Week 17 | Fashion Accessories

This week consisted mainly of making again, It was with all the samples we had created. Although what differed from last week was the fact that we were focusing more on the silhouette of our mannequin. We wanted to create something far more unique and crazy. It started off with joining one part of the body to the other but it progressed into putting more focus on the shape of our garment. I think this was just a way to get us to free up our minds, not be so disciplined and go crazy with what we create.

However despite all of that I still managed to create exactly what I was creating last week. That was most disappointing because it felt like I was really stuck. I needed to be inspired again, I just felt like my ideas had come to a halt. My ideas ran dry because I wasn't focusing on what I should be. I should have been focusing on creating a unique and interesting silhouette for my mannequin. 

This is how I ended up creating this:

For this I simply grabbed a white sheet of cartridge paper and began cutting length ways making sure to cut it in to  15cm thick strips. With these I just tried to be crazy but still elegant. I didn't want to have many rough and sharp edges. I wanted everything to be smooth and soft. I started off with using the paper to caress the mannequins shape and then building off of that. That allowed me to intertwine the strips of paper to hold it in place better. After establishing the foundations I simply grabbed more strips and piled on, making sure that the elements I added were dynamic and they protruded from the body in order to change the silhouette.

I felt it came out quite nicely seeing as I didn't use many materials and all of it came from an a1 sheet of paper. I simply cut it into strips and voila, a garment. It was probably merely a concept but nonetheless I felt pretty accomplished. To compare what I was creating at the start to this was amazing, I had actually focused on just the shape and silhouette and created something quite pretty.

After doing some making for quite a while we had to now come up with some designs and concepts. It was essentially the same thing but on a 2D scale. We were required to use our samples to create conceptual ideas and designs but on an illustrated model instead of a mannequin.

This was my first set of designs. I went along with the idea of remastering the silhouette but using elegant and soft curves. They definitely don't look pretty and that was my issue. They were just too plain, the medium I used just wasn't colourful enough. 

I decided to photocopy my samples and then cut them up in shape with the mannequins body. I then started to place the samples anywhere and everywhere so that I could pick certain things from each design. Although it wasn't as fun as the other way we were designing it was a great idea to do some of this. Its a different way of designing and anyone would happily welcome new skills. It would have been nice to have chosen more interesting materials for my samples but thats only because I didn't have any fun patterns or shapes to play with.

Week 16 | Fashion Accessories

Fashion

Our first week of fashion was certainly an interesting one. Upon reading the topic brief I realised it was a fashion accessories course which of course meant creating an accessory instead of a full garment. That wasn't so bad. I had never done fashion before and so not diving straight in and making a dress or t-shirt is a great way to be introduced to fashion.

In preparation for the lesson we were asked to assemble a collection of images based on either Art, Architecture, Science or Nature. I decided to choose nature and went straight to the library in order to get some secondary research from some of the books they have. I found a lot of images I wanted to use but I only chose the ones that seemed to have a connection.

I made use of my images and made a moodboard, mainly because that was what was required but also because it is a great way to visualise ideas and gain inspiration. The images I selected were a range of leaves that all caught my attention, the golden coloured ones are amazing and i felt it really represented some sort of embroidery as well as being a leaf. We hadn't been told what we were using the moodboards for but I tried to aim it towards fashion in some way. Hopefully looking back on it I won't regret being a little more free.

I decided to make another moodboard. Although it wasn't representative of either Art, Architecture, Science or Nature I felt it was really necessary to have in my book.

I designed this one because this is where I'd like to focus on the body. I want to create something that really accentuates the curves of the body. I felt that in order for me to try and focus on that part of the body and identify areas that I want to work on this needed to be somewhere in my book.

We were told to identify certain aspects of our moodboards. This could be a specific shape that we found interesting. Once we found it our task was to multiply it and manipulate that shape to create a new shape. I played with the scale and orientation of my chosen shape and placed it onto the body to see what I could create.

