Month: March 2020
GREEN SCREEN INDUCTION AND RELEVANCY
The green screen induction allowed us to understand both the behind the scenes of green screen, but also for me, as someone in front of the camera (I volunteered to be the test for this green screen shoot) how to move in front of the camera and interact with a background that you can’t see, which was obviously an initial challenged but worked out in the end.
Learning how to light up a subject correctly, how to set up the space and the background, effects on zooming and close ups and how this effects video which was really helpful; the way of filming a green screen video is obviously completely different to filming a video with a proper background from different angles plus we have the added complexity of relating this back to a fictional background that we are going to design to fit the model in, the editing was just as important as the filming so luckily we had an induction on that as well. This was the part that I struggled with most, as not all of us don’t have to edit a film, I opted out of the editing process and will focus my energy on a part which would be more beneficial if I was involved. I would love to learn to edit, however with the short time frame, I don’t believe it would be effective if I had learned right now.
The relevancy with the idea of using a green screen to execute our idea lies within our initial themes exploring things like Alice in Wonderland, portals to a new world and transforming, the green screen also adds the simulation element which stems from our initial research into games and interactive content as our themes are playful and involving youth.
RESEARCH – LISA CARLETTA
As previously stated in the blog, the Vogue Italia editorial shoot that we researched before was a big influence in the production of our work, therefore that’s why we researched into the setting separately and now we found the art director of that photo shoot which influence us because we loved how every element was curated. Lisa Carletta is a director and photographer who travels around Europe quite frequently, however according to her Instagram she is based in Milano currently.
This image was all directed by Lisa Carletta showing two models on the floor eating and looking lifeless. I found the positioning of the models to be very clever Due to the fact that the camera angle shows the tiles pointing diagonally towards the top corner and the models are positioned so that they are also in line with the tiles, and the fact that this is diagonal shows that the image is a bit askew and therefore emulating a kind of strange vibe. There are a lot of food items on the floor that are identical to each other which further adds a confusing structure to the photo because it’s unclear what is going on and it’s on clear that we will never find out what’s going on from looking at the image itself, Which I find clever because we are left wondering what is the narrative and therefore this photo will stick with us for quite awhile.
RESEARCH – @EATONHOUSESTUDIO
@EATONHOUSESTUDIO
The Eaton house studio is what Vogue Italia used for the golden cage series which I spoke about previously on my blog that influenced us to forward idea into a different direction. I found it very interesting to look at the website and look at the locations that they have to offer after having seen a shoot done in that location. When researching previously I never really think to look into companies like this however I find them extremely interesting as the locations that they have been so interestingly constructed that every shoot will have a an element of that company within them.
We were very aware of how elaborate all of these rooms are and how much work, effort, time, and people have created this, however we were still inspired by their overall aesthetic; as it fits in with every other authors that we researched such as: Patrick Collins, Tom Walker, Melanie Martinez and Vogue Italia, all emulating a type of surreal, dreamlike yet almost realistic atmosphere and environment.
Seeing this image above, of the pink room, away from the original contacts of the Vogue Italia photo shoot that I saw previously, is really interesting to view as it gives off a slightly different vibe without the people in it showing that you can really transform a background and set with the characters that are placed inside. The simplicity of the room with the strong girly aesthetic was really inspiring to me because we could be able to show that easily within our work and it will translate the same vibe in a different format to suit our outcomes.
RESEARCH – VOGUE ITALIA – THE GOLDEN CAGE
VOGUE ITALIA – THE GOLDEN CAGE
Research into the shoot as a group was a starting point in bringing our concept more forwards and refining it slightly. There were a lot of elements to this editorial on Wolka Talia called the golden cage however we were more interested in justice beginning segment of it as we feel it related to her work more and therefore didn’t need to look more into the rest of the work.
Again such a strong sense of emotion from the model in the shoot; I can sense her facial expression and how it relates to the way her hair falls and the way her make up looks, the vibe that her eyes give off and her surroundings. She looks tired due to the dark colour under her eyes which has been enhanced with make up; her mouth is open and her eyes are looking into the distance therefore she looks like she’s either drifting off off or in a deep thought about something important, her hair is neat and fluffy potentially meaning that she had been up for ages maybe from a dream that’s made her look this distraught or she is trying to escape reality.
We were initially drawn to the series because of the actual meaning behind the photographs which was shown on the Vogue Italia’s website, interestingly enough it’s about fitting in society as an individual; relating back to ideas of identity and social constructs which is not entirely obvious from the shoot and therefore made it very interesting to research. We could bring this element to our work by including more subtle themes and having the garments and the props really speak for themselves, up to interpretation.
