Brand Story Board Presentation.

Above is my inspiration for my brand shoot. As my word is pastiche and I have decided to re-brand No:7 I have decided to pastiche some of my favourite No:7 campaigns into a new fresh campaign. The spot light has been used predominantly in these shots so I want to use this as I think its a great was of focusing on the makeup and giving the advert a clean, premium look, the look that No:7 aims to achieve.  

These adverts have focused mainly on the eye makeup but I want to focus on the lips as the focal point and create a glowing fresh, clean skin look. My model has really great bone structure so I'm going to really focus on highlighting the beautiful curves of her face. I think the spotlight is a really great lighting tool for picking up cheek bones and defined features. Also because No:7 has survived so many great and iconic eras, I want to incorporate this into my shoot, by giving it a vintage feel, with a modern twist. This will help keep it current and keep its appeal to its current demographic. I want to use a modern 40's inspired hairstyle and red lips as my main design idea.

I wanted to mirror my image in the editing room but Sharon suggested that this might be to far for a No:7 brand shoot, which I took on board. I feel I need to keep The shoot design simple, to not lose my audience. So I'm going to keep it about the lighting and makeup.

I presented this to my class in Sharon's lecture today and I got some really great constructive feedback. I had worked really hard with my research and coming up with a design that was both forward thinking and brand appropriate. I am surprised how much I've really enjoyed designing a look for this brief. I have still been able to be creative but have also learned to fit into someone else's brief. This can be difficult but I have found it really exciting. Ive really enjoyed presenting my ideas to the class and pitching my ideas and creative thoughts. I love the feedback and love being in a creative space where creatives are all sharing design ideas and visions.

Ref: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02639/Keeley-Hawes_2639077a.jpg

http://fashionrecipe.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f0ebb10d970b0134854cfc2a970c-800wi

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https://www.google.com/search?sa=G&hl=en&q=norman+jean+roy+cate+blanchett&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSkAEajQELEKjU2AQaBggCCD0IQgwLELCMpwgaYgpgCAMSKIwOohnjGJwZrhmlGaEZqRmUGf8Y1SyuMsU8jiS2PNQsrTLiO-olgzEaMIJzrd7uY14tJTZFJ6hRhVTzMDdApZ9fKpDRCCux5203FOZi0EEo5pU5hia_1_1bwMxyADDAsQjq7-

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https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/371265563012523506/

Editorial Shoot for Pastiche: Styling

So I have thought a lot about the styling for my final Editorial shoot. I feel that this will add so much more to the images and create a more professional look to this shoot. Because we have had a large amount of freedom with this specific shoot. I wanted this to look like something you would see in Vogue or Harpers Bazaar. The creative designing part of shoots is the aspect that excites me the most. I love thinking up the costume, the makeup, the hair, the jewellery, the location, the lighting, the angles and composition. I love every aspect so I want this to represent my style and other skills within the industry. 

My word is Pastiche, and because I have researched the history behind feathers and stones within indigenous cultures I wanted to create a contemporary interpretation. I have chosen to interpret these items by creating my own versions. I bought some beautiful Indian wedding jewellery from a shop in Marlands in Southampton. The whole set includes a necklace, earrings, and a head piece. Its detailed with Gold stones in a gold setting and it is made in india. I fell in love with this set and thought it would be so beautiful and captivating in my editorial shoot. This set is my modern representation and symbolism of the gold stones that the mayan shamans were buried with. The gold stones represented the sun so I think it will be a special touch to include them in the styling of my shoot.

The Jewellery was the first thing that I saw that I was immediately drawn too. After this came my headdress design. I was playing with the idea of using blue feathers as I was drawn to the blue feathers the mayans used for there headdresses. I loved the blue colours of feathers I found for my mood board, but when I was making it I felt that the blue feathers would be too much all together. I wanted it to be very light and airy and I was drawn to my white feathers that I had also purchased. I started making the headdress and found that the white and gold just went so well together. I began making the bralet with white feathers too and it all came together. The last thing I designed was the skirt. My mum is a seamstress and she makes clothes among other things, and she had a box of material that I found. I found a beautiful piece of material that was a very pale duck egg blue with orange and gold birds on it! I thought this was perfect as all of these ideas, even the indigenous tribes headdresses have been pastiched from birds. It went so beautifully with the feather bralet and headdress that I asked my mum if she could make me a mock up skirt. I designed the shape and length and my mum had it ready in 2 hours. It was perfect! I put it all together and fell in love with it. From this I then designed my final makeup design. 

