Film Workshop

We were split into groups of three for this project which would allow us to mix with people of different talents. Our brief was to create a short fashion film that had a clear set up and pay off. Being promotion students we went straight to thinking about adverts. We had to come up with a product and a statement. We chose shoes as we are all interested in that market, and our statement was 'Be Yourself, Find Yourself, Enhance Yourself'. We thought about what brand to use and so we went with one that was available to us to shoot with, this being Converse. We began to research some fashion films to find what style we liked, and it became quite apparent that we all liked being surprised in an advert, something that we thought John Lewis do quite well. We discussed set up and pay off and agreed that it was very important that it is clear to the audience. We brainstormed to determine what role we would all play in the making of the film and where we would shoot. The idea of the advert was to show a young female getting ready to  go out, presenting herself in quite a glamorous way through makeup, hair and her red dress. It would then show her picking between a few pairs of heels and picking up a pair just outside of the frame. Then you would see her on her way to the event she has been getting ready for and just as she is walking up to the front door of the house the camera pans down and shows that the model is actually wearing Converse. The set up is that the viewer is expecting to see the model wearing glamorous heels to match the rest of her look, but the pay off is the surprise that comes with finding that she is wearing Converse, and that this is the product that has been being advertised the entire time. 

Our advert can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuUgmoU7uW4 

Having only two days to research, brainstorm, film and edit we didn't have a long period of time to film. We took about one and a half hours to shoot the required shots, and we made sure that we got a large variety of angles and shot the same thing more than once to make editing a lot easier for ourselves. What made filming a lot easier was that we had planned out all of our shots in a storyboard format, so we all knew exactly what we wanted to film, how and where we wanted to shoot it. All in all shooting was successful and we got lots of good useable shots. The whole process definitely went to plan.One of the members of the group had experience in editing software, so she took the lead in this part of the project, however we all had opinions on how we wanted shots to flow, the themes and possible filters we wanted etc. Something we all strongly agreed on was that we wanted our them to flow with our chosen music, and that we would do this by slowing down and possibly speeding up certain sections of shots. Editing went really well and we were very happy with our and result. 

Some feedback we received from out tutor suggested how clips could be cut down even more, that they were slightly too long, 'we get it she's putting on makeup, next scene'. We understood his comments, respected them and will try to find time to re-edit the film in this way. Another comment he gave was that the brand and product weren't being advertised until the very end and that there should be more focus on the product throughout. However our peers disagreed with us and understood what we were going for a lot better. That the element of surprise worked really well and the fact that converse were only shown right at the end made it a really professional feeling and was very effective. It was interesting hearing the different comments and after hearing our peers opinion our tutor changed his. Some other critique we were given was the fact that the beginning was possibly too cliche and that seeing someone getting ready to go out had been done hundreds of times so the quickly began to loose interest, however once they received the pay off their opinions changed, and so maybe it was the case in showing less of  the getting ready process, shortening the advert and getting to the pay off quicker. Although a possibly cliche beginning portion, it became apparent that this was the goal after the pay off was received. All in all a successful viewing as everyones opinion was what we had hoped and that the set up and pay off was clear, which was the main goal. 

Photoshop Workshop Day Two and Three

I started of the day by making sure that I completely understood the offset tool and could use it to make boring shapes into interesting patterns. I then was taught about the clone stamp tool and started to experiment using it. It is a great tool that allowed you to clone a segment of an image and blend it in with another to create a more blended image. I then finished off creating my own repeated pattern using all the knowledge and skills that I had learnt so far from the workshop. I then learnt about the heat press printer in the prototyping lab to print my pattern onto fabric. We then teamed up to work and combine our patterns in groups of threes, so that we could create a few designs/collection with all of our patterns on stands. 

I focussed on making one good pattern rather than create a few that I wasn't happy with. I knew I wanted to use the clone stamp tool as it was one that I really enjoyed using. I was really happy with my pattern, it turned out to be very abstract which I enjoyed, and I made sure to give it the same colour-way as my ongoing structure and attachment project. The colour I chose on my laptop however was a different shade than the one that got printed however which was something that didn't go quite to plan as now it looks as though I didn't match it to my colour-way, when my intention was for it to match. 

