Research; Textured Wall Ideas

For the textured wall, we liked some of Jaime's ideas about making the texture ourselves from sticking materials together, however this seems like too much work and will take too long.  - So, I got some samples of wallpaper which we could use for this wall of our set build. The central plain samples have a lot of texture and can be painted over.

Research; Late teenage male bedrooms

Whilst looking at these images below, I noticed that the rooms were either quite clean and tidy, but had a lot of objects in the room, or just completely disgusting and messy.

 This room seems to include the basics of what a guy seems to need. - A bed and a cabinet for a few essentials. What makes this room personal is the posters on the wall, which looks like baseball and glamour models.

This room seems very clinical and clean. Perhaps a little too clean and tidy for an 18 year old male. 

This room may be more suitable for a male who's a little older.

 Although this room has a lot of personal belongings, the main focus is still the bed. Mainly because of the colour of the duvet. From everything in this room, we get an idea of what this boy may be like. - This will be helpful for our project, as we want our image to look real, not a staged image with a built set. We want it to look as if we've captured a moment.

I really like the slightly made bed with the duvet hanging off the edge. It shows that he's tried to make it look presentable, like an adult, but was careless in doing so, like a boy.

On the contrary, this room is disgustingly messy. Nothing is in it's place, the bed is scruffily made, there is rubbish and junk on the floor and only electronics and posters to make it really personal.

This is a close up of rubbish from a room. It looks like old used towels or clothes on the floor surrounding some old, worn trainers. The half eaten crisp packet shows he likes convenience food and is quite messy and careless.

If a boy was to be 18, he would surely not keep his room in this state if he was interested in meeting girls..?

I think this room is more along the lines of an older teenage male. The attempted tidiness with objects on the floor for convenience. - Clothes hanging from the bed, work and books on the floor.

The sports jacket and weights are what shows he's an older teen. The idea of wanting to bulk up and look more masculine.

Research; GHD Ads

For Fashion Fairytale, I began looking and studying the GHD advertisements, as they have done exactly the same as what we are intending with our shoot, many times. - Creating a modern twist on a fairytale which empowers women and highlights their beauty.

These two ads, make the woman seem very dominant and portray their inner confidence and motivation to lure a mans attention and heart into her captivity and power.

I looked at this image due to colour reference and because this set includes a bed.
Here, the female plays with an innocent act, but her facial expression and makeup suggest otherwise.

This image I felt could be really helpful as not only are the primary colours black with hints of red, the model has dark hair, comes across very dominant, and is wearing a seductive yet classy dress, highlighting her slim figure, with a teasing sight to her heel, leg and stocking. - Very similar features as to what our group wants to present in our own set.

I then found a version of 'Little Red Riding Hood'.

They have also chosen a model with dark hair, but have used the stereotypical red cloak.

They have stuck more to the original story with this ad, but the dominant, strong female has beaten the wolf. - Suggested by the wolfs tale dangling from her basket.

The make-up, gloves and boots accompanying this red cloak are quite fetish like. Again, highlighting this idea of a strong, independant, beautiful female.

Printing without a Neg.

With this workshop, we were creating images without a negative.

We used rubbish to create different lines, textures and tones using just light and shapes.

We used the same process of testing aperture with a step wedge;

This was created on F11 for 5 seconds;

 

We then used this process with sterncils experimenting with colours;

This was made on F11 for 5 seconds, which gave no colour apart from black.

I changed the aperture to the smallest one, of F45 and tested it for 5 seconds.

I then created this, experimenting every exposure with the Magenta and Yellow on various settings for 5 seconds each time;

My Shoots

From combining all of my ideas, I started to shoot my idea of 'Fashion & Waste'.

With this, I was aiming to show the fact that the fashion industry throws so much produce away to provide new season collections.

As consumers, we continue to buy more and throw away the 'old' seasons nearly as regular as the industry.