The background is so perfectly constructed, it’s so clean, clearly been tidied and dusted and freshly painted which is evident through the details of the smoothness of the wall, the carefully ironed bedsheets and the minimalistic background. As a result of this, this gives of an almost eerily perfect atmosphere, which brings me back to our ideas of a dollhouse which is obviously publicly constructed for entertainment and visually looks like this image.
CHANGING IDEAS
Realising that not only another group were doing a green screen like us, but the fact that it was brought to our attention that work looks really similar to a different students work really put a pressure on us and gave us an urgency to change around our idea so that it doesn’t just fall into the same category as other people’s we wanted our idea to stand out. It needed to stand out especially at the exhibition space which is what we were struggling with by just showing a video or adding something else to it.
Therefore we were pressured into meeting up and seeing what we could do, brainstorming and adapting our ideas to the thought of creating an interactive questionnaire to the public to define their personality within one of the characters we’ve created to reflect the garment. This will be expanding on our themes of identity and covering up/ creating a character for ourselves. This will end up with the viewing of a few short films, one for each character of them interacting with the green screen space. This was also talked about in a different way through using pods. You go into the pod of the decided character and interact with the outfit on a mirro. As good as this idea sounded, I did doubt it would be hard to execute at an exhibition especially regarding space however we could also think about this in more depth until we come up with a solid plan as we have moved back a step in this project. We had to pick on two big themes to showcase so we thought of using body shapes as one, as each designer’s silhouette plays a big part in the identity of the garment. Ultra glam elements, aging, teenagers, grannys, over consumption and personas. We should be experimenting with a code to give you a link to the film as we could showcase them on a website for easy viewing. We wanted the house to be each designer’s safe space so getting more abstract stuff on the walls such as spoons for Ellie’s character and pots and pans for Sophie’s character.
We might physically make these characters using dolls and have small versions of the garment however I did feel as if this idea might be more difficult than we realise. This could be down to the fact making small clothes will be more time consuming, detailed and fiddly. Also raises the dilemmas of what type of doll we are going to use, are these characters interacting with the dolls and if they are what’s the point in having them etc.
PRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK
Presenting our ideas was quite a challenge as we had to do the presentation as just three of the fashion communication students as no one else was able to make it to the meeting, therefore I had to speak in depth about the designer’s works without knowing it as well as they did which I struggled with. When explaining our concept, in all honesty, I don’t think we sounded confident enough, especially compared to the other groups this was due to the fact that although it was positive that we had a clear aesthetic and theme, our narrative was really lacking in portraying a message. What were we trying to say with this concept and fashion film? What topics are we trying to communicate and why?
Another bit of feedback is that we were not managing our time as we could be; this was due to the fact that we hadn;t actually experimented with anything yet, we did not have anything original to show to them at this point in time, we also were planning on creating an entire film with a set that we hadn’t built yet and we needed to think more outside the box. This was an interesting thing to point out; since we were initially using a young girl character playing with a dollhouse, we were questioned as to why that was without a justifiable response that really links to our theme however we weren’t thinking of sending any sort of the message with our character it was more about the environment of the rooms and growing up.
This led us to refining our idea once again to fit the realistic timeframe, in line with our tutors advice we explored new ideas for our final outcome; creating a more abstract film, instead of building a set we film with a green screen and use a computer software to glitch the video relating to our use of technology throughout. It would be a more effective idea as we would not have to build an entire set and film an entire fashion film.
Personally I’m still a bit unsure of the final outcome but we have discussed this as a group. I alsed if it would still be too unrealistic if we found all these props for the green screen or to edit a film right now but I was assured that we had the potential to source these items around uni or make them in time.
REFLECTING ON RESEARCH AND MAKING STORYBOARDS AND IDEAS & MEETING UP WITH GROUP FOR PLANS FOR THE FILM
Luckily as we have a clear idea and aesthetic narrowed down, we attempted to find more of a narrative for the film and delved deeper into what we want the film to portray. We wanted to show elements of Sophie’s theme of aging by having a girl play with a doll in a dollhouse and then the film will switch to each character in the dollhouse in their garments interacting with their surroundings and decorated room, tying together a small story or journey of discovery. We were happy with these ideas as everything finally seemed to tie in together which we had struggled with for a really long time. However, this has led us to become a little bit behind as we’ve seen that some groups have made content already and we hadn’t really. Missing a few meetings and not being able to source materials to decorate the dollhouse is keeping us behind therefore we decided on our next steps in our meeting:
- Storyboarding of the film, characters, scenes
- Room ideas and decorations for the interior
- Book green screen to trial
- Decided when to source materials
- When to build props
My mind feels clearer after making all of these mood boards as I can really envision the objects and the props that we can use to symbolise each characters personality traits which really adds an element to the film and makes the character as well more thought through. We can use spoon, cutlery, kitchen ware, crisp packets and rubbish to symbolise over consumption and overindulgence relating to Ellie’s character that we have made inspired by her garment. Tea cups, pots and pans, books as well as slightly more sophisticated looking items can be used for Sophie’s character as we have decided that she is a young person with an old soul therefore these objects have a lot of meaning to her and create dimension and her character. And lastly we could have smudged mirrors make up bags and make up items tissues jewellery and potentially clothes to represent Romilly’s character which has a slightly different feel to the others as she is far more girly and dynamic. Bringing together all of these elements should hopefully create a film that has characters which our audience would be interested in watching as well as an interesting dynamic through the clips that we will be filming as we are not filming an entire film anymore.
