Learner Planner Schedules Easter Break

Journalism Lecture

key pieces fashion journalists should be able to write:
catwalk reporting - online, newspaper
daily: will report on most shows
weekly: more likely to give a roundup of the shows
glossy: may give a roundup of the shows but are more likely to explore the shows into trend pieces
elle, vogue for example wont catwalk report however they will do a seasonal roundup where they extract the trends
Tim Blanks - often makes references to pop culture
it helps to explain a visual with a comparison however don't rely too heavily on references for one story/piece, if you keep explaining something as being like something else, your never actually explaining what it is.

when your writing about a show, the piece of writing should only make sense for that show
John Galliano winter 2003
Joan Crawford
carnival?
40s, post war hollywood [ you would then ask why ]
big puffy fur and broaches
bold but refined
emphasised traditional
girly cutesy sophisticated
exaggerated
war time
roy Lichtenstein
snooty
cruella deville
flirty
french trans/drag
burlesque
old disney film (music)
old school remixed
crazy granny
dressed in a rush
exaggerated wearable


aim for 300-500 words
get your notes down during, and add layers afterwards [give yourself up to 30 minutes after watching the show to finalise and re-structure your notes]

no ME in NEWS - does not include your personal taste or opinion    
fashion news: new collection
                       celeb wearing a particular outfit
structure of a news story - begin with the facts and then explain
the opening that grabs the reader is the angle

the angle: this is the magazine/newspaper angle not yours
what makes something news worthy
'Fuck me! Doris' story

fashion monitor

trend piece
introducing, reporting, explaining a trend
catwalk, streets or shops
what, who, when, where, why
images are extremely important with fashion trends, as people need 'evidence' and ay ywant to replicate it for themselves
trend pieces will often link themselves

commercial trend piece
make something seem new and exciting and must have
find a great title
why is this a must right now
who else is wearing it
why is it so fabulous
catwalk references
high street knock offs
how does it look on the street [people that look most like your reader]
give options - to dip your toe in or full emersion
can everybody take part?
often a commercial trend piece will explain to a reader how thy can enjoy a trend even if they feel too old/fat/poor

shopping page
these are normally image led
with short blurb
not particularly easy to complie
have to use the high res image
properly credited
research products
glossies and some weeklies call in clothing to shoot for their shopping pages, and may even create a still life with the pieces (or model shots) however many shopping pages are put together with high res images
price point is essential

profile
lengthy interview

'jury' pieces
judgemental pieces that criticise celebs

features

columns

talking to your reader
which specialist language will be appropriate for your reader
is your tone suitable
colloquialisms? or formal

interview technique and feature writing

you may conduct interviews as part of your primary research. could be to add colour, opinion, tension to your piece. it could be to give your feature some human  interest or to give evidence to your trend piece... or an exclusive angle to you news piece.


email interview:
email is only really to fact check. giving the person far too long to think about their answers. even if you are just after a piece of information from a PR; it really is best to pick up the phone.
with email you cant understand the tone

telephone
if you are after a snappy quote or some official information from a PR to add into your wider feature
make sure it is recorded
don't be afraid to ask them to repeat themselves
follow up on interviews
also that you are in a quite space

face to face
nothing compares to face to face
remember the interview doesn't start when you begin the questions but when you first walk into the room. where is it taking place, what are they wearing, are they late
be friendly to everybody and confident and make eye contact be direct and open
make them feel relaxed and ease them into the interview
building an instant bond with someone
if you yourself are very very open the interviewee will feel very comfortable and they will want to be more open
don't think that an interview always has to be formal - you could go to a bar / restaurant / gallery

research
MUST read as much as you can about your subject - most importantly the interviews they have given in the past.
be smart about this research
what do they seem to enjoy talking about
try not to ask the same questions as everyone
cannot be a shy journalist
band - listen to their latest music
author - read their latest novel
between 10 and 20 questions in your notebook and have them in front of you. as the interview is rapping up consult your notebook to check you haven't missed anything
write down observation notes as well as recording spoken word
be responsive to what they are saying
make sure its still an interview and not a conversation
keep the interviewee interested but not interrupt just nod your head to make sure they know to keep talking
ask why
ask clear direct questions
ask dangerous questions but be careful
you could approach the difficult question as a comrade/ with empathy
does their body language give different answers than what they are saying
off the record means you cant quote or do anything with them

