Fashion Constructed image - Critical Appraisal

Fashion  constructed image - Critical Appraisal 

This project has asked us as a group to create a project based upon either: folk stories, current affairs, film, music, art or literature. We decided upon the theme of folklore and folk stories as this was a thematic that interested us all. We were interested in the broadness of the project which would allow us to explore all avenues. 

Initially we started to research into the theme of folklore and the sub genres which embody the theme, to understand and decide what we want to create a project on. After researching into suspicion and fairy tales we found that the group were most interested in Fairy tales as this was an avenue we all knew about and were inspired to base a project on as their is such a vast choice to pick from.

Fairy tales initial Research 

Initially we started looking into Fairy tales which had been created for fashion based projects from the adapted version of Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and Alice in wonderland. We decided as a group that we wanted to base our project on the Fairytale Alice in Wonderland as we felt our idea fitted with the theme of that novel. 

Annie Leibovitz Photography 

The above photographs are of Annie Leibovitz interpretations of Alice in Wonderland. We were particular fond of the way she has characterised Alice as this innocent child being manipulated like she is characterised in all modernised creations of the fairy tale. We particularly like photograph two of her falling down the hole as it shows the change and mystery that she is entering.

Original Eighteenth Century Illustrations

I personally researched into the Original eighteenth century illustrations of Alice in Wonderland and how from these originals how far the images portrayed of Alice have been adapted and changed and how the viewer now perceives Alice. The above illustrations portrays Alice as a darker mysterious character whereas in modern adaption she is portrayed as a sweet innocent character.

Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland

The above imagery is stills from Tim Burton's modern adaption of the tale of Alice in Wonderland. Burton is seen as a director who brings darkness into innocent story lines to add depth and expand the minds of the modernised audience. Even though he has added darkness Alice is still portrayed as the manipulated where we want her to be portrayed as the manipulator as we want to being the darkness of the character and allow the audience to feel and interpret the darkness through the use of lighting, makeup and props.

Alice in Wonderland Drawings

                             

These above interpretations of Alice portray the chaos of the character and the world she is entering this is something which we want to explore and incorporate into our project. We decided that we would like to create a photograph with Alice falling down the hole but with the chaos of the image to the right we want to really emphasise on the idea of chaos and madness of this world she is entering.

The first chapter of the book Alice in Wonderland is very crucial and important to the project it clearly states what props and the importance of them to the character it gives us the reader an insight into the type of place she is entering. The props stated in this chapter enables us to ensure they are in twinned into this project. 

The Concept 

Decided upon Alice in wonderland because we were intrigued by the vast representations of her from the original illustrations portraying the young manipulative girl and the now glamorized film versions, and as she is now portrayed as the manipulated rather than the manipulator something which we want to comment upon. We decided upon the idea of Alice falling down the hole with the chaos surrounding her we wanted to comment upon the madness she is entering.

Initial Sketch concept 

Chel drew this image for our first tutorial so Sam Chick could understand our idea and gain an insight into what we want to create and how we can develop the idea further. 

During the tutorial we realised that our idea is going to be really hard to create without looking like she is suspend to something as in Leibovitz photograph of Alice falling down a hole you can tell she is sitting on something. After our tutorial we started brain storming ideas as a group, we still wanted the element of chaos and craziness as this is an element which is associated with the tale. We therefore moved our idea towards the idea of her about to fall down the hole so there fore we still have all the elements of our original idea.  

Gregory Crewdson Reference imagery 

Gregory Crewdson's imagery was an important aspect of the decision making process to decide upon how we want the rabbit hole to visually look on the camera. We felt to incorporate the chaos of this world she is entering we would need to create a two part staging to allow us to capture the chaos of the rabbit hole and Alice at the the top of the hole tittering at the edge.  The sketch drawn by Chel portrays the idea which I have just elaborated on. 

our aim was to create Alice falling down the hole but due to technical failures we decided to have Alice reaching down the hole and to create a photograph similar to that of the above still from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland however we still wanted to include the chaos which is seen in the children's illustrated version of Alice in wonderland and the original illustrations which portray this chaotic place that Alice is falling in to. 

Initial Reference imagery 

Kirsty Mitchell

Kirsty Mitchell was our first source of inspiration for lighting and how we wanted the lighting to visually look on the hole. Image one was the style of lighting we wanted on the hole we wanted it to incorporate darkness but have to highlight areas of the props. 

Initial Lighting Plans

These lighting diagrams were created in order for us to gain a plan of what the set would start to look like and how the lighting would be positioned in accordance to the trees and the hole. We started by looking at having a soft box in the hole in order to highlight the hole and the objects placed in side it the use of the light on the hole will allow the viewer to understand that this is a hole. We also have planned that their will be a light behind the trees so that light is on the model and portray the idea of sunset.

The Leona Lewis video for Run portrayed similar lighting which we were found of creating this idea of the sunlight peering through the trees. We would use a yellow gel over the light if we decided upon this lighting plan as the yellow gel would represent the idea of sunset. 

