Evaluation

Even though I failed to produce the film as I intended to, I am still very happy with the photographs I produced, my bookwork and presentation boards and my blog... I have improved my skills through these things, and even though I don't have a film to show I think the concept would have been succesful.

Film

OKAY... so the film... pretty much the odds have been against me on this one! It was originally scheduled for Friday 22nd Jan, but the film student I was using had to reschedule for tuesday 26th and then again for thursday 28th, due to his own massive workload for his FMP... when he then told me he couldn't do the 28th, we decided that the best thing to do would be to hire a handicam and for myself and a few others to film it ourselves, and then for john, the film student to edit it afterwards. The dress burning looked fantastic and I was really happy with the result, but for some reason the camera then wiped what footage we had filmed. Trying not to panic, I rushed home to get another dress that I could use. It was nowhere near as good as the first one, but I really wanted to get the footage and have a film to produce. I then had to rush home over friday and saturday as my uncle had gone into hospital, which left sunday to edit the film. We then spent all day sunday and monday trying to upload the video footage, but the SD card is "unreadable", even though the footage shows in the camera playback screen.

I am so frustrated by the fact that the film didn't work out, but it has been a good learning curve, in that I may have been able to arrange something if I had chosen a different film student the first time john had to postpone, and had hired out a better camera through them.

Final Photos

Photo Shoot Contact Sheets

These are the contact sheets from the photo shoot which my photographer just dropped off. I am really happy with the photos, the next stage will be to whittle them down to 5 or 6 photos which really encapsulate the feel of the project.

Event!

In a tutorial it was suggested to me that I put the photos in a different context that in a magazine spread, so I decided that an event would be an amazing way to showcase the film and photos, using the brand of All Saints as a starting point... as if this is an event to promote the brand. The event would have a runway section with a live band and lit floor, and there would be a separate gallery section with the film and photos, and a shop space attached, for all saints clothes (as seen on the runway) to be sold.

Location: Highcliffe Beach

We (we being myself, my photographer Nat, and friend Kate who is going to assist with the shoot) took a drive down to Hengistbury Head today to have a look at which stretch of beach would be good for the photoshoot and found the perfect location at highcliffe, the beach in front of Highcliffe Castle. There were some amazing craggy rocks, grassy areas, tree roots and incredible pebbly shores. Photographs follow:

Fim... sorted!

I've finally sorted out myself a film student! I am collaborating with John Tween, a student on one of the film courses at BU. I explained to him that i want to burn the dress, and he is very confident at editing, which is important for the final outcome, so this collaboration should be a success!

Busy busy busy!

Its been a while since my last post, but I have been crazy busy since coming back to uni! For the most part of the last week and a half I have been sourcing clothes, developing storyboards and organizing photographers, film makers, models and helpers! but we have picked a date for the shoot, and that date is wednesday 20th (of January obviously).

First of all I now have the perfect dress for the film/final outfit. (see right). I stumbled upon the oxfam website and found a beautiful ivory evening gown for the bargain price of £30, to which i am going to ass layers of net to the underskirt to make it pouf out.

Last night my model came round and we tried on the outfits for the shoot (minus a couple of items I am awaiting on from friends) and took photos (see below). This was so that my photographer could see what kind of styling she is shooting, and so that we could check for fit and combinations of outfits, instead of leaving this until on the day, which is what i did with my last photoshoot. I still need to cellulose print on the white vest, and distress the jeans some more, but I am happy with these outfits, they convey the distressed theme that I am trying to achieve.

YES to the January Sales!!

While shopping in Bournemouth today I went into House of Frasier, and decided to have a look at the All Saints section, as I heard that it was soon to be leaving, and to my amazement found that they had an up to 70% off sale! This beautiful dress, which I have been keeping an eye on all season, was in my size, and reduced from £110 to £33. It would work superbly as a potential outfit for the photoshoot, teamed with the worker boots and some form of outerwear and accessories. It is brilliant because of the feminine silhouette it creates, very important considering my inspiration of a breast cancer patient, and following the all saints brand philosophy, it appears somewhat dishevelled.

Customizing

Jeans

I have an old black pair of jeans which I am going to rip and customise in a similar way to these, and pair with my River Island worker boots to create a worn, decayed style for an outfit for the photoshoot.

Thinners

I found this T-shirt by Exposure, in which a copy of an old photo has been transferred onto the fabric. This has inspired me to get some cellulose thinners and to transfer images which relate to my concept onto a garment, such as newspaper clippings of breast cancer stories, images of women with breast cancer, and images from books about disease and cancer... I want to do this in an artistic way, creating some different shapes to make this an interesting garment.

Plan of Action for the Film

Hokaaaay, so I had a brainwave when researching films and decayed/destroyed fashion... I was considering taking a series of photos while the dress was burning, but realised that film would capture it so much more effectively, and would record every little movement and interesting shape and flicker.

It would also provide a really interesting accompaniment to the burnt dress as the chosen outfit to present, explaining the process involved.

In order to achieve this, I am going to hang the dress in its pristine beginnings, using fishing wire, and then setting up the video camera (possibly from different perspectives if time allows, or by using more than one camera) and record the whole process until the dress is burnt and on the floor because the fishing wire has melted.

It would look really good if we did this at night, and used some form of lighting, to bring the foreground forward from a dark background... and possibly try using some different filters on the camera (this is something I can talk to the film student about).

I would then want the film to be edited in a disjointed way, perhaps portraying interference, as though the film has been damaged, therefore running with the theme of decay.

This would be a great way to present the dress, and is a great contrast to the beach location, more optimistic style photoshoot that I am also planning.