celebrity endorsement
nightmare
often given 20 mins
the PR is sat right next to you
normally only allowed up to 2 of your own questions
you have to make them unique to your publication
when using quotes use sparingly but powerfully, strong emotive
always attribute quotes
don't be afraid of putting he says, she says/said
if your quoting from a different feature 'as she said to the times in June 2016...'
avoid broken quotes
you might break a quote however for dramatic effect
don't start news stories with quotes - but they are a useful device in features
don't use quotes to repeat what has already been said
don't run quotes together as this can give a false impression
avoid missing out words where possible
double quotations to start and finish and if the interviewee quotes something then single quotations within the double
Lynn Barber - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
puss puss magazine
Hadley Freeman
Hannah Hanra

feature writing
features are the meat of a publication
they don't need to be tied to news but are usually topical
it can be first person if it ties in with the publication your writing for
if your writing features your normally pretty high up, you don't start out writing a feature
what is the point
what is the angle, reason, question, message, argument
making sure that everything adds to the point - something might be really interesting however its not relevant to the piece - but don't throw it away as it may be really interesting for another piece
what is the treatment
impersonal?
research... primary and secondary, anecdotes, interviews [not just one]
what is the story
what is the structure
Tim Walker
Good structure for a feature:
Lead:illustrate your point. show, don't tell. make the lead concrete, creative and provocative. think anecdote, human interest and juicy details
Nut graph:explain your point. now you can tell. here's where you summarise your story into a nutshell, or deliver the key point.
Background section: fill in the blanks. do you have a term that needs explaining? does your story require an understanding of context or history? include that background information here.
Body: develop your story. avoid the 'muddle in the middle' by arranging the body of your story into discrete sections, organised thematically, sequentially
Wrap-up:
Kicker:
transition/quote formula

Tutorial Feedback and Points of Future Reference

faster pussycat kill kill - Russ Meyer (watch for reference)
pirelli calendar 'always been consumed as a fashion products' 'become more politicised in recent years'
k-hole.net
intersectionality
trolly dollys
feminism?
uniform?
contemporary context
ethical challenge
celebrating and leaning without exploiting
moodboards of cultures that fashion is looking at
Balmain on the runway/red carped vs Balmain in the sky
British airways heritage museum
more visual
Phyllis Galembo - photographs people in their ritual dress [ethnography]
the vice series 'states of undress'
rabbit proof-fence

next week is to focus
fashion in the sky
guidelines (what you have to look like for the job)
audience for a publication? men and women? who is the man and who is the woman?
different 'characters' at airports
- Glamorous with Starbucks cup in hand
- Business traveller
- Backpack traveller

photography on the plane of the air hostess' disposable camera?

uniform shoot; dad in suit with brief case, college 'uniform', 6th form uniform, mums uniform, tutor uniform, coop uniform

extracting textures for illustration

pigeons and peacocks

lanair
alannair

FMP Plan of Action Week Commencing 13th March

So far I haven't done too much in the way of FMP work but I have been letting thoughts develop as well as mind mapping. To begin the research stage of my FMP I will be looking into flight attendants' uniforms, and how they differ through time and cultures and airlines. I will also be looking into street style from around the globe and initiating local interviews on this topic. This will all be documented in my sketchbook and on my blog. I want to create a more thorough plan for this project as well this week by scheduling what days will be used for what and how I can spend my time most efficiently. For example on studio days I will be completing sketchbook and blog work to make sure that every piece of development is documented. Where as on self directed days, I will take the opportunity to complete primary research such as going to exhibitions, carrying out interviews and reading up on relating topics. I will use a large portion of this week to read/complete all the things on my proposed bibliography as I feel that this will give me a good headway for the rest of the project. 

At the beginning of each week I will specify in great detail the tasks in which I wish to complete for each day of said week. This will allow me to be on top of things, and do so to a good standard. For example the plan for this week is as follows:

Tuesday 14th March:

Initial moodboards and mindmaps

Wednesday 15th March:

Sam McKnight, (2016-2017) Hair [Exhibition], Somerset House, London

Thursday 16th March:

Research into flight attendants and how culture and religions affect this, document on blog and in sketchbook

Friday 17th March:

Read up on some of my proposed bibliography. 

