Planning Final Piece (Fashion Film)

Doing a mind map help in terms of setting the concept of the video. I had not done a fashion film before but I had an idea of what the concept of the video would be. I wanted the theme to be on Ambition and of a young girls dream to be a fashion designer.

I stuck to the way I would do a storyboard (shot by shot) rather than what I learnt in film illustration day which I now regret as I feel getting images would have helped maybe. The storyboard shows a young girl sketching fashion illustrations, then goes onto making the clothes, getting ready, then modelling the clothes she so happened to have made.

I feel like my planning was very brief and I could have done more, like gather images, visit locations etc. However, I have learnt from this and will consider this in future projects.

Planning Final Piece (Photoshoot)

As our final piece had to obviously be about our self and identity, I wanted to explore the fact that I come from a big family and that I'm a very family orientated person.

To help get some ideas I did a mind map:

Doing a mind map helped me with my moodboards:

With Hair & Make up I wanted to keep it simple, I wanted the long hair to be out as I have long hair

Location- I thought since the theme was on family, theres no better location than home, So I wanted key pieces that would represent a home for e.g. sofa, cushions, chandelier, stairs

Mood/lighting - As it was supposed to represent a warm and calm family atmosphere I wanted the lighting to be indoor lighting, I like the idea of it looking yellow almost gold to give a sense of warmth.

Poses-  as I wanted to show what she is wearing if she was me but not a long shot. A mid long shot would be able to convey it well.

Styling- In terms of styling I wanted the model to wear my clothes, I'm a big fan of formal wear, so would style her in a shirt, formal trousers, or plain clothing as its supposed to reflect me and I keep it simple.

Week 7 - Pattern Cutting & Film Illustration

At this point, I wanted to choose the Fashion Promotion pathway rather than Fashion Design. Therefore, I felt the film illustration was extremely useful as choosing Fashion Promotion meant I would have to create a fashion film for my final piece. We were shown a few fashion films to give us an idea of what a fashion film is. Most of them did look very professional having used the studio etc.

We were then given the task to create a storyboard. At first I thought it would be easy having studied Media in college so I knew all the camera movements etc and how to do storyboard HOWEVER, doing a storyboard for a fashion film is a lot different. Instead of noting down every detail and drawing down different shot types on the storyboard, we were just supposed to do it briefly and put pictures instead of writing. Although it sounds easy I found it extremely hard as I prefer to plan it out properly shot after shot but I just had to keep reminding myself its not like a normal film and a fashion film instead.

The concept to our story was Fashion In London so we had the bus traveling all over London picking up various customers at the bus stop and they all had different fashion styles. The audio we had chose did not match at all with our story mostly because we did not put thought into it as we left it last minute. I have learnt from this and will consider it when it comes to my final piece. I have learnt how to plan for a fashion film although I feel comfortable planning for it shot by shot rather than just pictures of each moment.

When we were showing it to the rest of the group, the feedback we got was good as they guessed what was happening in the story right so that was good.

Week 6 - Styling

Before the week started I made the mistake of doing my polaroid pic wrong. Going into the photobooth, I chose the option of doing one passport picture rather than doing like 4 fun pics. Although I felt like I was well prepped for the pic it would've been better had I chose the other option. The picture had to represent you and your personality so I wore a floral top to demonstrate my femininity, I let out the long hair, drew peace symbol on my hand, wore no makeup except red lipstick. I felt these would demonstrate femininity quite well. My feedback from the teacher involved improving it by photocopying and repeating it.

I wanted to do another one as I felt that failed tremendously so...I did another polaroid on webcam wearing a peace top.

We were then given the task to do a trend report. We had to do this by visiting boutiques, high street, designer shops. The ideal way to get this done in a short time would be to get in groups which we did, My role was to do high street. I felt this task was great because I felt its better to visit the shops and see the trends face to face rather than just googling the trends. There were a LOT of trends we spotted but the main ones i have pics below:


TARTAN, FLORAL PRINT, SPACE DYE, AZTEC PRINT AND FLUFFY JUMPERS.

We then had an activity of styling someone else in your objects. I felt like I was not prepared for this activity as I did not bring many objects. however, I did what I could. I liked how I used the furry ball I made and put it around her hear and finger so it looked like a big earing or a ring. Also, using the tassled bag on her foot so it looked like a huge tassled shoe. Although I did not find it challenging and if I did it again, I would bring in much more objects to prevent the limited ideas.