I showed my model as a mannequin, to emphasise the fact that this waste is related to fashion (also shown by the high street and designer bags thrown away) and to give this idea that us as consumers, who persistently keep buying the new collections, in order to be 'fashionable', are almost like dolls, or even robots, engineered to the mechanics of the Fashion world.

With the images on the right, I was reflecting on the idea of  literally 'throwing away'.
I purposely put my model in the 'blue/recycling' bin as we should be recycling much more than we do.
These 'no good', or 'old' items can easily be reused/remade.

The photos on the left, now go onto show that these old, unwanted items, or 'junk' can be someone elses 'treasure'. - Reinvented and loved.
I placed my model near a boat on the beach, as i thought it would link to this idea and saying of 'treasure'.
By the tide being out, the boat looks abandoned and no longer in use. - Linking to the unwanted clothes.
With the outfit, I still wanted it to be quite fashionable. Therefore the model is posed and dressed in normal clothes aswell as literal waste.

Whilst walking around Medway, especially on this area, 'The Strand' at Gillingham, there was a lot of discarded items and rubbish. Just laying there, spoiling the environment.
I linked this in with my focused saying, and used it within my shoot.
I used coke cans as rollers in my models hair and made an underskirt, which puffed up the top skirt, to give a dramatic look, using bin liners. - Both linking to my 'Junk to Funk' research.
I wanted my model to come across as a 'Waste Fashionista'. Revealing that items do not necessarily have to be new or cost money to be fashionable. - Like using a long bit of rope as a belt, which also linked to the boat and beach like scene.
I made my model wear sunglasses as, not only did the RayBan style go with the edgy look, I didn't want my models eyes to take any attention away from the waste outfit and environment.
I feel that a models eyes express a lot of emotion and narrative, and are a strong focus point within an image. - I didn't want this and felt it would link to my idea of doll-like features, if you could not see the eyes or expression.

Research; Lecture

From sitting in the lecture by 'Prof. Ulrich Lehmann', it gave me a different outlook regarding Fashion and waste. - Instead of linking fashion to waste regarding a rubbish tip, it made me think about the waste that the fashion industry produces itself.

This idea that the market deliberately producing clothes that will wear and tear in time, so people have to buy new items of clothing. - Unlike years ago, it is very rare that you will buy a coat, for example, that will last you five to ten years.

From this, I wanted to tie my idea of "someone's junk is someone elses treasure", as some artists, mentioned in the lecture 'repair' items and some 'recycle'.
If the fashion market keep throwing out and discarding perfectly reuseable items, just because they are 'not in season' etc, surely to someone else this 'junk' is a 'treasure' to find..?

Casting 'Red'

1-

I think this guy would look good to show a young lad becoming a man. It seems as soon as guys reach a certain age, they try really hard to bulk up and get muscley.

We could use some weights in the set to support this.

                         2 -

This guy, with this certain facial expression, looks like a typical teen in his later years. - Stern glare and some stubble but with quite a baby face still.

3 -

4-

5 -

Research; David LaChapelle

For this project I was really interested in looking at the idea of "someone's junk is someone elses treasure", but I wanted to incorporate fashion into the scene. - I felt these images were really helpful and inspirational.

With this image, I really liked how this 'rubbish' was reinvented and used as clothing. 

Even though this model is wearing what looks like a sleeping bag and a cushion, it almost looks like it's meant to work. It's meant to be an outfit.

 She looks very glamorous, with her make-up and pose, even though she is surrounded by destruction and rubble.

With these images above, although they are not dressed in rubbish, some items they're using, like the umbrella, are broken, which most people would no longer use and throw away. - I thought this really linked to my idea based around the junk and treasure saying.

These models look very fashionable, glamorous and sophisticated. They also appear that they are supposed to be in this area/scenery. - Like it is not out of the ordinary how most people would see it.