FMP Proposal

My FMP Concept:

I have always been fascinated with the idea of travel and experiencing different cultures and how they influence fashion and beauty trends. WGSN is a great place to look for existing and future trends and is a big influence for me not just in this project but everyday. I am lucky enough to be travelling to New York very soon and I am going to take this opportunity to carry out lots of research for this project. I will create case studies by interviewing fellow travellers to see what they have packed and about their general style. I will also seize the occasion by taking stills as well as moving image focusing on street style as well as influences that can be found in more abstract mediums. I am open to collaborations for this project as I would love the authenticity that this would give my project. 

Travelling and particular destinations around the world have become very trendy. Being able to post an Instagram photo of where you are in the world for everyone to see has become a very popular thing to do. Travel bloggers and vloggers like FunForLouis have become increasingly popular and the concept has become very in trend in recent years.  I wish to explore travel by looking into lots of different cultures. I am also interested in the different environments found around the world and how these affect fashion and stylistic choices. I would like to look into trend forecasting and how different cultures can influence this. How do cultural experiences relate into fashion and beauty trends? Areas I am interested in displaying my work in would be journalistic and photography based.  

Collaborative Project Outcome

The outcome for this project was a slightly rushed one and for this reason I was slightly disappointed. I found the promotion tasks quite difficult for this project, as I really wanted the designs and garments that the designers were producing to feature in my photoshoot, and other promotional outcomes. The outcomes from the design students were taking a while and so I started on the press pack, which consisted of the invitations to the event, designs for the event, and the press release. My promotion partner was to take the main control for the photoshoot. We knew that the photoshoot would be the last thing to do and so we wanted to make sure that every other element of our press pack was completed.

I am happy with how the press pack turned out. I created a press release, as well as a separate press release for a celebrity influencer wearing a piece from the collection. I also designed an event which included, invites, set designs, food and drink and some casting. I would have liked to go into more detail with my set designs as they aren't very detailed, however this unfortunately comes down to my lack of photoshop skills.

Smells like a Fashion Film Outcome

Preparing for filming for my fashion film, consisted of me making, mood boards, colour palettes and story boarding. I thought that it was really important that I leave a good amount of time to storyboard and make sure that I am specific in drawing out scenes for my fashion film. I think that if I didn't do that I would get lost in the shots I was taking and either not get enough footage or get too much unusable footage. The story board I came up with displayed and explained a several different scenes for what I wanted to capture. I wanted my ad to have a very lookbook feel and so I wanted to focus my storyboard on making sure I was capturing shots from multiple different camera angles, rather than have detailed shots that give a clear narrative. I wanted the feel to more abstract in the way that I gave across my scent.

Filming for film went quite smoothly in the way that I got all the shots I wanted, however the makeup that I wanted to really shine through in the film didn't. This was due to the lighting. If I was to do the project again I would have made sure I had time to take test shots, so I would have known that I would need to arrange to have artificial lighting in my shoot. In the editing process I tried to give filters to the clips and edit the shots in a way that would allow the makeup to come through more. This worked to a certain extent however still not to the desired amount.

I would have liked for my outcome to have been edited more professionally, or in generally a more interesting way, however my skills lack in this area so this became quite a challenge. I attempted to make the clip more interesting by speeding and slowing down particular sections which I think made the short promotional film more complex and I was happy with this. 

Initial Research - Smells like a Fashion Film

Upon receiving the brief for this project I became very apprehensive. I prefer working with still image, so knowing that I would have to create a fashion film, based on scent made me a little nervous. Said film was to be 45 seconds long. I decided I wanted to create a perfume ad as I prefer working in the marketing aspect of fashion promotion. 45 seconds seemed very long for a perfume ad, I would have felt more comfortable with the brief being 30 seconds but I was glad that it was challenging for me. I started looking into existing perfume adverts for referencing and inspiration. After a short while, and after receiving feedback, it became clear that I was more drawn to adverts that featured a fantasy idea, because of this I was told to look at 'A Tribute to Thierry Mugler' - Mathieu Cesar, which heavily inspired me to look into the perfume 'Alien' by Thierry Mugler. I think that although originally I wanted to have more of a personal influence, I decided that it would be better to have a more simple idea that I could really go into depth with when filming rather than a big detailed idea that will get lost in moving image. 