This was the area of my moodboard that I chose, it was just a snippet of one of the leaves but I chose it for the very interesting shapes within the leaves. 

I outlined the shape onto a piece of tracing paper and changed the positioning. I didn't really focus too much on the detail, I was just trying to be playful and see what I could create. 

After much experimenting I decided to take it up a notch and actually place the shape straight onto a mannequin. This seemed more effective and it definitely made the concepts look better from the introduction of colour. For this I changed the scale and orientation of the element whilst also bearing in mind how to join one part of the body to the other. I made a couple of designs similar to this.

For the remainder of the week, Thursday and Friday we were asked to bring in some everyday materials from the pound stores that we could experiment with. We had to bring in bulk quantities of whatever we bought so that there weren't any restrictions with what we decided to make. I bought in a load of a5 folders, rubber gloves and plastic cutlery.

The materials we brought were to make samples. The samples weren't anything specific but just to see what interesting shapes we could make and any wild ways we could manipulate the materials. 

These were the materials I brought in.

These were the samples that I created.

We were asked to create a minimum of 6 samples. I found the task quite demanding. This was because the selection of materials I chose really weren't the best. I failed to select materials that could easily be transformed and manipulated easily. One of the materials I brought in was a selection of plastic cutlery but because of their rigidness I couldn't really find a use for them. Every time I tried to bend them or cut them they'd snap. Eventually after many failed attempts I just gave up and decided to stick with the rubber gloves and folders. 

Once we had created the samples it was now our job to put them onto the mannequin. A quick and cheap way for us to do this was to photocopy each of our samples and attach it that way. We only had one of each of our samples and photocopying was a great way to get multiple copies that we could play with. 

It certainly felt strange using paper instead of fabric on a mannequin but the point was just to experiment and get to grips with how a fashion designer would go about designing an accessory or garment. 

These are some of the designs:

Week 15 | TV Production

TV Production

The TV production week was only a 2 day project. This was part due to it being assigned as our winter break "homework". We were divided into groups and tasked with the idea of creating a 20 minute broadcast about Teens that appealed to that demographic.

With our groups chosen, my group opted to use Facebook as a means of communication between us. This allowed us to generate ideas, discuss topics and also assign job roles. My job role was the Floor Manager but I wasn't really aware of what that entailed until the day of filming. We were all expected to be in on Monday to get a welcome back and a brief rundown of our week. We also had a couple of hours as a group to finalise the planning and pitch our idea to Ian. That was how Monday went. At first it was a bit manic because we were all waiting on our 'Director', Matteo. Unfortunately he was the only one with all of the planning actually on paper and he was also the only one to be late so we had to wait around a while before we could start some serious work.

Being totally honest, I really wasn't aware of the idea of our show until that Monday but I didn't have much of a problem with that. Matteo gave us a rundown of our show and some of the special features like pre-recorded videos, title sequences and special talent we might invite onto our show. This was then all pitched to Ian.

The day of filming had dawned on us. Thankfully we were only filming at the last couple of hours of the day so that allowed us to get a very brief lesson in what we were expected to do. As the whole studio was going to be operated by our group it was absolutely crucial everyone knew what they were doing, especially as we had 4 camera operators.

In preparation for our TV Production project, Ian had hired a group of third year degree students to help us and essentially teach us how to run the studio and the gallery. We arrived in the gallery (above) and were given a tour of all the computers, monitors and gadgets they use to make a television show. It would have been great to receive a more hands on approach to learning how each thing worked but we simply didn't have the time.

After the tour of the tech we were going to practice some of the scenes and 'Block' the show. My job as the floor manager meant that I had to have everythi
ng in check downstairs in the studio. I had direct communication with the director and I had to ensure that anything he wanted done, was done. I had to make sure the talent were on cue with the show and I had to make sure the camera crew knew what they were doing whenever they needed assistance.