Potential Props 

These props would potentially work for this project as these props were mentioned in the first chapter of the book and could be suspended to the hole. I feel that the marmalade jar should definitely be placed in the hole as its such a key sentence to the tale. Objects such as teacups should also work as it has clear reference to the mad hatters tea party.

Initial Hair and Makeup ideas 

For the makeup we wanted to stay as close as possible to the original Alice in Wonderland illustrations as they portrayed subtle use of makeup which we were all drawn to. The above imagery shows the subtleness we wanted to portray on a model.

Styling of the dress

The dress for this project is of key importance as the dress will portray the personality of Alice that we want the audience to understand. We started off by looking at Annie Leibovitz versions of Alice in Wonderland and the styling of dress she has used. We as a group researched into all styles of dresses and we came to a decision that a short dress would work best for our interpretation of Alice. Even though we didn't have the budget for couture dresses Sam Chick asked that we looked into that style of dress. We decided that we did need a dress that portrayed drama as this was something which would be incorporated into all areas of this project. 

Street Casting for Alice 

I personally was in charge of Casting so I decided to do a Street Casting day in order to try and find our Alice. I photographed thirteen different girls who i felt in some aspect could work for that character. I completed this task in time for our tutorial so we would all be able to with the assistance of Sam Chick make a dissision on who would work for Alice. 

Mock up Set construction and Lighting Tests

The above photograph was taken in order for us to visually start understanding how the set will look with the use of poly boards and a table. The below two images are from a lighting workshop which allowed us to start understanding what the hole will look like and decided upon measurements the depth of the hole the model in accordance to the back drop and how high we need to go and the framing of the shot. In this workshop we started to get a feel for how the set would look and lighting we were going to us in this workshop we used the lighting in accordance to the lighting diagrams mentioned briefly having a light behind the trees but hitting the model as well and a light looking up the hole but instead using direct lighting rather than a soft box. 

    

In this workshop we started using relevant materials to portray areas of the set we used a plank of wood to  portal the hole and c- stands to symbolise the trees. We started to find the correct camera positioning to gain the shot we have been aiming for and lighting as ported in the lighting plan above these images. having a light source up the hole a 300w, a T1 from behind the tress and a 650w aimed at Alice. This was the style of lighting we were aiming for.

Alice selection Casting process

After the street casting process we thought we had found the perfect Alice but once I had asked if she was up for it she said she didn't want to be involved in the project. So therefore with assistance from our tutor we found a perspective student who was willing to be involved who i contacted and sorted the arrangements out with.

Technical drawings for staging

These three technical drawings show the adaption of the staging and the finalised drawing. Emily's father created the staging with the use of these technical drawings as it was left a little late to ask the technology department at UCA. 

Finalised lighting plans 

After various workshops at university our lighting plan changed due to various alterations made we needed extra lights than anticipated due to lights being use to highlight props in the hole, lights needed to highlight trees in the background and various light on the model. 

Makeup test shots 

Reference imagery 

I organised hair and makeup as my flat mate is a brilliant makeup artist so we decided to do some test shots on another flat mate. We used a photograph as a reference as the photo portrayed likeness to that of the original illustrations but with a heavier darkness to it, due to wanting to portray Alice as a darker character we decided to apply black eye liner and gold and brown eye shadows to the eyes as we wanted the eyes to emphasis on the darkness of this person. 

Hair styling 

Still from film 'Red Riding Hood'

Advertisement for film ' Alice in Wonderland'

For the styling of the hair we wanted to go for a much more natural look her natural hair is that similar to the above images long with a a wavy kink to it. For the shoot we want to have volume so the stylist will add volume to it to portray a sense of being dragged through a bush. I am fond of image one and the way her hair is pinned away from her face. 

finalised Props 

        

                                               

   

The above images are of our finalised props in which we used old fashioned books, a backwards clock, an empty jar of marmalade, playing cards, teacups, grasses found around the hole, worms to emphasis the realness of the hole and trees to portray the English woods these were objects which were written in the first chapter of the book and objects that we linked with the novel.

The Dress 

This is the dress we finally chose it was from Ebay we bought it for £80 and the correct sizing for our model.  We took great inspiration from Leibovitz photography as we wanted to include the drama of her dress she selected but on a smaller scale dress. We decided that Alice didn't need shoes to emphasise on the fact that she is suppose to be a child and also that her feet would not be in shot due to her leaning down the hole. 

Accessories 

Farah photographed her own accessories which could work with the image where portraying about Alice we felt as a group that the bird cage would work as it was portray the sense of being trapped and not knowing how to escape and the sand timer as it would emphasise on time disappearing which is highlighted in the tale of Alice in Wonderland. 

Selected Model 

This is the model that our tutors helped to find, we felt that she resembled as close as possible to the original illustrations which was our inspiration to casting Alice. We felt that this model was perfect for Alice as she is petite like a child but had an adult face something which we really wanted to find in our model.

Production week 30th April - 4th May 

Emily's father made the basic staging for us in Dover and was transported to uni. Emily put the staging together on the Monday morning.