Looking at Alien existing adverts I decided that although I like them,, they were very different to what I think of when I think of an alien. When I think of the Alien perfume I think of the bottle, and I think that an advert should correlate with how the bottle looks and how it is packaged. The Alien bottle is purple of colour and a very angular, irregular shape. When I look at the bottle it reminds me of a typical alien. Purple or green, weirdly shaped and slightly frightening. However what I get from t he character created for the existing adverts is more of a greek goddess. This character is covered in gold shades that aren't featured in the ads. The ads do not feature the purple shades that the bottle is covered in. The character that they have now is much more Dior in my opinion than Thierry Mugler. I want to create a new character for the ads that much more relates to and reflects the perfume. 

Trends Outcome

I found filling 10 pages with research about my trend quite difficult and I became quite stuck for things to put in by page 6. After looking at the trend forecasts found on sites such as wgsn.com I found that a lot of them were only around this length and so I thought of including more than just the trend. I thought about accessories, possible materials and street style.

Throughout the project I became increasingly interested into the specialism of trend forecasting, and the job role it offers. However I had two weeks to complete this project of completing a 10 page trend report and I found that to be quite a struggle, if this were to be my profession I would have to complete this at a much faster rate and I think that although this is definitely achievable, it would take some practice and feedback to get there.

I am happy over all with my trend forecast, I think that I would have liked to have had more elements to it however, as I do think that it is quite vague and could deal with some more depth and explanation. I found it quite difficult to find the balance between imagery and text. I prefer things to be very visual, and so personally I prefer lots of imagery and possibly even drawings, however with a product such as a trend forecast I realise that it needs explanation and written captions, which I feel are in place in my report however it was difficult for me to put them there. 

Trends Initial

I was excited to begin this trends project as I have used WGSN as a research tool for about three years now, and it has always fascinated me thinking about the ways in which they discover and forecast a trend. To begin to start researching my trend I thought about the current trends as its often these that can help to spark new trends. I then looked into the runway shows for A/W 17 men's and S/S 17 women's as these are the shows that are for the furthest in the future. I was creating a trend for A/W 17 women's and so with the men's shows already being out and public meant that this was going to help me arguably the most in my research to predicting a trend. I found in these men's shows that most of the silhouettes were boxy/square and colours featured included highly pigmented rich tones of orange, blues and greens. 

Orange was probably the most prominent colour I encountered when looking at the man's shows, and so I decided that I wanted this to feature heavily and be the spark of my trend. When I combined this burnt rich orange colour with the boxy shapes and silhouettes that the garments created I found myself linking it to the orange jumpsuits prisoners wear in US prisons.

This is an example shopping page I created as initial research into the trend forecasting specialism. 

Gucci Collaborative Industry Week One Reflection

At the beginning of the week we were briefed about this project and I was quite excited for the opportunity to work with designers and textile practitioners at my academic level to create a menswear and womenswear collection for S/S 18. I would be working in a group of 6 which consisted of a menswear designer, a womenswear designer, an accessory designer, a textiles practitioner, and two promotors, one of which being myself. We chose a designer [Gucci] to design, make and promote for this project and we were all keen to get started. To begin with I made a checklist of the things that I must get done to complete this project, as well as some more desired tasks that I would like to do if I have time. The list I compiled is as follows;

Tasks I NEED to complete;

'Press Pack':

 -  Press release 

 -  Photoshoot 

 -  Event invites

 -  Photoshoot set designs 

 -  Event set designs 

 -  Casting 

 -  Hair and makeup

Mood boards for Photo shoot [location, mood/lighting, casting, styling, hair and makeup, props]

Tasks I WANT to complete;

Teaser film 

Dressing celebrities

Zine [from photoshoot]

Throughout a large portion of this week we have been going back and forth in the group with ideas about our concept and what we want our collection to be. Our initial idea was 70's inspired paisley, but after some feedback and further discussion it became known to us that our ideas were far too Pucci rather than Gucci. We looked at what Gucci was working on and producing currently and thought about what we could create that would evolve out of it. After seeing the mushroom print and the animalistic themes with the tiger in a recent campaign, we started thinking about Alice through the looking glass. This matched our chosen quote quite well; 'Nobody ever discovered ugliness through photographs. But many, through photographs, have discovered beauty.' - Susan Sontag. However after gaining feedback from other groups we came to the realisation that this idea was over done and therefore an obvious direction for Gucci. Many more ideas came about and then we all decided on Tacky Tourists. The idea found inspiration from Martin Parr and would produce designs that referenced ' I ♥ London ' or ' I ♥ NY ' ideas that are commonly associated with tacky tourists.