Building a Website

At the start, I tried to build a website using muse as I thought it would look more professional, but as I started to test shoot I realised that since I was only putting my three films on there, I wanted more of an interactive template and design to work with so I swapped over to WINX. I am happy with the outcome since the main focus is on the film. However I feel that, had i incorporated a photoshoot with the same designs on the website it would have been more effective. I am pleased with the website as I feel that I am able to post any future work on there and build my film making and creative direction portfolio. 

Breakdown of the scenes

The start up scene is one of my favourite scenes because of the contrast of the surroundings with the designs. It creates a tension and makes it more interesting. I am pleased with how the designs were captured on camera however to improve I feel as if I could have captured more of the material and the texture in the first scene rather than the rest as the purpose of this film was to show the designers collection. 

After receiving feedback from my mentor I decided to film a close up shot of the designs to capture the materials and this worked really well in the final outcome as it gave me so much room to edit and play around with colour and texture. 

Test shoots

Test Shoots

In my one to one meeting I was told that my ideas were not visual enough and to get a clear idea of what I was working towards I needed to carry out test shoots.

Although I was happy with the story line carrying out test shoots gave me more ideas to work with such as angles and lighting. When shooting outside I started to list down a number of possible shots that could be used in the film which I did not think of before.

Doing the test shoot made the whole team get a better understanding of what I was looking for, as well as led me in the right direction.

Face Charts

As the designs are extremely bright and colourful I decided to keep the make up and hair simple with a bright dewy completion that will catch light and brighten the look up.

Project Focus

Project Focus

During my research of fashion films it is apparent that films have even begun to replace fashion shows as the cost of the films is much less than the extravagant fashion shows which need a massive budget. The first outcome of this project will be a 2- minute fashion film featuring the
designer’s collection, ‘Consistently Inconsistent’.
The purpose of this is to collaborate with a designer who wants to communicate the essence of a collection through other ways than a fashion show or a shoot. In an interview with Charlie Stevens- who is the designer, stated,
“I am looking for a fashion film that can express my brand and myself as a designer in other ways than fashion images. I want the clothes to be shown in all angles, transporting the audience on a visual journey”. 

My role as a film maker and a creative director is to show the designers collections through a film in a form of art, branding and strong connection with communities. This project will explore the different roles of interpretation, authorship and creative control, but also the process of collaborating with a designer. 

The target audience for the film are 50 % men and 50% women with an interest in fashion films between the ages of 18-35 in the millennial segment. As the film is launched online, the audience will be worldwide.

• Creative experimentalist
  
• Interest in Fashion films
  
• Inspiration taken from high fashion
  
• High disposable income
  
• Own’s social media/ Youtube/Facebook/Instagram
  
• Desire to stand out
  
• Fan of Alexander McQueen and Gareth Pugh, Nick Knight
  
• Will invest in designer wear 
  
  
  
  

Film TREATMENT

Title : Hunter   Original idea- 

Duration: Trilogy, 3- 30 second films. 

Summary:  The contrast between the old architecture and the new architecture will show the girl going through stages of curiously looking to find something very important to her, wether it is from her past or links in with her future. 

Main Character :  Violet, Female,19, tall, brunette.

Film

Violet is exploring the old architecture as a representation of her curiosity and her past.  (Location, old castle walk way in Southampton)

Act 1

Scene 1 -Violet is walking towards the camera.

Shot ( Wide, steady shot of Violet walking through the path way from the distance)

Shot ( Camera films the blue skies for a short few seconds then back on Violet)

Scene 2- Violet is exploring the old architecture by looking around curiously. 

Shot( The camera films violet from behind) (The camera films Violet from the front) Glitch effect from the back then from the front) 

Scene 3- Violet takes her hand bag and gets out and old map. 

Shot( Camera films Violet taking her map out of her bag)

Scene 4- Violet opens her map leans it against the wall)

Shot( Camera films Violets face in a steady motion as she takes her head piece off, it carries on filming in the same position and catches her take out her lipstick and mark an ex to where she is planning to look)

Scene 5- She leans the map on the wall removes the lid of the lipstick with her mouth and throws it on the floor and marks and ex on the map. 

Shot( Camera is filming the shot of the map being marked by the lipstick) 

Scene 6- Violet carries on walking with the map in her hand looking around curiously. 

Scene 7- Violet puts the map in her back and walks into a pathway - the SHOT turns into a fish eye lens and she disappears in the pathway. 

Violet is still trying to find what she is looking for. 

Scene1 - Violet is walking up the stairs swimming her handbag.

Shot - Filming her walking up with her heels from behind going up slowly with her as she goes up. 

Shot- shot of the new architecture in the new west quay

Scene 2 - She starts walking a catwalk.

Shot - The camera films her from all angles, (EDITING- Slow motion? then back to normal?)

Scene 3 - Violet looks up into the sky ( edited slow motion) and re played over again? 

Scene 4 - Violet drops her hand bag and starts running then transition into walking a catwalk. 

Shots from behind, sides and the front. 

