The Commission- Page Orientation

We decided to have our magazine in a landscape page orientation as we felt it represented the theme of our magazine which is helping the landscape with recycling clothing. The landscape orientation represents how we want to protect the landscape by stopping waste in the fashion industry. Digital magazines often come in both portrait and landscape this is what inspired us to create our magazine in landscape. This is some examples of online magazines that come in landscape orientation: 

Risk Management & Budget

Risk Management

Rosie was in charge of the Health & Safety part of our set build , she made sure we was all protected during the set build and made sure everyone was aware of danger. She also had all of our electrical items  pat tested so we could use them in our university and made sure all of the health and safety forms were filled out so we could do the set build. During the set build we made sure there wasn't any risks by making the models aware of the dangers in the studio, using cable covers, placing lights in positions that wasn't in any ones way, made sure all of the walls were stable, wore gloves when building and when moving the lights, we turned the lights of when we wasn't using them and made sure we was looking out for the flashing amber light on the HMI light as it could over heat. During our set build there wasn't any health and safety issues as we all made sure everyone was aware of the risks and we didn't put anyone in danger. 

Budget

When the project began we decided as a group we would split the money each one of us spent at the end of the project, we also decided roughly that we only wanted to spend £50 each.  Samantha was given the role of looking after the budget, so we all knew what the money was being spent on and how much we owe everyone. After we decided on our final idea for our set build and what materials we wanted we realised we would have to spend more money to make sure it looked as good as it could be. The main part of our money was spent on the brick vacuum moulds which we bought from pinewood studios, even though they was very expensive they were a vital part of our set build project. We tried to save money in our set build best as we could by returning items that we hadn't used. This is a list Samantha made of all our expenses during the set build project:

Post- Production

We went through all of our images as group to decided what ones we liked the best. We narrowed our search down by removing any images where there was no smoke , where the model wasn't facing forward and where she didn't have the fur coat on. We felt this left the most strongest ones we then narrowed the search down even more by removing any images where the model wasn't in focus as we wanted a pin sharp image.  This is the final image we choose:

We choose this image based on how the model looked, we thought she looked very strong and powerful which matched our concept. We also liked how the models were lit. The only thing we felt let the image down was how bright the smoke is but we decided we was going to edit it in Photoshop as it could be easily fixed. 

Samantha, Marie and myself came in to edit and print our image, to edit the image we first use Phocus to get the contrast right on the whole of the image. Once we exported the image in to Photoshop we decided what areas we thought needed work on and then masked them of as a new layer so we could edit each section separately and go back to it if we needed to readjust it. We also used the cloning tools to remove any marks that were too distracting on the image.

The areas we edited using the curves tool was:

- The models face and skin to brighten it up and to add contrast

- The coat to add more detail in to it as it was too dark

- The underwear to make it more brighter

- The male models legs so you could them more

- The drain pipe so it stood out more against the darkness

- We selected the smoke to make it less bright as it took your attention away from the model

- We made the front wall lighter so you could see more detail in the brick work

- We also added more contrast to the back wall

This is our final edited images:

After we had edited the images we made a test strip of the image so we could print it. We adjusted four of the images on the test strip so each one was brighter then the other one, we also adjusted another four which were more darker then one another to see how we should print the image. This is our test strip for printing:

Shoot Production & Communications

Shoot Production


On the day of the shoot four of our group including myself went to university to make sure everything was ready for the model for when she arrived. Our two other members were meeting the model at a hairdressers so the model could have her hair styled. Whilst we was waiting for the model we made sure everything was set up such as the lighting, the smoke machine and her clothing. We also set up the camera and had someone hold up a grey card so we could get the tone in our image to natural :

We had the male model and the make up artist arrive at 11am as that was the time the model should be ready from the hairdressers. Once the female model arrived she had her make up done, the male model arrived whilst this was happening so we gave him his clothing to get ready and told him where he would be and what he would be doing. When the female model was ready we told her our ideas for the day and showed her some images of how we wanted her to be posing. We had her pose in various ways  which will make her appear powerful we had her in a pose where she had her hand on her hips,  where she had her hand to her face, looking away from the camera, walking toward and away from the camera and with her back towards the camera. The images were she was walking didn't turn out as well as we thought because we had problems with keeping it in focus.

    

 After we had positions sorted we turned on the smoke machine, we preferred the images when there wasn't much smoke and when the smoke fell all around the model. To get this effect we had one of our group members stand with the smoke machine and hold it in places where we wanted it to be. We also had one of our group fanning the smoke to make sure the smoke kept in the right place. Next we experimented with different ways we could position the coat as we thought it made the shadow look to large, however once we pinned the coat up we didn't like the way it looked. This is a picture with the coat pinned up:

We then tried some images with the model wearing around her shoulders, with it of all together and with her holding it in her hands. As a group we felt they didn't work as well as the images where the model had the coat on.

Communications


In the beginning of the project everyone in our group was given a role so everyone knew what they should focus on so we could get the work done easily.

• Lighting lead: Rebecca Smith
• Building: Sam Shipton
• Budget controller: Sam Shipton
• Props master: Katie Joiner
• Casting lead: Katie Joiner
•  Health and safety representative: Rosie Squires
• Stylist: Marie Hanrahan
• Creative Director: Sophia Chippett

To make sure we all worked well as a team and so everyone had an idea on what work everyone had done work wise we decided to make a group blog on blogger. Our group blog, http://groupthreefashion.blogspot.co.uk/, allowed us to easily see the references we had decided upon and to see what stage we are up to with our work.

