Fashion Photoshoot and review

 

 

 After the making of our garments we were then instructed to photograph our pieces. We had to focus on certain aspects when photographing our finished work on our models - such as the lighting, ensuring the best light is key for creating dramatic effect or just capturing the garment in full light (So the work is shown off to its fullest.) Another element we had to look at was composition and body position of the models. These two things can effect the outcome of the photograph and can help portray a narrative to the shot (if this is intended.) When photographing my own fashion shots I kept in mind a word, emotion or narrative I wanted the image to show. For instance I felt my headpiece was a bold piece and not only because it covers the entire head - but because it is very symmetrical and reminds me of a tribal headpiece. Furthermore my model wore only black which made the brown headpiece stand out immediately on here - it made the work more striking and draws our eyes within the space that the piece outlines.

 

Above is my favourite piece because it is so bold. Firstly the composition places the model right in the centre of the frame - her body position spreads out and extends her entire body throughout the frame. In addition the book shelves give the shot symmetry and also creates a natural lead up to the girl in the centre. Another aspect I like about this image is the girl's black clothes camouflage into the carpet but the headpiece stands out in the middle of the shot - furthermore I like the extra colours of the books which surround her. The pose that I instructed the model to stand works well because it creates this narrative which connects to smaller details - such as the black skull book (in her right hand) which works well with her dark attire making the overall scene mysterious and magical. Lastly, I like the lighting in this photograph. The light orb on the left hand side and the ripples on her clothes break up the image. It adds to the enchanting gaze of the model (again adding well to the narrative.)

 

 

This photograph is of a headshot - I did this to display just the head piece because this is what I am trying to display through my photographs. I really like this particular image, firstly because of the colour palette. There have only been a few colours:  which are the black and white background and of her clothes and hair. The brown in the headpiece stands out more because of this. In addition because she is in the middle of the frame this is where I look first. I also like this image because it's so simple but yet powerful. The model is making direct eye contact to the camera and therefore the headpiece personifies this bold emotion too.

 

For this shot I wanted to use the spiral shape of the lockers and the strips in this structure. Although this photograph doesn't show my garment off very well I like that the different composition I tried. I decided to have the model in motion in order to capture movement within the photograph. I like the segregation of black and white in this image two because it means our eyes have to work harder to explore all the depths of the photograph. I feel this image has a strong story because the girl is circling away from the camera.

 

 

This image I really like because of the two sides of colour which break the frame into two. One half shows the plain white wall whereas the second half shows texture of the background (contrast between light and dark) the model appears in the centre of the frame again and so we follow the natural line (that splits the frame) towards the model and therefore the headpiece. I like this image also because it is very soft. It is a casual photograph - the girl is leaning up against the wall and her shadow cushions her body. I feel her body position work well, in particular her head which is turned away from her natural gaze (ahead) but to the camera.

I decided to use the fire extinguishers in this shot because of the red colour - most of the photographs that I have taken feature black and white so I wanted to in cooperate this striking colour within in the shot. Furthermore there are many symbolic connotations that these fire extinguisher have to the image (e.g protector or fire or danger etc.) I feel that the model body position is very soft however is as bold as the red. Even though her body sits behind the extinguisher, the head garment (and the model) still drives this shot as it sits in the middles of the frame. To improve this image I could crop out some of the extra space on the sides and brighten the image so the colours are more vibrant (the red needs to really pop out as does the head piece.)

Above are two different versions of the same scene - I took many different shots of each of the images and the ones of this post are just a select few that I feel work well. I photographed the scene above because the cardboard - this pile of cardboard boxes worked well in matching the colour of the head piece and demonstrated that it was made out of paper. Therefore this could potential promote my paper garment. I like how the model is leaning over the boxes connecting her to this feature and keeping this concept attached to her through the extension of her hands.