Brand: No:7

So today we were given our brands that we will use for the second half of our digital image production unit. 

I was given No:7. I will have to fit my ideas from my 'Pastiche' Editorial Shoot into this brand. 

 Known to women across England as the 'luxury brand that is affordable'. Every women knows this brand and has either, themselves, or someone they know, tried the products available. Its customers are loyal and they trust No:7. Its familiar and this is what keeps the brand alive.

No:7 was created by John Boot the heir to the boots dynasty. Having bought the company Boots back from America after the Great Depression, He decided to create an own-brand. No:7 was launched in 1935 with an 11 product skin care line and the slogan 'The modern way to loveliness'. The brand expanded with a colour cosmetics line in 1937. Production was stopped due to the second world war but was then re-introduced in 1942 and then was fully re-launched a decade later. Using the slogan 'Better and lovelier than before'. 

http://files2.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_699/6990855/file/no-7-make-up-range-full-impact-small-13320.jpg

In there recent campaigns they seem a little more representative of there customer demographic. It seems to also represent what they stand for, A British Luxury Brand that is all about enhancing your natural beauty at any age, for an affordable price. It looks like they have taken the 'Real Women's Natural beauty' approach much like the 'Dove Real Beauty' campaign. They have used their reputation for being the 'every woman's brand' as a way of structuring there new marketing and advertising campaign and targeting No:7's longstanding customers.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/08/05/11/2B1DB83400000578-3185794-image-m-15_1438771442255.jpg

I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the most current re-branding. I much prefer the beauty ads featuring previous No:7 ambassador Keeley Hawes. The images were more creative and they made the makeup more exciting. They made the brand more exciting. It also felt a little more high end.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ee/2c/11/ee2c115ddad18d7251a60e073ac90646.jpg

I love the idea of natural beauty and that every woman is beautiful and this is true, but for me I love the idea of using an Icon or famous actress to brand makeup. That was something I loved to see when I was a kid and I aspired to look like those women and buying the makeup felt more glamourous. As shallow as it sounds for me makeup has always been about glamour and lifestyle. It was about living in a type of fantasy where you could be any version of yourself you wanted. It was like costume and and matching your outsides to your insides. 

No:7 has an incredibly long history and has gone through numerous changes and re-branding, Constantly trying to keep up with changing trends. I feel that you can see this in the advertising over the years. There isn't one running theme when it comes to there beauty ads, or a particular style they go for. It feels messy and I feel that in the past they have sometimes lost there identity and tried to be a brand that they are not.

When I first received my brand I wasn't happy about it. It was the only non High-end brand that was given out and I was worried that I would be limited in my design process but I found it to be to the contrary. The fact that No:7 has such a history of re-creation and re-branding means it gives me more scope to create something a little different. It allows me to go a little outside of the box. I can pastiche some of its previous styles and create something new and fresh whilst still keeping to the bones of the brand. 

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/mother-londen-production-s3bucket-asda8lo6v37l/content/section-5412be978e1213.44655386/Carousel/NO7_EX_LA_2009%20copy.jpg

References: http://www.boots.com/en/History-in-the-making_1371366/
http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion-blog/2012/apr/16/brief-history-of-no7-boots
http://www.brandrepublic.com/article/464972/superbrands-case-studies-no7

My final idea and my second presentation for Digital Image production 2, My given Brand.

I had my presentation today. I had re-thought my Ideas since the feedback from Sharon's Class. As I was mostly drawn to feathers and furs and the colours and textures of these from my first moodboard so I decided to look at ways these were pastiched. I have explained this in more detail in some of my previous posts. I was really happy with the feedback from some of the girls in my class and from Sharon so I'm feeling a little more confident. I feel really passionate about my mood board and the direction I'm taking.

I have completed a couple of face plans so far and have come up with a final idea. I have purchased some beautiful jewellry from an Indian Bridal shop and these will represent stones. I am also In the process of designing and making my own contemporary head dress. I feel this is a way of pastiching this beautiful tradition whilst also creating a really unique look to my photograph.

feedback from Presentation:

These are the feedback forms I received from my peers. I was happy with the feedback and happy that they could connect my Idea to my images easily.