Since I had to swap designers half way through the whole narrative of my film had to be changed which was a massive step back for me as I had planned every scene thoroughly.

Consistently Inconsistent - New idea

The film will capture the beautiful materials and textures of the designs as well as the model doing a catwalk in non- ordinary places to contrast with the designs.

Characterisation

Make up artists will work with the directors and help to change the performance by defining their characters through changing their appearance. A make up artists worry is to take care of the characters external persona which is their appearance. Of course there typical beauty which everyone finds which is flawless skin, big eyes and lips, strong features such as jawline etc. 

Learned responses, for we judge a person through their appearance. 

The main five aspects to consider when looking at characterisation are speech, actions, appearance and others, as it will make you get more of a descriptive idea of the characters.

Speech- How a character speaks is extremely important as it can give a description of what kind of a personality a character has. For example with an accent/posh, shy/quiet. You can also look at what a character says to find out their interests, to know their habits wether they are nice and polite or rude.

Actions/Attitudes and Behaviour- How a character behaves says a lot about a person making the audience form an opinion just by the way their actions are described it can be as simple as biting nails which would show a person has bad habits and is maybe stressed to killing a person which would show that the person is a killer. From their behaviour you can see their habits, their reactions, their way of handling things etc.

Appearance -The appearance is the easiest way to describe a characters and visualise him through their descriptions. For example tall, short, fat, thin etc. The description even of the smallest things such as what kind of shoes the character is wearing will make us form an opinion and tell us about the character.

Relationships- The effect a character has on others by the way she reacts and says things will show us how others see the character and learn about their relationships. Wether they make the other characters feel happy, scared, loved, sad etc. The relationship between others will make the reader understand about the characters more. Look at positive points and negative, look at the verbal and physical responses to things.

Characterisation

-Direct characterisation is when the aurhtor tells you about the character.

-Indirect characterisation

Why is it important knowing a character as a make up artist.

• To show the characters emotions through the make up and styling 
• think about their age

• their appereance, their hair, their make up
• job

-what is she doing

• look at words that suggests an appereance

• how does styling help an actress
• what the narator revelas about the character
• what the character says and does
• -what others say about or how others react to the character
• how a character responds to events
• look for details - words, thoughts, actions, physicial description
• background
• personality
• relationshops
• capailities
• hobbies.

Characterisation (2)

Look at - hobbies

- relationships

- background

-beliefs

-jobs

- gender - sexuality

Apperance

• height
• race
• skin colour
• hair colour
• hair style
• clothes
• their clothing style/ sporty/ high fashioned/ high street
• make up / natrual enhanced beauty/strong heavy make up/serious - make up suggests period
• accessories
• eye colour
• weight
• well groomed/scruffy
• wrinkles or youthful
• tan  e.g fake? real? have they been on holiday
• modification, tattooos piercings, hair dye ( their style, goth? tatoo for a meaning?
• always find out why they are doing a certain thing, are they wearing glasses for fashion? because they cant see? or is it because its sunny.
• is for example their hair done for practicality or for fashion or because they had to
• if they are scruffy is it because is is their style? they are homeless
• nails is it painted or do they bite they nails

Inspiration

The Uncanny Valley,Stella McCartney | Inspiration for storyline

Stella McCartney's film 'The Uncanny Valley' stands out to me because it mysterious and very eye catching. It keeps the audience interested in the story but then takes them back by showing the designs and grabbing the audience attention. This is something I hope to do in my fashion film as the designs are very eye catching but I need to think about how to keep the audience engaged through the storyline.

           Gareth Pugh S/S 16 - Fashion film | Inspiration for movement

In Gareth Pugh's S/S16, the film shows only 3-4 outfits but with such movement that the audience get to see the designs in different angles. This gave me the idea to shoot the clothes from many different angles as the clothes I will be using for my designs have a lot of texture and interesting silhouettes which will be captured beautifully on camera.

AHS hotel/ inspiration for props

I have watched every season of American horror story and 'Hotel' is by far my favourite season but mainly due to the fashion. In the last few seasons the styling has always fit to match the characters and their storyline but in this season even filled with blood and creatures that will make your skin crawl the avant grade fashion never stops. In every single episode all of the characters have new eye catching outfits. This gave me inspiration to play around with the colour and the texture of the designs as well as focusing on the surroundings to keep it mysterious and interesting. 

Characters 

Lady Gaga who plays Elizabeth is the countess who has no sympathy for anyone or anything. She is surrounded by beautiful clothes and even though she is a vicious murderer in every scene her fashions sense never seems to let us down. I want the model to look fierce and powerful like Lady Gaga does in American Horror Story Hotel. 

Competitors

One of the factors that my mentor told me to consider is my competitors. 

LONDON FASHION FILM FESTIVAL

In my proposal I stated that the London Fashion Film Festival is one of my competitors however, I now realise that the festival itself is an opportunity rather than competition. However the competitors of London Fashion film festival - New and upcoming fashion film makers are my competitors. 

