Video

Putting the video on youtube has reduced the quality of the images and is slightly blurry, so this is the same final video but this one is straight from imovie so it's slightly better quality.

Final Evaluation

Red Riding Hood is the one of the most popular children’s book’s but in this project she takes on a different look and character. In the original tale Red Riding Hood dies, I asked the question why? Only evil and bad characters die in children’s books don’t they? Also the illustrations from the original books were dark and quite ugly, this brought me to the idea that red riding hood is the evil character and she had a darker side which isn’t shown in the later, sugar coated versions. This led my project into a whole new interesting path of dark Red Riding.
Initially at the beginning of the project I was looking into the prettier side more traditional view of Red Riding Hood. However, after a tutorial and much more research my idea changed to the darker view. I’m glad I changed direction; it was much more interesting to look into and experiment with, than going with the traditional look which I have come to realise has been really over done. My view is different and has much more depth to it than the superficial view of her.
Also after receiving my pictures from my photographer the story sort of took a back seat and the imagery of the shoot took over, as I feel I got some really strong imagery. I was extremely happy with the photographs I got from the day. I wasn’t sure how the ripping of the dress and the adding of fur would look however I feel it turned out really well and I think the fur element is really interesting. Overall I feel me and my photographer worked really well together, he understood the look I was going for and so we were working on the same page, which is the most important thing when working with other people.
Mainly I am the least happy with my video. Throughout the project I was trying to find different ways to show my photo shoot as a video. I found it really hard to come up with an interesting way of doing this, with just still imagery. What I did in the end was what I felt was most appropriate for what I did and what I want to do in the future. Styling for magazine is what I want to do, however it was interesting to experiment with alternative forms of media and I have gained some basic imovie skills from this unit.

Philosophy

This project was partly about finding our personal philosophy as a designer. I feel that through this project I have realised I have a clear style of styling which I can see from other styling projects I’ve done. However I don’t feel I can define my personal philosophy just yet. My styling is very clean cut and simple, non fussy styling, I don’t like too many accessories or props. I’ve also found I tend to steer towards more reinvention of a look rather than creating a whole new idea. Also I like having a story behind the final outcome, I feel it gives it more depth and is more imaginative, not necessary a pre existing story but any made up story behind the outcome. However defining my philosophy, what I want my styling to achieve or show, is something that I feel I am too inexperienced in areas of the fashion indusstry to define. Hopefully it will be something that will come to me through doing more projects and getting more work experience.

Final Spread

Here are my images as I would want them to look in a magazine. The title letter R was one I did myself. I did ask a graphic designer to come up with something but I didn't really like what she came up with, so I decided to go with this letter instead as it is interesting and detailed which is what I was looking for.

Final Video

After many attempts and lots of angry abuse at imovie, I have finally finished my final video. As basic as it is, it shows what I want it to show, which is the imagery. I have purposely designed the video to move like someone looking through a magazine, this is because I want to style for magazines in the future.

StoryBoard

Colours and Textures

Mood Board

Final Video Take 1

Below is a link to my first attempt at a final video. It needs some work with timings and titles etc but overall it is useful in helping me realise what needs to be improved. I haven't got quite the look I wanted due to the limitations of imovie however its close to what I was hoping for. After seeing other peoples video I'm a bit worried at how basic mine is in comparison, however I think I have got some really strong images, so I'm hoping this compensates for the none technical aspect of my video. See this version here.

Changes:

1. Make slides last slightly longer - too quick
2. Make pictures change in time with music
3. Better ending, make it not so abrupt
4. Have better zoomed in areas
5. Add title and possibly credits at the end

Final Photos

Title

I have got in contact with a graphic designer but because it took a while for someone to get back to me, it was very short notice and I'm not sure if she will come up with something in time. So as a back up I have been experimenting myself with lettering. I'm going to have an R as my title to represent my theme of Red Riding Hood. In my experiments I have gone with a dark green colour. This reflects the tones of the trees and also I like the fact that you can't really see the R, I think it makes it more interesting and it doesn't distract from the image.

imovie experiment

This is my experiment with imovie. These aren't my final images yet but I was just experimenting with using imovie as I have never used it before. I'm not feeling too confident with the whole video part of this project. Also with this video the image has to focus as it switches between the slides. I'm not really sure why it does this, I'll have to figure a way to stop this for my final video.

New Considerations

After my critique yesterday I have a few things to consider with my project. I have said before that I wasn't sure about including the text with my images and my tutors brought that up yesterday. I think they are right that it takes away from the imagery and doesn't look very professional. They mentioned about possibly using just initials or a letter instead of writing out the whole story. I like this idea very much, I like the idea of just having a R as the title. I think if I can find a graphic designer who can design me really different, creative font then I think this could work really well. I think from the images I have got from Tom, it is pretty obvious that there is a link with little red riding hood so it doesn't need the story over the top.

I have finally picked my 9 images. I ideally wanted 8 but I couldn't choose one to remove. I am so happy with the photos from Tom, they were better than what I expected to get out of it and I have found it very difficult to cut them down. I have mainly chosen the darker ones with lots of shadows to reflect the dark theme and the natural light from the day has worked really well in casting interesting shadows.

