Filming

Behind the scenes of the filming of our Promotional Video.

We decided to film our video in the atrium television studios to make sure that we got the right lighting and equipment. 

Promoting the video to the consumer

When we looked back over our video we felt that it did have a slightly more "Look book" feel to it. To make the film more promotional we wanted to direct it towards our specific target consumer. We therefore decided to place a quote on the opening page, this will immediately attract the consumer who feels that they would fit in with the brand. We also decided not to feature the brands sold in the store as we want the feeling of mystery to be strong. We feel that people will be more intrigued to attend the PR events if they are given less information.

"She is clothed in strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future"

We feel this quote describes our consumer perfectly. It also links to the future which is perfect for the brand.

Inspiration

We have also found this video that captures the simplistic side of how we want our film. We want the overall feel of the film to be welcoming and natural and this shows that perfectly.

http://vimeo.com/7570033

This style of relaxed model acting throughout the film is similar to the style we want. This is also shot in a studio. If we were to use lighting that was soft and delicate we could also get the washed out look we were hoping for with the outdoor shoot.

This Kate Moss for Topshop film also captures similar lighting and feeling to our idea. The main aspect of our film that we want to keep is the natural and none intimidating feel. We want the consumer to feel as though they could be the woman featured in the film.

Back up shoot

As we do have our shoot planned for tomorrow outdoors, after checking the weather forecast today we have realised that it would be a suitable idea to have a back up shoot in preparation. Me (Lucy) and Sophie are going to look into other ways of filming and try and use our inspiration from our previous research and incorporate it into a studio shoot.

Obviously we will keep our fingers crossed that the weather is OK tomorrow but the forecast is not looking good and we do not want to ruin any equipment or put our model in bad conditions.

I have however emailed Coed Hills to see if they have any indoor or sheltered space that they could suggest we use.

Weather

As our shoot is based outside, it is important that we are aware of the weather in the days running up to and during the shoot. We hope to still shoot in any weather that might face us and be prepared to keep the model, equipment and ourselves dry and warm.

Model Contact

We have kept good contact with our model, filling her in with our plans and ideas so she can also feel free to put forward any ideas at the shoot. We want the shoot to look as relaxed as possible and if the model feels as relaxed as she can that will show in our film.

Music

With the music for our video we knew straight away that we did not want a well known or chart song. Our aim for our film is to create an eerie but relaxed feel and we therefore thought that using music without lyrics or songs that were slower to fit the feel. Molly used Spotify to search for songs that we could all listen to and decide on.

The main songs we found were :

Antony and the Johnsons - Cripple and the Starfish

Com Truise - Yxes

Jessica Pratt - Night Faces

Silent Servant - Invocation of Lust

Eddi Front - Texas

This song is our chosen track for our video. It is a perfect combination of lyrics and music and has a relaxed feel that is fitting with our video idea. It is also not chart music or a well known song and will therefore not isolate any particular person with a particular taste in music etc.

Hairstyle

Similarly to the make up look we want to create with the film, we want to keep the hair style simple and natural to match. We want the hair to look natural and fresh to appeal to the consumer. We know that based on the age of the target consumer they are likely to be in a busy job or to have a family to look after and will be less likely to have time to spend on styling their hair everyday.

By styling the model in a natural and easy way the consumer watching the film will feel that the look we create is easy to re-create. Our model has extremely long blonde hair that we think would be perfect for the look. We have also found some looks that we liked as inspiration.

These looks are all extremely natural. Having the hair down will also work well with the wind and weather as it will fall and move with the garments that we have selected. We want everything to fit together well and create an obvious aesthetic.

Make up looks

Although we have chosen a model that is only 16 and does look young we think this will work well with the target customer. We know that women around the age of our consumer (25-40) will not want to see women of the same age sexualised in clothing campaigns. With the overall aesthetic being simple,natural and effortless for our video, we want the same feeling to come through with the models make up and look.

