#ayeshabrown

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MY THOUGHTS ON NICK KNIGHT ‘FASHION FILM’.

Fashion film is a medium that hasn’t yet been defined. It combines stimulating visuals with experimental sounds to convey a narrative of fashion garments to a defined audience. I think Knight, in his explanations hits the nail on the head in reference to fashion film not being the same as fashion photography. Fashion photography is the art of being able to freeze a moment of something in time to create a stunning flat visual to be consumed on mass. Fashion film as Nick Knight states is about bringing ‘the narrative that is already in the clothing’. It’s not just about on moment frozen in time, it’s about the telling of a story and exploring the narrative that the designer intended when making the garment in the first place, for the piece to be seen in movement.

Knight’s comments on fashion illustration evolving in to fashion photography and fashion photography evolving in to fashion film seem poignant to me as someone from an illustration background, who enjoys illustrating portraiture and has a heavy interest in fashion illustration. A key point that I think Knight failed to mention when addressing this, is the role that illustration can have (has been having) in the world of fashion film, in a sense that this evolution has come full circle.

I do agree however in that Knight believes that ‘it is important to allow people to see how things are made, to allow people to see the process.’ From the view as a creative less so than a graphic designer/illustrator, I often prefer the problem solving aspects and the journey of making the final piece. I think on occasion this is lost to an audience, but when a piece whatever it may be is executed well, the audience tends to be intrigued more and wonder how the piece was made.  

One of the most significant things that Knight in my opinion said was ‘great fashion makes a great fashion film’. The strength of the fashion is indicative as to the strength of the story that can be told and the range of ideas that can be generated. If the fashion has no sustenance then it’s no longer a fashion film, it’s just a film/video.

In saying this it does lead to the question will the audience now require more from the designer than a flat image in a magazine? If there is a heightened need for the audience to want to see the process and to see design in motion, will videos of catwalks suffice anymore? Ultimately fashion is expression and unlike other mediums, it is for the most part a significant part of an individual’s identity. The way in which that identity is expressed and shown to a wider audience is consistently changing and defining itself, which when it boils down to it, is pretty exciting.

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WHAT I HOPE TO GET FROM THIS PROJECT.

When the briefs were given out for the collaborative practice module, I immediately gravitated towards fashion film. The fact that it is a new medium which is still developing and is still being defined intrigued me thoroughly. I have let myself fall in to a comfort zone of becoming very strong at producing high quality work for print. I want to get out of my comfort zone and explore the world of motion, as well as learn new technical skills which could be very helpful in the future to extend my ideas further than I do currently.

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FASHION FILM BRIEF

You are to produce, in groups of five, a short fashion film, between 3-10 minutes in length for the designer assigned to your group. The film must be sympathetic to the client’s work and tastes. How you interpret the client’s work forms a key part both of this project and in professional practice as a whole. The use of sound is an essential element of this project and should be considered throughout. You will also be working with a member of the BA (Hons) Fashion Communication course as the stylist for your shoot. Again, effective liaison and collaboration with them will be considered an important element of the project.

You must produce the following: A 3-10 min long fashion film, uploaded to either Youtube or Vimeo, a hard copy of which will also be handed in. The film should be available in High Definition (HD) 1920x1080px. A group Reflective Visual Journal (RVJ), which shows your progress throughout the module, your research, your ideas and their development towards the final outcomes. See it as a diary of your progress through the project. An individual RVJ (see above). An individual Evaluative Report of 1000 words, which should document how you responded to the project and what you feel you have learnt (or not!) from it. This is not a description of what you did, but a piece of critical self-analysis.

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Very interesting video on animation techniques to spoken word poetry.

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Inspiration for delivery of my poem? Fantastic delivery and the fluctuations in tone are represented exceedingly well in the animations of the typography. I could use a similar technique?? Poetry by Marshall Davis Jones.