RESEARCH THAT INFORMED IDEAS – PETRA COLLINS
Petra Collins is another artist that fits within the dream like fairy atmospherical and surreal type of art similar to Tim Walker and Melanie Martinez however so different in her own unique way. I’ve studied homework for previous projects therefore I guess her style is such a big influence on me however it was suggested as a group that we look into her work because she does that the themes that we are looking into as was a slightly surreal and so is her work but still with very strong aesthetics.
When looking at her work it’s immediately clear that she thinks about her settings and clearly scouts them out carefully for other photo shoot she is creating, For example that hot mirror or cutout must’ve been carefully constructed, that bathroom must’ve been scouted out so that the the floors and walls have a similar colour palette that she could work with, as well as scouting out the place in the third photo which must’ve had a perfect soft lighting for her.
Petra Collins, similarly to Melanie Martinez, also uses a lot of emotion within her work and in this case it is shown through the facial expressions and body language that the models are showing off such as in one of the photos she is looking off into the distance her body is not turned towards the camera and she was like she is maybe pondering about something or wondering how she got there. in the second image she has on that beautiful white dress and her feet however she is placed in a fairly standard looking bathroom therefore raising questions of who is this girl why is she wearing that dress where has she been where is she about to go and what places are in the bathroom at this specific time.
All of these create a very subtle story which isn’t as dynamic as Tim Walker’s work as it’s not as heavily constructed; the lighting is slightly more soft and the models look a little bit less made up, the outfits are more elaborate in a subtle way paying attention to more detail of the clothing rather than the shape or the silhouette and all these tone downed elements create a subtle emotion that you really have to look at the whole image to understand and interpret to yourself.
RESEARCH WHICH INFORMED IDEAS – TIM WALKER
Tim Walker is such a storyteller when it comes to his images, each image has been heavily constructed with a team of art directors, stylists, make up artists, set designers and him as a photographer/ art director to capture the story in a moment. His work always makes me feel like I’ve been transported into some new scene or new film or TV show because everything is so dreamlike and constructed perfectly; the models are always placed an interesting position, not necessarily standing on the ground sometimes thrown into the air are hanging from something. As well as the fact that the background is always some interestingly scouted place that’s been done up for the photo shoot.
The first two images are taken from Tim Walker at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the second two are photographs that he has been involved with. When I think of him Walker I think of the photography that he’s created however the Tim Walker at the V&A is a carefully constructive and curated exhibition which visually looks incredible due to the use of imagery everywhere props when you look up to the ceiling wallpaper and being consistent with the style. Pictures and videos are exhibited ceiling to floor which visually looks so interesting as there are so many different screens to look at different things to engage with at once that also bring it together as one whole piece, The style of each of the images have the same colour palette they all look dreamlike and beautifully constructed with a dreamlike outdoor setting And the way that edited such as colour cast having shiny things in images more pronounced as well as more saturated give off a slightly dark pop and flamboyant aesthetic.
The last two images really blew me away it’s Obvious that everyone has worked into the shoot has transformed it completely these photos look like they belong to characters in a film I feel like there’s a whole story behind it and it makes me want to know what it is.
RESEARCHED WHICH INFORMED IDEAS – WES ANDERSON
Where’s Anderson creates films that truly are a cinematic experience I’m always found looking in awe at the sets, backgrounds, the colour pallets and the costumes that people are wearing and how they all work perfectly to create a beautiful scene. Some people have argued that as Anderson’s films are purely a viewing experience however I do feel it adds to the plot of these films I feel how every film is so interesting in the way it creates an ambience with the sets.
A variety of shades of pinks, oranges, whites, greys and browns as well as other mid tones are commonly used within his work; these are slightly muted but still highly saturated and nothing looks bleak, boring or bland which relates back to our themes because looking into concepts like being transported into another world or using dollhouses are very elaborate and dynamic and therefore our set should reflect that too with its designs and props.
Due to the colour palette and the calm way of filming scenes where they are quite slow and empty gives me a relaxed vibe for watching the film which is so effective with the telling of the stories making you think in a different way about something as it allows you time while the film is quiet to wonder. Although this works so well for Wes Anderson I feel like whatever outcome we come out with that should be slightly more telling of the characters or the models of the garment as this is where the true personality comes alive.