My Face Plans:

The face plan above was my first attempt when designing a look for this project. I went in with a very limited Idea of what I wanted to do. I definitely struggle with face plans and creating dimension with them. I found it quite hard but I'm going to follow a couple more tutorials and practise to really get better at this as I understand that this is a very important aspect of what I am doing.
With this face chart I had a basic Idea of what colours I wanted to use but because I am using a lot of jewellery and head accessories I wanted to keep the makeup really fresh and simple and play with small bursts of colour around the face. I also thought of blocking the eyebrows out for this idea. I would achieve this with glue to stick the hairs down and then colour over them with foundation. I would also make the skin really glossy by applying a lot of baby oil to my models body. I would then go over the body with the balm highlighter as I want a really etheral feel. I feel that this design is too much for my final look and I definitely want to strip it back. But I feel this created a stream for me to follow in search of my final design Idea.

This was my second design Idea. I liked this one a lot better because it was a little more simple. I was looking at feathers for lashes to intensify the eyes and for the theme of slight bursts of colour to stream through with this design Idea.  I love the use of coral in this look but I dont really like the purple. I would also keep the skin glossy in this design too but I would use Annie's natural thick brpws in this design as I feel they would add dimension and depth to the final design. I do feel though that I'm getting closer to my final Idea. I'm going to explore a bit more a strip it right back and keep it even more simple and see how my ideas develop.

Even though I have found this process quite challenging I feel like I have some good Ideas I just need to keep exploring and see how my ideas progress. 

Kate MccGwire: A sculpture artist specialising in the medium of Feathers.

I was browsing through Pinterest and was looking at different ways in which feathers have been pastiched. I came across these sculptures my Kate MccGwire. I was absolutely blown away. She collected thousands of feathers and created these amazing sculptures. They look like moving liquid forms flowing and creating these massive shapes. The way that feathers are made means that when the light hits them it highlights different areas. So when you move the light will move across the feathers giving the illusion of movement. This also highlights the different colours that are formed in feathers. They look like the placement of feathers on a bird. When Birds bodies move or fly, the sun hits the feathers and gives their form a sculpted appearance showing off the lines of its body.

These sculptures have made me think about the sculpture of my headdress. I am creating my own feather headdress in honour of the indigenous tribes Im researching. I know how sacred the headdress is to the indigenous people so I didn't want to replicate it. I want to use it as a source of inspiration and create a contemporary Interpretation. I love the shapes of these sculptures and would love to incorporate these into my design. Creating that movement like water or air. Incorporating the nature elements into my headdress as this is the core focus in my final image.

Hawaiian Kahunas and their beliefs.

I wanted to find out a bit more about the different indigenous tribes in Hawaii. Kahunas in ancient Hawaiian tribes are the healers, priests and spiritual teachers of their tribes.  They would have been a master in their chosen Field of knowledge and practise. Some of the different experts would have been: A dream interpreter, sorcerer, bird catcher, weather reader, Agriculture expert, Faith Healing, Spirit Communicator, User of Black magic, and High priest. 

Each would have a set of rituals used to connect with the spirit world/ Mana (Universe or Universal Spirit). These would be used as a source of prayer when looking for guidance for emotional, technical problems and for asking for channeled energies for these problems also. 

The rituals could be quite elaborate and extensive for example the use of a male human sacrifice was used to gift the chosen god. They believed that The gods needed to be fed or they would disappear. 

They were known as the secret keepers and were great influences in there tribes and were believed to be great and powerful beings. 

I love the way that in this culture a kahuna ( Hawaiian shaman) was an expert in their own Field. It was about knowing your craft and passing it on to your descendants. I love the connection to nature and how spiritually connected they were. There rituals were ceremonies that were alive and musical. Reading more about them has been a great source of inspiration to the feel of my shoot and also the costume. 

Pastiche: My presentation to the class

We had to give our presentations today. My word is Pastiche. Pastiche is when an artist recreates an other artists work. It can be imitation, copying or an artists use of an other or a few artists style. This idea felt really broad to me so I did feel a little intimidated. I decided to go more with the link between an Artist- The moment of inspiration- and the recreation.  I wanted to capture the feeling of inspiration, and the way that that feeling can make you feel. I wanted to capture that with light, colour, emotion. I really wanted to use Feathers as I feel this has been pastiched through history, so I really wanted to include this into my final shoot. This mood board, I feel captures that. 