We made individual pages for each section of the project such as Casting and Lighting so the blog was easy to navigate through and so everyone knew where to post the work.

We also made a group on a social networking site so we could easily keep in contact with everyone and so we could keep up to date with everyone else. It also allowed us to easily post pictures of references and ideas we had to get everyone else's opinion in the group.

Katie made a Gmail account for our group so we could all log in to it to look at the calendar and to see when we would have to be in for meetings and for workshops.

Studio mockups & Setbuild

Studio Mock-ups

During the weeks leading up to our set build we built mock ups a few times to see how big we should build our set and too see what lenses we should use. In the set build mock up below we used polyboard's to act as the brick wall and a table to act as the car as we hadn't built the car yet. We tested out different lighting set ups to so we could see what lights cause the most shadows and too see what lighting had the most film noir feel. With this set build we used a Hassleblad camera to see what camera position we want to use  and to see what camera lens we should use. We choose a standard lens as we didn't want to use a wide angle lens as it might distort the model and the car too much. During the mock set build we placed objects/subjects in the shot to see where we could cast shadows. From doing this mock set up we decided we liked the idea of having only one wall run along one side of the image and too have the camera pointed slightly to the left. We also decided we wanted to have a large light at the back of the set to act as a street lamp as we felt it would add a film noir feel to the image and we wanted to include objects in our set that would create a lot of shadows to add to the effect.

                                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last set build we used our initial idea of using the car so we decided to do a new mock set build, we kept the same concept as the one before and we still wanted the same lighting, camera positing and lens. During this mock set up we decided how long and tall we wanted the wall and where we wanted everything placed. For this mock set build we also used polyboards to act as the wall and had Rebecca act as the model so we could see how someone would look placed in the scene. From doing this mock set build we decided to have an alley way, and we decided on having only one wall on the left side of the frame. It also helped us design how tall the walls would have to be. 

This is a rough plan of our final set build which tells use the dimensions of our set and where we want to place the camera and model.

This is a scale drawing of our set that Sam drew. The plan will help us on our set build day so we know where everything has to be placed and positioned. 

The week before our set build we put together another mock set up to test our what lighting we are going to use. For this mock set build we was placed in the studio that we will be in for our final set build so we made sure we marked where everything should be placed so it would be easier when it comes down to our final set build.   We placed the plastic moulding for our brick work against the polyboard's to see  how they look with the lighting. As we wanted a column along our brick wall we  placed a box to act as it to see how much shadow it will cast. During this test photoshoot we decided we need extra length on the alley wall as we altered our camera position slightly, we also tested different lighting techniques such as having car headlights.

Set Build

Day 1 

On the first day of set build we focused on building our set. When we first arrived we started to put together all our flats of wood so we could begin to make the walls, all together we made one at two meters high and 1 meter wide, another one at three meters tall and one meter wide and two wish were four meters high and two meters long. The longer walls were made for the far back wall because we choose a low camera angle and needed the extra height. Next we cut out the vacuum mould brick wall and stapled them to the flats , we placed the more textured wallpaper on the two walls nearer to the camera and the other style was used for the rest. First we painted all of the walls in magnolia but we felt it looked to yellow and didn't look realistic enough so we decided to make a wash by mixing the magnolia, red and black paint together with water. After the walls were painted we used rollers to paint the bricks red, we decided to use a roller as it only painted the raised areas which made it look like bricks. Once the paint had dried we had to reinforce the walls so they was all supported when they were standing up. We then positioned the walls to where we wanted them to be and made sure they was all secure. At the end of the day we painted the floor a grey colour, we sectioned of the flooring so we only painted the areas that you could see in the picture. 

Day 2

We noticed that after the floor had dried it didn't look realistic enough as it was too smooth because of this we decided we was going to walk over it to create texture an dirt to make the road look more believable. To make the brick wall appear more realistic we decided to make curbs around the bottom of the wall. We decided to make the curbs out of polyboard and have them 50cm tall with another piece of polyboard in front of it which is 30cm tall. To make the polyboard look like brick we carved brick shapes into it and then used a heat gun to burn away the lines we carved  on to the polyboard so the bricks look as if they textured and three dimensional.

So the street looked even more realistic and too add more texture into the wall we decided to make a column for the wall we made it the same wall as we made the curbs.  After we had painted the polyboards the same as the brick wall we fixed them into place using nails. Where the alley way joined to the long brick wall it didn't look realistic as you could see the join between the two walls so we cut out some more brick mould carefully so it matched up to the rest of the wall and stapled it to the wall. As you could see some joins from the plastic moulds and the curbs walls we used filler to fill in the gaps so the scene looked more realistic.

Day 3

On the third day we decided to add props to our street scene so it looked more realistic. We place a drain pipe on the first wall which as well as making the street look believable it also hid the join from the corner. As the drainpipe was a shiny black colour we felt it looked to new and would reflect to much light we decided to paint it a matte black. To make our photograph look as if it is a street scene we borrowed a bin from the university, we then placed rubbish inside it and on to the floor around it so it looked believable.

Day 4

On our final set build week week we took some test shots a day before the model was coming in to make sure everything looked okay. We also used this time to experiment with the smoke machine to make sure it was working correctly and to test it to see how we liked it the best. We also practiced with having a model in a different positions to see where we wanted her so we could see if we had to change the lighting.