being photographed is increasingly common in magazines today since celebrities are now much more powerful than magazines, especially one like Esquire.
On the one hand, celebrities need exposure and on the other hand celebrities sell magazines. Magazines are more than ready to make the deal. Result: Odds at 80-20 that Edwards said, "My name is John Edwards and I approve of this photograph."
And then it all fell apart.
It fell apart because ... in the magazine circulation wars, news stand sales are king and when it comes to being displayed on the news stand, positioning is key.
[...]
Because of this, the smaller magazines like Esquire (even if they are still thought to be "highly influential") cannot count on getting good news stand position. Instead they assume they will have poor news stand position and plan for it by slapping their best come-on above the logo and at the top of the magazine.
[...]
It's a win for Esquire, but the Edwards camp cannot be happy about it. After all, they got cover approval, an iconic shot that portrayed their candidate in the best possible, even holy, light. They thought they had it covered, but they failed to consider what happens after the image is selected and news stand position.
After the image in selected is when the cover lines go on. And after the magazine is printed is when the copies are positioned in the news stand. In this case, what most of America will see when glancing at a news stand is this:
Oh, dear.
There has to be much finger-pointing and gnashing of teeth at Edwards Campaign HQ: "I thought you proofed the cover!" "Yeah, well I though you were supposed to check it!"
"Who's going to tell Mrs. Edwards?!"
If ever there was a real-life moment calling -- screaming -- for a harried campaign chief to slap his head and exclaim, "D'OH!" ... this is it.
Whattabuncha maroons.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 24, 2007 06:59 AM
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Comments
Oh, that is just too funny! I was ROTFLMAO! Good catch whoever caught it...
Posted by: sonarman at July 24, 2007 03:32 PM