Now I've got to work on my video. I'm struggling to find a way to make my images into a video because I'm finding a slide show format looks really amateur, however at the moment I can see no other way of creating a video from my images. I might have to talk to a film student to see if they have any ideas of what I can do.

Day of Shoot

Today was the day. Luckly everything went to plan, the weather was good and everyone was up for the early 9am start on a sunday. From what I could see the shoot went really well, except for the fact my model Natasha was freezing! Even the ripped up dress and the fur looked reasonably good, which I was pleased about because I was slightly worried it would look really shoddy, but I think it turned out really well. Tom even took some video shots for me so that should be good to make my video more interesting. However there is over 500 pictures to choose from... deciding on 6-8 may be tricky.

Initial Video Ideas

This is a very (and I emphasise very) rough video I have done. It shows the page turning like a magazine/book which is what I want and also it has the beginning of the song and the page turning sound effect I want. However I couldn't figure out how to have the song running and then the page turning sound effect over the top, as I have an acoustic version of this song without the words that I would like running throughout the video. Hopefully Jamie can show me how to do this. I would have liked to do a slightly more technical video but for one I don't think its appropriate and also I don't think I'll have the time as it will probably take me long enough to do this simple video let alone a complex one. I am no film pro.

Mock Up

These are some examples of what I would like my shoot to look like. I have used photoshop to place my model ontop of the background, the hair and make up hasn't been done in these photo's nor are they fully styled but they are representative of what I am going for and show what my images might look like once finished. However I'm not sure about the text/font, I think maybe the white is too bold and it's slightly distracting from the image.

My Red Riding

Here is my final outfit on my model Natasha. I have gone with a mainly red outfit with hints of black to contrast and make it a darker look. Throughout the shoot the outfit is going to be slashed and moved to make it look like she has been taken over by the wolf. Also fur is going to be added to the outfit to make it seem like the wolf has taken over. Other aspects of the outfit that aren't included here is a wicker basket and I might possibly add a hat in at some point.

Meryick Park

My location is Meryick Park. I went there to look for some good areas for us to shoot in. I never realised how big the park is so I only looked round a small part but I think I found some good places to shoot. I was mostly looking for paths, thick trees and dense bushes, but I also found some stairs and some fencing as well as a wooden shed and a house through the bushes. I want thick bushes to add to the creepy, dark look in going for so I tried to venture as far into the woods as possible. I also found a really interesting tree with roots curling around it with ivy and moss over it. The tree was quite creepy and I think it would look really good in my shoot. I just hope the weather is good enough to shoot.

The Technical Side

I've started to think about my video for this project. Mine is going to be pretty simple I think, I don't think what I'm doing calls for a crazy elaborate video. As I'm styling for magazines my video will be like a magazine page turning with the text of the story placed over the top. Also I'm wanting to include the beginning of the song by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs Lil Red Riding Hood, which has a wolf howling and the words "who's that I see walking over there, why it's little red riding hood." I think this is a fitting beginning to my video. Then I'm going to have the instrumental part of the song running throughout the rest of my video, with page turning sound effect as the page turns...if I can get them to fit together nicely. I'm hoping that my images will be strong enough to compensate for the lack of crazy technical video.

Anthropology

I went to London on Monday to get my outfit. I haven't quite finished getting everything yet. I'm hunting for some fur but when I was in London I went to Anthropology in Regents Street. I put a review of it in my other blog, however I think it is appropriate to put into this project. This project is partly about alternative forms of presentation, like Theatre De La Mode and their fashion videos. Anthropology's layout is different from other shops. It's creates more of an experience than a chore, which shopping sometimes is. As you can see from my rave review which you can see here, I rather enjoyed myself in Anthropology. How many shops do you go in these days and enjoy looking around at the decoration as well as the stock? It was almost like selling was secondary and the presentation and layout was the most important thing. I guess this shows how important a good presentation is. I was excited and inspired by this store where as most stores don't provoke these emotions in me, so don't leave as much of an impact.

Alexis Mabille

Couture designer Alexis Mabille collection shows off the appeal of a bright red outfit. Red to me represents passion, heat and love also it always feels wintery. It reflects the leaves of Autumn and the holly of Christmas. My outfit isn't going to be only red, I'm thinking about adding black to contrast, but I really like the strong look a red outfit gives.

Introducing the Wolf

As I'm not going to have a wolf I have thought of ways to represent the wolf instead of actually having a wolf figure. The main way I thought to do this was to include fur in my outfit. My shoot is going to develop by my model getting more evil and more messed up, I thought as the shoot goes through I could slowly introduce fur to represent the wolf. Also another way I was going to do this is by slashing the garments making them distressed like she had been in a fight with the wolf. Jean Paul Gaultier's winter 09 couture collection combines elements of fur with clothing. It is good to see how to include fur into a garment without making it look trashy or horrible. I particularly like the bottom left outfit. It has subtle elements of fur but I like the way it goes over the shoulder and peaks out by her hip like a kind of tail.

Style Influence

Helena Bonham Carter is known for her dark look. I particularly like the way she can look completely messed up but still have a elegant, dignified look about her. I also like the way her pale skin and her dark eyes and hair work together, it creates a strong, memorable look.