I was pretty happy with what I was expected to do. It wasn't a huge payload and I felt I did my job pretty well. There were a couple of occasions where I should have been more alert to the situations but thankfully this all occurred during the 'Blocking' part of the practice. That was the only thing I found I needed to improve upon, but that would come with practicing the show and knowing what happens and when.

I felt the Director could have been more clear at times, there were a couple of occasions where the crew were left confused because there wasn't enough clarity in the instructions the director gave us, but again this improved the more we practiced. It felt like a really successful set of rehearsals.

Coming off the bat of a few great rehearsals we decided to go for a full filming at around 3 o'clock. The first attempt was a lot smoother than I had expected with a lot of the crew managing to follow instructions effectively, and with a lot of skill. There were minor incidents with camera angles but all in all it didn't look too bad. The best parts were the interviews with the talent, I felt they went really well and we switched up the camera angles throughout to get a really professional look. However, there was room for improvement.

We ended up running through the whole show two more times after that, so three recordings even though we were supposed to only have two. Although it was nice to have a another shot at perfecting our show it was a monumental amount of pressure having to film three times and film on the second day. We would have had a whole day extra plus another shooting opportunity more than the first group, this meant ours had to be better. We had more time than them. Shooting didn't finish till about half four and we were all shattered, hours upon hours of standing on our feet and shooting, shooting and re shooting. It was knackering but it was all worth it in the end.

The TV Production project was really quite fun, it was a new experience that will hopefully come in useful one day. I've worked in that kind of environment before in previous film shoots I've been on but not being a floor manager. I was merely just a runner. This was a much more demanding task, having to be accountable for the whole crew was a massive task but I felt it went smoothly and very enjoyably.

Week 14 | Animation

Animation

T'was the week before christmas and, i'm guessing as a treat, the tutors decided to let us end the term having a bit of fun. This meant letting loose on a bit of animation. It was only the most basic of animation but arguably it is the most fun and interactive, also seeing as we only had a week to come up with something it was a smart decision.

There wasn't a brief as such though, not like the previous projects. We simply were given the task of creating an animation that showed a sense of togetherness. However the catch was that we couldn't use any representative shapes or objects. That meant anything and everything that depicts an existing being or thing. It had to be totally abstract. 

We watched a short animation called Balancing Blocks. The short clip was about a group of abstract blocks that literally came in all shapes and sizes. There wasn't much of a story to the animation except a need for teamwork and unity. The blocks begin by exploring and discovering what they can do and that develops into them working together to form a tower, they fall and fall and fall yet each time they pick themselves and rebuild the tower, getting higher each time until they peak. The inevitable happens and they fall one last time. What would it matter, with teamwork they achieved something.

We started off with some really basic stuff such as flip book animation. It seemed really easy at first but I kept getting caught out with the placing of my drawing, I often found my animation drifting across the page in different directions.

This was my first creation, its just a circle that gets fuller and fuller with each frame. It was very time consuming because each frame I redrew the whole circle, this allowed the dots to be in different positions and therefore the animation wouldn't feel so static. My animation showed togetherness as all of the dots combined to create a circle.

My second animation was meant to be a pretty snowflake-like shape but a small mistake ended that dream. Instead of throwing it away I decided to reinvent it and make the mistake the plot. These are just nine of the main frames in the animation but they show everything that needs to be seen. 

These animations that I have created were all made by myself on my own, but later in the day we all had the option to work in a group and so me and a few fellow classmates decided to work on an animation together.

We spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas and settled on a christmas themed one to fit in with the festivities

Our idea was inspired by the animation Balancing Blocks. It involved a lot of abstract and colourful shapes coming together to build something. In this case it was to create a Christmas tree. The whole process was long and tiring as you'd have to end up moving about 20-30 pieces of plasticine a centimetre at a time whilst simultaneously making sure you didn't move the camera and/or some of the pieces in the wrong direction.