Our target customer is mid 30's and will therefore be beginning to feel slightly more conscious about how she looks. It is known that women tend to judge other women by what they are wearing and how they look. As our main focus is selling and promoting Thesis to the customer we want the focus to be on the clothes and the brands sold as well as the aesthetic and ethos of the brand. The model is being used as more of a muse for the clothes as supposed to the face of Thesis.

Therefore to avoid making the target consumer feel threatened by the model we have decided to go for a look that is extremely natural. We want the model to look like she is wearing no make up, although obviously for film she will need to be wearing a base.

Also alongside the natural look of her make up we want to keep her hair as natural as possible.

We have found some inspiration in existing make up looks that will help us to create our desired look.

Mac make up looks for Spring/Summer 13 capture the style of make up that we want to use for our model. We do not want one part of the face particularly emphasised (i.e. no bright lips or dark eyes) The more simple and natural the make up the better. Also with the style of lighting we are planning to use for the filming, this make up would work well.

The make up that we use on the model is also important as women that are the age of our target consumer will be at the age where they wear less make up than they did when they were younger. A lot of women in their 30's will know what brands of make up they like and how they should have their make up to suit them best. We want everything about the look of the model to feel accessible to the consumer.

Model Scouting

We knew that we wanted a model that reflected the Scandinavian aesthetic. We had decided that we wanted a size 6-8 model, preferably with long blonde hair and pale skin. We started by looking in shops and found one model in Hollister. We did try specifically to find someone that was near a similar age to the target consumer but have found it difficult to find women of that age that are willing to model for us.

We knew from an early stage what we wanted our model to look like. We knew that we wanted a model that was not obviously pretty as we didn't want to make the brand feel unattainable. We wanted somebody who looked fresh and naturally healthy as we knew we didn't want to use much make up or over style the shoot. She needed to be fair skinned and have light hair to keep the aesthetic that we have built for Thesis as strong as possible throughout the project.

We also scouted using Facebook to try and find models with the same look. We came across one woman who unfortunately was not available for the shoot.

Ffion (No available)

Stephanie Thomas (not available)

Zoey Lucy Groves (chosen model)

Size 6 -8

Although our chosen model does look quite young for the age of our consumer, it is possible to make her look older with styling and make up. We also asked Jayne Hicks about filming and she suggested to go with a model who has the look we want and adapt the way we film to make her look taller.

Planning

This was our original check list for the start of the project (which is now a lot shorter)

Location Hunt....sort of!

With location scouting we knew that we wanted somewhere remote and quite plain to work off as a blank canvas. We decided to look at Coed Hills in Cowbridge as it is a rural art space When we looked into Coed Hills we found that there were a number of areas in the forest that had artwork placed. Such things as a huge bird cage and chair and table that we thought would work really well with the feel of the video that we want to create. We chose to go and look at Coed Hills whilst it was snowing and ended up stranded in the filed to the opening only being able to see the birdcage.

Although we didn't manage to look around the whole area the men that work at Coed Hill (who had to come and rescue us) told us that they have over 180 acres of land and forest that contained barns, sheds and sculptures that they were more than happy for us to use in the filming. They also suggested that when it is snowing "you can see things that you can't see in the normal weather" this inspired us to look into filing the video in the snow. However filming in the snow has posed a few problems - 

- Keeping the model warm

- Changing outfits

-Keeping hair and make up set

- Travelling in the snow

- Using equipment that could get damaged in the snow

We are hoping to shoot the film next week when the snow is slightly thawed, this will leave us with good lighting and conditions and some snow that is easier to work in. 

Fashion cinema inspiration

Fashion Cinema inspiration. These images use the same style of lighting and movement that we want to use in our film.

These are photographs of pages from Fashion Cinema. The movement captured in the still images are reflective of the look we want to create. The way in which the environment is aiding the movement and flow of the garments and the model is really effective in creating a mood and aesthetic.