I unfortunately didn't get to show my presentation to the class but I felt that I really needed some feedback and so I stayed behind so that I could see what Sharon thought of my direction. I showed Sharon my Idea and talked her through my thought process and she explained to me that my Idea was  too figurative. Sharon explained that I have made the word too big and that I need to stick to one direction and then expand from there. At first I felt quite disheartened and confused but I decided to think about what Sharon said and see if I could channel my thoughts into one space. I realised that I had lost the word in my idea. So I looked at my mood board again and had a look at what images drew me in the most and that were relevant to pastiche. This was a struggle because I didn't want to be too literal and I also didn't want to be to metaphorical. Other words for pastiche are imitation, copy and mimicry. 

The main Images that I was drawn to the most were of feathers. I thought of how used they have been through history, Through costume and art. I had a look at shamanic costumes and clothing and the traditions of shamanic people's imitations of the animal Kingdom. They believed that Birds connected them to the spirit world and that if they wore the feathers of specific birds it would bring them closer to the gods. They would mimic Birds and all animals for different reasons. Each animal would represent something different in nature. I want to explore there costumes and different beliefs and see if I can Pastiche there costumes and create my own interpretation. I also want to have a look at the materials used, Fur and feathers specifically and how these have been pastiched in art, fashion and costume. I feel that this will be really good inspiration for my contemporary shoot.

Feathers and There Pastiched History

Feathers are everywhere. They are weaved into our clothes and accessories and sewn onto our homely furnishings. Feathers have always been an elegant accessory to our fashionable lifestyles. They have been used for Military uniforms, floristry, hat adornments back in the 1800's, Feather fans in burlesque. They are everywhere still in fashion today. In western culture they are simply used as a fashion accessory but elsewhere in indigenous cultures around the world they are used as a connection to the other world. The spirit world. 

In these tribes feathers are their connection to the spirit world. Birds can fly and the tribes and shamans of those tribes believe that the birds can connect them to the other world. They believe that Birds are the messenger of the gods and that they can receive messages from the gods through them. The birds are the only being that can fly through the different worlds. 

When I read this I just thought it was so beautiful. I love nature and I love how you can feel so connected to it just by being in it. I love that there is such a huge connection to animals in these indigenous tribes and how there is a give and take relationship with nature. They rely on nature and its gifts to survive.

In these tribes there is always a shaman. He or she might also be known as a medicine man/woman, spirit reader, healer, and messenger to his tribe. They are a very respected member of the tribe and their role is very important for their survival. Shamans, as part of their practise, mimick the animal world with costume. They feel that by being the animal, acting like the animal, they can connect and communicate with the animal kingdom. The shaman in these tribes is the the bridge between the world of nature and the human world. 

I really want to Mimic this in this project. I love the idea that they mimick the animal kingdom to connect with them. I really want to have a further look at Mayan, Native American, Maori, and native Hawaiian indigenous people. I want to look a little closer at their shaman's and see if I can draw some inspiration for a contemporary interpretation.  

Lighting class 2 with Chris Overend.

Today we learned another few lighting set ups with Chris and we also had a go at setting up on our own. This was to explore lighting and to have a play with moving some of the light diffusers around etc. We set up the studio with scaffolding beams to hold the light diffusers. We had a tall beauty Dish. with a diffuser over it to soften the lighting. This faced the model. It was also positioned over the camera. The camera was also connected to the light above and the computer with a tether cable. There were 2 soft boxes set up at the back They were facing the back of the model. They had Diffusers in front to soften the light even further. We had a white back ground and placed the model about a metre in between the camera and the back lighting in front and behind. 

The Camera settings were the same as last weeks but we played around with the different Camera lenses this week.

I didn't particularly like the lighting set up. I found it quite boring and and it looked lifeless. I asked to try a couple of techniques That I had seen so that I could practise for my final shoot. We did one really dark one with Liberty as the model. It looked so beautiful and really suited Liberty's Complexion. I definitely will use this in the future. I felt that we worked well as a team and that we set up the studio in good time. I really enjoy setting up the studio even though there are always challenges. I do struggle however with remembering the little things like how some of the settings are changed with the camera or the lighting. I really want to remember this so I hope with practise I will get it.