 The main large shapes were all different shades of green and they would make up the tree, the small colourful shapes were all meant to represent the baubles. They all started from outside of the camera and slowly progressed into the middle. We were aiming to show a sense of togetherness and that working in a team is somewhat beneficial. Personally I thought the idea was a really fun idea and it was turning out quite well. I was a little sceptical because it was a huge workload to take on in such a short amount of time. We only had the day to create this and we actually only decided on the idea just before break and so we really had to work our socks off.

Thankfully one of us stayed behind during our lunch to help get some of it done and thankfully some people from other groups saw what we were doing and decided to help out as well.



Final Animation:

Film Final Evaluation

Film Final Evaluation

For our film project we had to work in teams to create a short film with a duration of 1 minute. I had never done anything to do with film before so I couldn't really look forward to anything. I didn't know what to expect at all. The only restrictions that we had was the length of the film itself. It was meant to be a minute in length and at first all of us were a little cautious. A minute was a very short time, especially to portray a story of some sort. But it can be done, that was as much as we knew.

All of our research was based on short films that were a minute in length or close. It was mainly to get to grips with what we could achieve in such a short length of time. We watched films such as "The Black Hole" which told the story of a boring office worker who experienced a slippery slope of greed that eventually led to his downfall. The key to telling a story in a minute is to use scenes that are very short, they need to be very short and in order to get through your story you need to shoot loads of them. The scenes must be concise though, they must get to the point otherwise you are wasting a lot of screen time and not getting anything important shown.

Our group was very organised, we planned to meetup on a Sunday and thankfully everyone turned up and all on time. We were very efficient with our shooting, we were all aware of what scenes needed to be shot first so we could save time. My group went down to the river side and began our filming, everyone in the group had something to do, Me especially as I was one of the actors. We spent quite a bit of time making sure we had the framing right and that included a lot of re-filming various scenes. Sometimes we wouldn't have some of the props in the scene or one of the actors weren't in the frame as much as they should have been. It was the right thing to do in my opinion, my group showed that they wanted to get the film done as best as possible.

Everyone's film had to have a Moral Premise as the basis to their plot. That was what their story had to be based upon. Our's, however, didn't have a solid moral premise and therefore the tutor, Sebb, had a really big problem with it. Despite this we still continued to film. I think that the only thing we could have done to improve our film would be to come up with a solid moral premise to backup our ideas.

Working as a team was strangely more enjoyable than I had anticipated. I'm usually not a fan of working in groups, I can do it well if absolutely necessary but I prefer not to. This is generally down to clashing ideas and split opinions. However I kind of just let everyone have what they wanted to happen, happen. Our teamwork really shone whilst we were filming, we were all cold but we persevered and got all the shots we needed. Something we could have done better was probably generating ideas, there were about five of us and we seemed to struggle to come up with an idea for our film hence why we still don't have a solid Moral Premise. However, overall I felt that it was a quite enjoyable experience and we created a successful short film.

Week 13 | Film

Now that we had finished shooting all the scenes for our short film it was time for us to edit them and put them all together. I say "we" but it was mainly Dawn and Nikita who edited as they had access to all of the files and they also had enough knowledge of the editing software to get the job done.

Whilst they were doing that Me and the rest of the group were searching for appropriate music to use for the film. We had opted to shoot our film without any dialogue as it would remove the need to create a script and the acting wouldn't take so long. Cutting down on dialogue saved us a lot of time and also prevented us from using very cheesy, cliche lines.

It was hard to decide on a specific type of music, it definitely couldn't have any words in it and considering the overall mood of our short film it would have to be quite emotive music. It took us a good while before we found something that really fit into the mood of our film. Soon enough we got it incorporated and we had the chance to have a real look at what we created. Upon first impression it was a little cringey but that was because I was watching myself and my poor acting, It's the same feeling as when you hear your own voice on a recording. It just doesn't sound right. All in all the film we created looked really great, there were just a few scenes that we really felt we needed to shoot again. Seeing as we had a lot of time on our hands we got that done as soon as we could.

I think we worked really well as a team, and although I wasn't particularly looking forward to working in such a large group, we ended up creating something pretty successful.