Above are three more shots taken in the library and a fourth headshot - these photographs are close ups of the model's faces and mid body. I decided to include these because I feel each of these are interesting. For instance the last photograph has very bright lighting which spotlights the garment and model and makes them the brightest element of the shot. I also like how the girl is looking towards the source of light and away from the camera. It makes her appear more shy (compared to the shots with eye contact) and more of a daydreamer - which is a beautiful idea.

These two shots were inspired by a fashion photographer that photographed a series of images from over head of the model creating interesting shapes with her body.

Review for Fashion and Textiles Pathway

I have never been that interested in Fashion and textiles but I actually really enjoyed this week fashion pathway. Most of the week was spent creating our ideas which I liked; it was very practical. However at some times I felt a bit unsure at what I was going to do but by the end of the week I was happy with the outcome.  The headpiece that I made was just as I had envisioned and the photographs that I took with my models made the paper garment look very beautiful. When I was making the final piece lots of people thought it reminded them of a judge’s wig because it has this shape, others really like the piece because it was so simple and it reminded them of a tribal head piece. I agreed with this and decided to have some tribal inspired poses in my photo shoot to develop from this idea.  

I got a lot of feedback for the sample I created and used widely within the 3d collage and illustration task. People liked the sample and my illustrative designs I did for this part, although I couldn’t carry this through any further I decided to use the collages from this day to inspire my photo shoot. After doing all the tasks on the fashion pathway, I found out it isn’t for me as I’m not that enthusiastic about creating garments however I did enjoy the tasks I did and I liked the development period. In one week we explored early stages of designing to a finished piece (on in three days.) We did so much and I found out that I liked making things practically and experimenting with different materials. I really liked the second day when we made the 3D collages because we were able to create and explore different outcomes and making garments that were completely unconventional was new and exciting.

Day 3 - Making the design

Below show a series of photographs of the making of my headpiece. I started the making first through my design process - here I planned how the garment would be made, what it would look like and how it will stay on the head. Although the planning part is a crucial element for the making of this garment but most of the challenges I met were when I was actually making the piece - this is when I found some problems I hadn't not expected to find. For instance: I created my headpiece by sticking several samples on a strip of card board (which will be the base of the head piece) - the challenge was the flexibility - when the card bent in certain places the samples would peel off - I didn't expect this to happen, in order to sort this problem I used the hot glue gun to stick the samples better onto the base strip.

 

Collage and 3D work

A selection of work from others
in the group

On the second day of the fashion and textiles rotation week we were asked to bring in a selection of models from magazines. We would be using these found images to in cooperate our five 3-D samples (- we would be using our samples to college over these found images.) The first piece that I created was using the arched tunnel like sample - when creating our 3D colleges we were instructed not to follow the models bodyline but create  a design that creates a new body. Therefore I used this sample to make a graduated a line shape (bottom right.) I decided to make the hands stand over the sample so that the samples looked like a garment rather than just an object stuck over the model - by keeping the hands out it meant the collage, 3D and original images are entwined making the whole piece work well together. If I was going to arrange this piece again I might have removed the yellow background and placed just the model onto the page.

Creating garments from our samples

After making my five samples, I was asked to select one that I would then create another 20 of in a variety of sizes. We had a couple of hours to do this - each sample should range from the palm of our hands to any large size around A3 size or larger if we could. After I had created all 20 of my samples I was paired up with another person from my class after we piled both of our twenty samples around a model. We were going to work together to use our samples and other samples created from others in my class to produce a garment, accessories or structure onto the fashion model. We had to move in a rotation around each of everyone's models and create a different piece depending on their samples and the word we were given to explore. At first this was difficult because I have never done textiles but I saw the work I was doing as a structure which needed its own narrative and theme to produce it just like any other story or design I have ever created.