Gareth Pugh

Gareth Pugh is a competitor for the designs that will be featured in the film as the designs are similar to Pugh. Redefining modern luxury with his inflated balloon garments, the designer was inspired by shape.

Final plan

Project focus and change of ideas 

In my tutorial, Russel told me that when creating a film that is longer than 2 minutes there will be a struggle to keep the audience interested therefore I decided to create a Trilogy: 3, 1 minute films. 

This will make it more interested as well as give me more options to publish on my website. In order to do so I decided to carry out some research on trilogy films to get some inspiration and in depth knowledge.

Trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen as a a singe work or 3 different pieces. 

Inspiration

Holi Holy - A Manish Arora Film Directed by Bharat Sikka

The reason why this film caught my attention was because of its description and narrative : 

"As the scene opens, we're enveloped instantly by something that's lonely and has been left to wither away and decay. Forlorn and alone, we see Bishi's back turned to the camera as she walks down an inner lane of a village inviting dusk. She joins a congregation of young and old widows in a prayer room, all dressed in white saris and at different points of degeneration. They look dusty like old objects. There is a transition and an explosion of color with a celebration in the streets of a small village where there's confusion as well as excitement among its dwellers in the novelty of the few 50 widows that reluctantly and joyously (secretly) mingle around and amongst the village people. With smiles that they've finally broken into, covered in Holi color and Manish Arora's vivid clothes. We now understand that the forgotten women are part of the community again. But only for a short while. Bishi is then captured and sits in a small boat in a lake, rowed by a single small man, half her size. He cannot fathom why she sings an inaudible melody. She is dark, strong, and her eyes along with her voice are like two in a band show after a long journey."

The storyline behind this film is transmitted into a film beautifully and it got me thinking about two things : MUSIC & NARRATIVE. 

Rhianna secret garden campaign DIOR. This film inspired me to think about the use of PROPS, such as bags, shoes etc. As well as making use of locations and shooting the background briefly to add mystery with the SHOTS. 

Progress + Feedback

Firstly, I decided to analyse at the feedback I received from both of my mentors for my proposal and apply it to my Final Major project considering the comments to ensure I do not make the same mistake twice.

Grade B2 :

    - Excellent introduction - the research you include endorses the relevance of your idea and puts it into context. Your project outcome is clear and supported by primary interview research from the designer.

-Good considerations for both outcomes - your second outcome focuses on showcasing your own skill which is a great idea with regards to self promotion. Your USP is well considered as well as your target market. 

To consider:

- Think carefully about your competitors
- Delve deeper into the world of fashion film and look at other key inspirations
- Create visual examples of your ideas e.g. Storyboards
- Clear face charts and how the make up relates to the designs
- How will you show your collaboration with the designer? Through film or recording the interview?
- Consider more about the website e.g. how to get traffic on the site?
- What cameras and equipment will you need?
- How will you be shooting each scene, go in depth and explain
- Will there be any use of props or lighting?

From the comments that I received I realised that I need to carry out test shoots as well as making my plan VISUAL considering every step for the film.

New schedule / Any problems

Original idea + Problems. 


Originally, in the proposal my idea for the FMP was to collaborate with a fashion designer and create a short fashion film for her collection which would be featured on the website that I am building as well as all my other social media accounts. Youtube/Facebook/Instagram.

Below, is the schedule which I created in January which I was sure it would be followed to plan. However one of the mistakes I made was relying heavily on a designer which ended up dropping out on the 15th of February which meant that I had to find a different designer to collaborate with which wasted a lot of time.
This was a major step back for me as the TREATMENT, narrative and face charts that I had previously made was based around the designer. This left me extremely stressed and ruined my time schedule however I decided to learn from my mistakes and act as quickly as I could.

What I learned from this experience, is the fact that relying on others does not always work out therefore 1 or 2 back up NOT only designers but models, videographers are needed in case of any unexpected circumstances.

As my Final Major Project relies heavily on the model, designer and the videographer, I noticed another mistake that I made. I was focusing too much on perfecting the film so much that I forgot to take care of my team and make everyone feel welcome. I quickly arranged to meet up with the videographer and the designer on the 19th of February to introduce myself and tell them the brief in person rather than emailing. This worked out perfectly and I could not be happier with my team.

I also found back up models, designs and a videographer to be sure. This whole experiences made me realise that I need to think very carefully about each step and problems that might occur and to come up with solutions before hand to ensure everything goes smoothly especially since time is of the essence.

Original Schedule.

I begun the process by creating a new schedule which I printed out and keep it with me to look back on.


February

19th - Meet with Videographer
20th - Meet with Designer
21st - Build website in IT lesson - 9-10am, 4-5pm
22nd- Build Website in It lesson - 11-12pm
23rd- Finish the new narrative and shots - Send the location approval letter
24th - Meet with the whole team and go through everything and hand them a print out of the brief, the script
25th-28th Meet with the models for a costume fitting, and practise scripts for a few days.
29th- Get all the right equipment

March

5th/6th- SHOOT THE FILM
7th-27th- Edit the film + build website

April- Finish the final edit, diary, website

MAY 1ST - HAND IN.