Inspirational Research; David LaChapelle

Due to us wanting to have our female model to come across quite dominant and sexy, I looked at some of David LaChapelle's work, where the female is in control of the male.

I also thought David's work would be good to analyse in relation to colour and how colour is used and relates to the set/story.

With this image above, the orangey-red really stands out against the blue background.
Black is the most dominant colour, which of course the female is wearing, with contrasting white pearls.

With all of David LaChapelle's images, colour plays an important part and definately helps highlight and express certain aspects to his photos.

Research; Bedroom Designs for young males

We were thinking of building our set as a young 18-20 year old males bedroom, to present 'Red', vulnerable in his own home, with the 'wolf' surprising him and seducing him.

I researched into different designs to help us with our set build. -

I didn't want our bedroom to be too sophisticated or unrealistic for 'Red's age.

http://freshome.com/2010/06/18/25-room-designs-for-teenage-boys-2/

Research; Enviro-Couture

Enviro-Couture: Haute Art from the Waste Container is a theatrical and finely tailored take on newspapers rewoven and hardware jewellery smartly crafted from re-possessed e-waste. This artistic collaboration breathes new life into yesterday’s news.

Enviro-Couture features 100% recycled newspaper wearables created by Elena Gregusova (a continuation of her “Wear the News™” collection), as well as the upcycled hardware jewellery of Barbara Gregusova. Both collections are illustrated in the fine art photographs of Martin Gregus. Barbara’s abstract, geometric jewelry collection is resourcefully crafted from recycled hard drives, laser toners, ink-jet cartridges and other re-possessed electronic waste.

This project bypasses the concerns of day-to-day fashion trends and instead suggests a blue-sky vision for the haute-possibilities that abound for materials generally destined for the trash pile or household waste bin. Traditional recycling is certainly an obvious waste reduction solution, but for those who wear their green heart on their sleeve, perhaps ‘enviro-couture’ is another way to fashionably spread the enviro-message.

inhabitat.com

Decision Making

At first, we were looking into the set build of 'Red Riding Hood' and were contemplating having an inside build of a cottage. - A front room or bedroom. We then thought about the forest and whether to incorporate the forest with this cottage scene.

After looking at the work of Gregory Crewdson, this image in particulare gave us inspiration;

This image includes everything we were looking at; A bed, house environment, a tree..

But after a long discussion, due to us wanting to give this story a modern twist with a sense of contemporary fashion, we felt this idea of a cottage and/or forest would contradict that and maybe not make sense.

We also had to consider building time and cost.

From this, we started looking at the idea of a bedroom and reflecting on our original intensions of the female being dominent and provocative whilst the male, 'Red' is timid.

We looked at settings of inside bedrooms and had a look at what they tell and reveal, through the lighting, model costume/position and set design.

More images by Gregory Crewdson;

At first view of this image, it comes across that this woman is conscious of her body. - Staring directly at her body in the mirror, analysing every single curve and detail.

The thing that caught my attention most, was where she is standing, or what she is standing in or on rather.

This patch looks like a burnt part of the carpet or perhaps a hideous stain. Why she is standing there is unknown.

Her facial expression looks emotionless and quite doll-like, along with her stance.

Within this image, the female also has a blank expression. She seems to be staring or day dreaming, perhaps contemplating her recent behaviour. - Going over what she has done and perhaps why. Analysing herself, like the image above, whilst a guy sleeps in the bed unaware of what she is doing.

She looks, from what I can make out, maybe a little sad or worried.

Both images seem to be taken at night, and have light from a lightbulb in the room.

This image, like the others, shows one person sleeping, whilst another is awake daydreaming or quietly thinking. They all seem to appear either confused, sad/troubled or worried.
The lighting here seems to all be from a bedroom window, outlining and reflecting certain aspects we cannot necessarily see. Like the outline of the other windows for example.

Gregory Crewdson pays meticulous attention to detail and can spend days organizing and rearranging a set, until he gets the perfect, move-still like picture.