Above is the first model that we created - we were given these angled 3D triangles to work with and we decided to use these triangles as shoulder pads - we then wanted to  focus on the back where we placed two of these (one larger and the other smaller underneath) I felt this reminded me of a bird's tail; In fact the whole piece did, and suddenly the should pads reminded me of wings. We included further triangles to the front on the neck and the largest on the chest so that impact could be made straight away when looking at the model. This is because the geometrical shape was so strong and powerful it defiantly overpowered the other small circles that we placed around. If I was going to do this again I would maybe use on the triangles and layer them over one area to see how this would turn out. However no doubt using one of these shapes was so bold. My favourite angle is from the side because I like the shape angles which add volume to the model stand. Furthermore it is interesting to see the different directions of the shapes - and I feel that this shot is simply the best one out of the above too show off our piece.

This is the second outfit we created - the theme was 'minimal' so we tried to use a simple concept. Here we place a giant paper aeroplane over the  main body of the model and then use small brown squares to cover the rest of the body. I like the gaps within the piece because it gives the impression of a minimal piece - if I were to do this garment again I would have liked to use the brown squares entirely to cover the body.

Fashion and Textiles exploratory day 1

My samples

The first task that we were given to do on the Fashion and textile rotation was to create 5 samples. These samples could be constructed based around texture, font or structure. I decided to first explore font to find different ways to make typography into a 3D structure - however I did find this challenging and after several attempts I also tried creating a simple structure. We were given a hour to create these samples - they were made from paper which meant we could in cooperate different types of paper such as: plain paper, brown paper, coloured, paper from magazines, newspapers and  other people brought in material such as tissue paper and wrapping up paper. Using paper which had different images printed over it gave a nice effect to the sample which the plain paper didn't - however for a majority of my samples I used brown paper as it had a nice quality which let me fold it. 

 

 

 

Even though some of my samples didn't necessarily work the way I would like, it enabled me to experiment and trail and error until I got a idea which was much stronger. Here are some of the samples that I created during my hour of experimentation. They are all quite different and have different elements.

 

 

 

This is my response to produce a 3D structure focused on 'font.' This is a 'G' which I was inspired by my timeline I created in the research week. My timeline had curved shapes which wrapped around certain areas of the design. I liked this and so decided to include this within this particular experiment. Furthermore I felt the brown paper had an earthly look and thought that creating this enchanted look gave the sample a intriguing characteristic. I decided to give the letter the 3-D effect by slicing a corner and then folding the triangle up so that it produced a layered effect. Furthermore it felt like scales which could give further connection to the enchanted look it already has.

 

Here is another sample which I really liked because it had a nice shaped which was easy to adjust by folding the outer arts of the curved lines. Furthermore this sample stood out among some of the others since it had the best body - the 3D element was key to the design. Furthermore it is different from different angles - for instance inside the shape was a tunnel which absorbed light and shadow which was really interesting.

LBM Weekly Review

I really enjoyed the tasks that we had to do on the LBM pathway – I liked being able to learn about story narrative and creating new stories (as I have never done a lot of wither before.) At times it was difficult to understand some of the instructions of the tasks we were given, however I was able to overcome this by discussing ideas with my classmate and learning as I went on. I am very pleased with the work I produced during this week as I spent a lot of time to get the best the best results. In particular I am happy with the aeroplane photograph storyboard I created. We spent the whole of the third day trying to re-draft and make the story better. I was able to learn more about the narrative and the way that I can make the viewer invest emotionally to my story/ characters. Lots of people liked my aeroplane photographs and said that it was imaginative and that the story was clear. However our tutor kept suggesting that we make our storyboards have clear struggles and make sure that there was no unnecessary pieces filling our stories. Because of this I wanted to make sure that my characters had set goals and deeper meaning than what just meets the eye – so that I can play around with the layout and stay true to the characters and ‘their’ decisions.

The biggest lesson that I have learned from this week is working in a team and using each others creativity to bounce of ideas. On the second day we had to work in groups an come up with different narratives – I was so surprised with the ideas that we were coming up with as a group. I also was able to learn the narrative structure for most stories and the ways that help grip an audience. Even though I may not be selecting LBM I know that the lessons I’ve learned from this class will guide me through other tasks through the pathway rotation and further. It was so interesting I really enjoyed myself.  I think my work worked so successfully because I enjoyed what I was doing; Furthermore because I was thinking outside of the ‘norm’ and exploring a variety of different ideas. I was able to learn that nothing is too impossible in the worlds of lens based media to create. I struggles with my individual photographs because there was only 6 frames  I felt it was difficult to show a complex story that has a meaning as well as start middle and end. I really like my final storyboard however I wish there was even more dept to the story.