I put the black cloth backdrop us using two super stands to hold the weight of the cloth and the height we were wanting to go. Also, Emily started putting the trees up using C-stands which were brought in by a Lumberjack we wanted to go for a traditional British forest due to running out of branches as we were sharing with another group we had to call upon a student who could get hold of some more for us. 

We added chicken wire to the hole in order to create the round hole effect, then we added cardboard to the hole to enable us to add plaster which me and Michelle did whilst Emily and Chel arranged the branches on C-stands. 

We started painting the hole a dark brown so we could start to see if the hole was starting to resemble a hole and if this would going to photograph as a hole.

On Tuesday morning we came in and looked through a Hasselblad camera to see if the was going to capture what our intention was. We started to see through the lens that the set was looking very flat and didn't have a sense of wonderland. So it was suggested that was should left the stage and tilt it slightly in order to gain a hole.

We therefore needed to build a larger hole which we used cut up poly boards in order for the hole to stay up and hold the weight of the hole. We used expandable foam onto of the fishing wire which decided not to expand so therefore we used paper mache as well to bulk out the hole. 

On the Wednesday we were behind schedule and been finding it hard to organise ourselves previously so we all had job to do in order for us to finish the set build on time ready for Thursdays shoot day. Emily collected extra branches, whilst Michelle painted the hole and Chel and me collected grasses from outside to embed the hole and make it appear as realistic as possible. With the assistance of the technician Colin  he helped arrange the lighting in order for us to highlight the trees and the hole. 

On thursday once everything was dried and set we added the props and suspended them in different ways so the set looked alive and portrayed the sense of chaos and mystery. 

The above image is of the set with correct exposure and lighting. We were very happy with the outcome of the set and it really felt alive and portrayed what we wanted from the start.

This above image is a shot from a distance portraying the whole set camera positioning and the surrounding and Alice in position. 

hair and makeup 

These above three images are of the character go Alice once her makeup and hair had been finished these were taken on the sec on day as we had to change the markup slightly as on the first day it looked slightly flat. The stylist back combed her hair to give the dragged throughout he bush expression and highlighted her check bones through the use of bronzer. 

Selection process

Our selection process was a simple process as we felt that our final chosen photograph emphasised on what we were trying to portray to the audience about the character of Alice. The use of her hand reaching down the hole created this sense of wonder and mystery to the viewer which the others didn't. The final image also showed and demonstrated her contact and involvement with the hole which the others didn't they showed no contact and they lost the sense of chaos which the hole created. 

Final unedited photograph 

This is our final unedited photograph, we all felt that this photograph explores and portrays our concept of wonder, chaos and the madness of entering this unknown world. We felt that the model symbolises the perfect Alice in wonderland and the facial expression portrays this sense of wonder to the viewer. 

Final Edited Photograph 

This is the final photograph which has had small adjustments made in Phocus and Adobe Photo shop in order to gain the perfect image for hand in. We made small adjustments to this image we removed a spot on her face took away the green tint in her hair from the reflection of the trees and the yellow from the spun material over the light, lastly we also added the colour back into the dress and the trees. 

Budgeting 

The above spreadsheet is of all of our costs for this project out initial budget was £600 meaning that we would all put one hundred pounds in the budget each however the project came in under budget meaning we only needed to pay £48.00 each the main costs for this project was the dress and the materials to create the set. 

Evaluation 

I felt that as a group we worked well together we found out each others strengths and weaknesses along the way which allowed the project to strengthen as we went into our production week. Working within a group presented certain challenges a certain member of the group turned up late and left early during the production week which meant their was only four of us doing the work which there fore reflected on our production week as it took a longer amount of time to get things done. I did find that working in a group was useful as it allowed us to pinpoint certain tasks to one another depending on the strengths of that person. Each person in the group was assigned a role at the beginning of the project Farah was assigned role as production manager but due to absence through the project we had to give the role to Chel as she fitted the role better therefore Farah's role was  in charge of accessories. Michelle and Tania were in charge of props and Michelle was also in charge of scenic design. Emily was lighting lead and camera person, Chel was project manager and budgeting and I sorted out casting and hair and makeup. We all completed our roles and helped out each other where needed. I feel that overall this was a successful project in which every ones expertise were utilised. 

Our final photograph is a very strong piece of work which presents Alice tittering at the top of the hole she is presented with the chaos and mad world which she is about to enter. The hair and makeup, costume and lighting present a darker character of Alice which presents a manipulative young girl. 

The editing process caused some problems the hand in particular brought problems as we couldn't change the contrast of the hand without making it portray dead like. So even though the hand is particularly red where the blood has rushed to it we felt that it looked better than trying to adapt it to look similar colour to the arm. 

My role 

My role for this project was to undertake street casting in order to find the Alice we wanted for our shoot. I also took on the role for finding a stylist for hair and make-up in which we used a first year Fashion Promotion student at UCA in which she created the look we wanted for Alice this subtle but dark eyed character. I also collected grass for the set and collected playing cards for the hole. 

Powerpoint for 22/05/2012

The above presentation will be presented to the whole year on Tuesday the 22nd demonstrating everything we have completed on this task from early inspiration till the final edited photograph.