Although I feel I didnt have a great start into the styling week, I felt I VERY MUCH ENJOYED the ending to the styling week. We were given the task to do a photoshoot. I not only wanted to do a photoshoot but I wanted to make something too. I am very interested in using recyled materials and using materials like newspaper, bubble wrap, just things that people don't often use in fashion. I looked at my inspirations like Gary Harvey etc when doing my moodboard, I wanted the look of grunge so I thought the perfect location would be at a block of flats because I liked the idea of bricked walls etc. Immediately I knew I wanted to do a big neck piece having enjoyed the accessories week and wanting to try a different material. I enjoyed doing the photoshoot a LOT. I also wrapped the bag and shoes in newspaper to make it look even dramatic and accentuate the theme ethical fashion.

 Below are pics of making it as well as the final pics.

FINAL PICS

Having taken roughly over 100 pics and narrowing it down to 14. I had come to choosing these two. I did not like the fact that some of the pictures I took were not as professional. The feedback I had was that the background was too busy which I agree with as there were fences and houses etc. So if I did it again I would pay attention to what is in the background. This will come in handy when I do my final piece photoshoot. however, I liked the fact that I did it in black and white as it worked well with the newspaper theme.

Week 5 - Accessories

Prior to this week I had little interest in accessories mainly because I don't wear much myself. However, at the beginning of the week we were shown a presentation and I really took a liking to big statement pieces. Immediately, I knew I wanted to make a big statement neck piece for my final piece at the end of the week.

We were told to bring our special objects in from our research and draw from them, photocopy it etc. I brang in a necklace and earing that had sentimental value and drew from them, till I was able to get patterns from them. We then had to make stencils out of these patterns....

In terms of time management, I felt there was a LOT to do during this week. We were not only given the task to draw our ideas onto paper fashion models and to make stencils and put on mannequins but to actually make the accessory within a week. It did slow me down and I remember having to catch up, but when my accessory was finished I was pleased with the result as I felt it looked good. I used wire as I liked the fact that wire was malleable. I feel like I played it safe using wire as I have used it before but if I did it again, I would definitely choose another material.

Below, are pics of the stencils of final piece ideas as well as the final piece itself:

 Final Piece: (constructed from wire)

Week 4 - Knit

Just before the course had started when we were given our handbooks, I saw Knit week and I was really looking forward to it. However, I did not enjoy it as much I wanted to. This was mostly because the machines are very fragile and delicate and needles are extremely easy to break and not work. I had to re-do my samples numerous times due to needle issues and yarn getting caught in places it shouldn't. In addition, we were taught a number of techniques but I feel like we didn't have much time to make them in the quality we would have wanted but it was interesting seeing how many techniques you can do with the machine. I felt  the time was not enough especially since we had to share the machines between 2 so that made it slightly difficult as by the time we get used to one technique, it was time to switch to another.

If I HAD to do it again, I would take my time with it and properly know to do each technique first before going ahead and getting straight into it.

On the other hand, the samples that came out decent were great and I was very proud. Do I want to do it again on a larger scale and make a garment? No, but it was most definitely a good experience.

Week 3 - Digital Print

Before the week even began, I was slightly nervous as I knew it involved using Adobe Photoshop. It had been a while since I used the program and I knew it would take me a while to get used to. We were told to  extract patterns from our research that was relevant to Family History. I wanted to look into my culture as I feel it is known for our traditional dress to be intricately patterned.

Having drawn a couple patterns we then had to scan it into the computer then import it into Adobe Photoshop, make it into a repeat pattern, Define the pattern, then apply it onto a model. At first I was confused and it took me the whole week to get the hang of it, but by this time everyone had completed theirs. I then spent time trying to figure out how to do it and now i feel fairly confident to apply the patterns onto models. 

As we only had 3 days to do it, I feel If I did it differently I would've used the days in between to get used to it rather than leaving it to the end of the week as I had to catch up during the next week. I have learnt from this and now will not leave it to the end of the week.

I struggled with the technicality of Photoshop, coming across different words and devices etc that I haven't seen and used before. for e.g. layering, magic wand tool and trying to do repeat pattern etc. However, it is pretty straightforward once you use it a lot. I feel like you have to get used to it and once you do get the hang of it, it is pretty fun and I enjoyed it and this is the week where I felt like I actually learnt a LOT as well as enjoying it.

I am now familiar with the actions like magic wand tool, how to define a pattern, how to repeat pattern, layers, altering colours etc and now fairly confident to do again. I feel my final outcome is successfull because the edges do seem smooth and not edgy and the patterns on the garment properly. However, I do feel the pattern does not look as natural and to improve it I think I would use the curves tool to change the colour.

Pattern1

 Pattern 2

                       

Pattern 3