In the beginning

At the start of this final project, I knew I had to figure out a solid concept to work from as I had failed to do that in the previous research module which made it difficult to develop ideas and form a cohesive outcome. I spent a lot of time at the start researching into topics that I found interesting to me as well as the pathway that I wanted to focus on. I came across the North project on SHOWstudio by Lou Stoppard and Adam Murray which was a mixed media research project about the North of England and the influence on fashion, art and culture which included several in-depth interviews. As I am from the North of England I instantly felt a connection to this topic and worked on finding my focus within the subject matter – I felt as though I was coming full circle, not only with my degree but ending my time in Brighton preparing to go back up North to live at home again, so it all felt very appropriate.

Project Aim

My aim was to highlight and explore the imbalance of opportunities between the North and South of England for creatives and especially art graduates. After graduating I knew that I would have to go home to Sheffield to live whilst I was in limbo between uni and full-time work and I was also very aware of the struggle that comes with looking for paid creative work in the North from my previous year in industry. Within this project, I really wanted to bring attention to this issue and give creatives a voice through research, interviews and writing. I knew for sure that I wanted to interview people as I love collaboration and find that I work better when I have something to bounce off from rather than my own insular ideas. Alongside the visual outcome, I knew that I wanted to leave space for a piece of writing as well because that was the career path that I had in mind for when I graduated.

Developing from my ‘Statement of Intent’

I left my previous module with the intention of ‘curating’ an exhibition that I could narrate with a piece of writing, as I found myself gravitating towards more research-based work in my final year. My plan was to curate an exhibition of artwork celebrating Northern creatives, however, after discussing with tutors, we came to an agreement that for the purposes of the module criteria it may be confusing to display visual work from other people rather than myself. This is where the idea of the short interview films came from, and after my test video with my friend Cat, it was clear that this was the way to move forward. So rather than ‘curating’ a final outcome I instead was going to do a research project with the final outcome being filmed interviews with a final essay to narrate the end product.

Working with the Positives

I was lucky to have realised my enthusiasm for this subject matter at just the right time for the final semester, whereas before I had found it challenging to come up with concepts for my projects. I already had a good idea of what I pictured my final outcomes to be when I started the FMP so I was able to get straight down into research and felt energised. I had done a small bit of video editing in the past so I quickly adapted to using iMovie in which the more I did the easier it became. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of collecting footage, doing the research as well as parts of putting it all together, it was a very fulfilling project and I am proud of the message that I have put across. I also believe that I have finally found my specialism right at the last minute and feel I am pointing in the right direction for life beyond my degree.

Working with the Negatives

Apart from the extremely obvious, the timing of COVID-19 brought complications to everyone’s final projects in which we all had to adapt to producing digital outcomes; for me, this was not a complicated adaption and I felt I had been prepared with collecting footage that by the time lockdown came I had already made a lot of progress with my content. However, without the use of library computers, I found that real challenges came with technology and storage, which resulted in having to replace my original external hard drive with lost files and then dealing corrupted iMovie projects with a second fault in my external hard drive towards the end of the project.

In terms of final outcomes, I believe I set myself a large amount of work to do in a relatively short amount of time, in hindsight I wish I had longer to spend on the editing process of the interviews and to expand my editing skills, although I am still happy with the outcomes.

Looking to the future

I feel as though I have landed on my feet and I am positive in what I have achieved in the last few months, especially regarding the challenging circumstances. I have always loved the research of subcultures and identity – despite my final project not being entirely focused on fashion specifically, the project has been an exploration of identity and influences that have been pulled together to create culture as such in the North of England. I have been allowed to fully explore my project through mixed media and given the opportunity to develop a more academic set of final outcomes, suiting my preferred specialism of writing and research-based work. With my Fashion Communication degree, I have learnt so many skills but particularly a disciplined approach and strong work ethic to tasks that I will take on in the future.