I think that I have learnt a lot from this week. I had the choice whether to take part in this workshop or not and I almost chose not to as I already had some knowledge on how to use photoshop. But I have learnt a lot from this week and it has taught me many things about different tools that I didn't even know were available as well as how to create an interesting repeat pattern, a skill that is important to have as a fashion student. I enjoyed learning about how to use the heat press printer. I probably wont need to use it often, if ever, as making and designing my own patterns doesn't really interest me, but it was really interesting to learn about the process nevertheless. Working as a team to combine patterns and design on the stand was something that I really enjoyed. I love working with other people and bouncing off of their ideas, and I especially enjoyed working with design students and seeing how differently or even similarly they think about things, especially placement on the stand. I enjoyed working with them and creating designs that were more conceptual and sculptural as well as more wearable designs.  

Accessory Project - Making Final Models and Prepping for Photoshoot

I used this day to finish making my final accessory, and because time was a big issue for me I used my model in my final accessory and just refined its shape and added more to make it a little bigger. For my photoshoot I planned to shoot the reflection of my accessory worn as a choker. However the image didn't shoot as I had planned and so I decided to make it more simple and shoot the accessory straight on positioned off centre to the right of the frame. 

My shoot didn't go as planned but I was happy with the end result in the end as it does feature my accessory clearly, but I am disappointed that it doesn't showcase what I am capable of and I would like to in my own time to re-shoot it. 

Working on the Stand [using photocopies of my models]

I do not enjoy designing, and I enjoy little of the making process, but what I do really enjoy is working on the stand in a more three dimensional sense. I photocopied my favourite model out of all of which I created. I used different scaled photocopies to attach together on the stand in places that interested me and I would want my accessory to feature. I manipulated the colour of the photocopies into my chosen colour-way for my structure and attachment project, which is purple. I found that this made the shapes that I had created even more defined within the photocopies and a lot more interesting.  

I found working on the stand more inspirational for me and the accessory project. I am not a designer and I much prefer photographing/promoting over actually making the accessory, so working on the stand gave me a bit more enthusiasm and allowed me to see more clearly where I want my accessory to go without sketching it. 

I chose to work in the shoulder neck area as I found the structure of the body the most interesting to work with in this area. I think if I were to go back and create something else for this project, I would definitely try more to take a promotional route and tried harder to create a prop as I think I would have been more enthusiastic about the task, and maybe would have created a more interesting piece. 

Accessory Making - Making Models With Household Objects

I brought in some objects from around the house that I thought would be interesting to manipulate and use in repeat to eventually use to create accessories. The objects I chose to bring in were straws, cotton buds and bottle lids. I wanted to use the bottle lids to melt under the heat press to give them a much more interesting shape. However the heat press was unavailable to me and so it was difficult to use the bottle lids in other interesting ways as they aren't very malleable. 

I started with the cotton buds, starting very simply with joining them end to end and seeing what would come of that, I then began to make more geometric shapes which I found to be more interesting. However with the cotton buds being quite boring and of a white colour, I thought about how I could change their colour, but this turned out to look quite messy. 

I then started on creating models out of the straws, I began in the same way as the cotton buds, and it was already looking more interesting just because of the colours of the straws. I then started to cut up the straws without a final outcome idea in mind. I ended up cutting the straws into small pieces and glueing them in a really unordered way. They looked like little different coloured beads in the end which looked very detailed and fragile although it wasn't. It resembled a galaxy which linked to my theme of galaxy and space within my structure and attachment project. 

Accessory

The goal for this week was to create and photograph an accessory or prop. At first I wanted to create something promotion based and make a prop, however then to make my prop in a realistic scale I would have to use photoshop and it was advised against this, so I went ahead and turned my model that I made into a choker. 

The idea for the shoot was to capture the reflection of the accessory through a mirror however it didn't turn out as I would have liked and so I had to create a more simple shoot. I think the simplicity worked best, as there wasn't a lot going on in the image and there is now more of a clear focus on the accessory itself.

Overall I am happy with my final image, but I do feel that it definitely isn't my best work and I could have done a lot better. Unfortunately time was an issue for me during the week as well as things not going as I had planned. I think overall I am not happy as I wish I had gone with my gut and made a prop as I wanted.