Re-Draft: 'Paper flight'

For our third day of the Lens Based Media exploratory week we had to review our six still images we had created ('aeroplane escape' storyboard) and re-draft the story for the second time. This is because after designing an idea - normally it will be discussed and redone until the finished product is 'perfect.' furthermore it means I could explore my concept and see which areas were weaker than the rest. I had the opportunity to improve my story and to make the concept even stronger. When going about changing my original storyboard I looked into the story and the characters. Personally there was two areas that I didn't like about my story: first was the last two frames (in the 'aeroplane escape' storyboard) I didn't like these frames because they didn't suit the climax of the previous four frames which I really liked. The second thing that I didn't like was the lack of detail that the aeroplane had in the story. Where was it going? What made it do what it was? And I felt that this had to be answered in order for the story to move forward and have a greater meaning.

 

The re-draft idea came from the clash of different goals that the girl and the paper aeroplane had. The girl was trying to catch her aeroplane however the aeroplane was trying to get away - I liked this concept however I decided to change the goals a bit for the re-draft. I also wanted to make the aeroplane the protagonist because it had a more unique perceptive. The storyboard above is as follows: the first frame shows the paper it its normal environment (introduction) it is plain and has no purpose as of yet and so feels lonely and useless. The second frame is a close up of an aeroplane in the sky. This shot is taken from the papers perceptive as it is looking out of the window and at the sky - here a dream and admiration has been created and we understand that the paper is longing to fly. The third frame shows the paper being lifted by the wind coming through the open door (the paper is able to fly.) However before the paper can reach the sky he is captured by a girl (fourth frame.) In the fifth frame we see that she is folding the paper and is changing the paper's body. The last frame we can see a twist as it has been  transformed into a paper aeroplane. I called this story 'Paper flight.'

 

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 What I found most challenging when doing this task was being able to fit enough story into the is frames. I felt it was hard to put enough obstacles and struggles into the three frames in the middle and keep the story going in an understandable way visually. Even now I think that I would have liked to add more struggles to this story however I am happy with the outcome because the story shows a goal which can be understand if the viewer reads into each frame well. e.g. understanding that the paper is not happy in the first frame whereas in contrast it is happy (the camera angles are in reverse to show this.)

'Aeroplane escape'

After creating our own storyboards in our groups we were asked to photograph a series of 6 still images that showed our newly created stories. We were also give the option to produce our own storyboard and shoot this if we preferred. I decided to create a new story that I knew I could capture well with photographs. The short story that I created is very simple and uses the 6 frame structure.

It begins with a girl throwing a paper aeroplane that she has made - she accidently throws it out of her bedroom. The next frame shows her trying to retrieve it. I decided to have the camera low down to get a full body of the girl and to create a suspense. The third frame shows the aeroplane has moved by itself a couple of steps down the stairs - the girl's head turns although her body remains in the same position as the frame before to give the illusion that these to frames happened quickly. I decided to change the camera view of a wide shot up the stairs - to enhance the speed but also to build an idea of the location and make it clear that the paper plane has moved all by itself.  The fourth frame is my favourite out of the 6 because of the composition and angle of the camera. The shot shows a close up of the aeroplane and in the background the girl's feet at the bottom of the stairs. I decided to photograph the scene from the plane looking up at the feet - I feel that this shot has a lot of suspense and shows the journey that the girl is taking to catch the paper aeroplane. The fifth is a climax of the end of the story - here the girl has decided to overcome the speed of the paper plane by taking a shortcut over the sofa and hopefully pounce onto it before it has time to escape. The last still is the resolution, the girl was able to catch the plane by jumping onto the sofa and catching it on the floor.