Fashion- Concept/ Storyboards/ Optics

Mood Board Presentation

Once we decided on our groups for this project we had to create a presentation in them showcasing some ideas we have for our constructed image. As a group we decided to focus on film, we then decided to look into old films as we all had an interest in them. Next we each picked an era to research and create a mood board on so we could decided as a group which years we should look into, we choose the 1940's and 1950's as we liked dramatic style the pictures had. To gain inspiration we each watched an old film and discussed the films as a group to gain inspiration, we decided we liked the film noir genre as we liked all of the detective scenes. After we each choose a topic to research about film noir or the 1940/50's such as the history of the era, the clothing, characters, settings and props. From creating the mood boards we decided we liked the office setting as it helps to set the detective theme, we also liked the femme fatale characters in the films as we liked how they had power over men and wanted to show this in our image by using a male and female model. As a group we all decided we liked venetian blind lighting as it is often used in film noir, we also looked into different props we could use to set the scene of the 1940's and 50's.

Group 3 Mood Board Present Ion

Film Noir inspired photography

As a group we decided to develop our ideas further and we discussed the idea of a street scene with a very powerful femme fatale character as we knew the were popular references to film noir. I looked into photographers who have taken film noir inspired images to gain inspiration for our set build.

Cindy Sherman 
'Unititled film stills' is a series by Cindy Sherman that was started in 1977. The series includes small black and white photographs of Sherman pretending to be female characters from old films such as film noir. Sherman photographed herself whilst she was role playing as female characters some of the images were also taken by friends and family. 'Untitled film stills' captures the desire there was for women at the time as well as desire to be that women.
Each of the images from this series looks like a performance because of how dramatic the characters look, as the characters in the images aren't named it allows the viewer to construct there own views on the subjects. Judith Williamson believes that 'Untitled film stills', "force upon the viewer that elision of image and identity which women experience all the time: as if a sexy black dress made you be a femme fatale, whereas 'femme fatale' is precisely an image, it needs a viewer to function at all." In each picture Sherman uses clothing, props, location, and the models facial expression and body language to create a character from film noir. This technique she uses is a technique we would have to apply to our own images as we want to capture certain characters from film noir in our own pictures. 

Annie Leibovitz & Michael Roberts
'Killers kill, dead men die' is a series of 33 images by photographers Annie Leibovitz and Michael Roberts. The photographers was for the March 2007 issue of Vanity Fair, the series included famous celebrities modelling as characters from film noir sets such as Policemen, detectives, heiresses and killers. 'Killers kill, dead men die' is photographed as if it were and classic film noir. When speaking about this series Vanity Fair said  "... Every element of the genre is here: The Femme Fatale, sultry, scheming, and doped up on tranquilizers; The Private Dick, crawling through the gutter in search of a diamond garter; The Chanteuse and The Champ; The Doll and The Aristocrat; The Spy who knows too little and The Moll who knows too much; mistaken identity and double indemnity; high life and low society; shocking—though possibly nonsensical—plot turns; despair, lust, blood violence, and the cruel fist of fate. Finally, lurking in the shadows behind all this is the menacing figure of The Killer. And what does he do? Why, he does what all killers do: he kills." The dramatic feel of the images are very inspiring as every one of them tells a story you would see in film noir. 

Jim Ferraeria
Ferraeria specialises in taking film noir styled portraits. By taking the photographs in monochrome automatically takes the viewer back to when old black and white films were made and sets the time period of film noir. Every picture tells a story that are usually found in film noir's. Ferraeria uses props, clothing and different camera techniques to help the viewer identify each character in relation to film noir. He uses different focus points to capture the relationship between each of the characters, in one of his images he focuses on a man in the foreground who looks very powerful in the background there is a female over powering the man as she is towering over him. Included in the images are also props you associate with the film noir genre such as telephones, cigarettes and guns, this is a technique we will be using in our group image to get across the film noir theme. I found this series of work to be very inspiring for our own image we have to take for this project especially with how dramatic the characters are and how you can associate them with the film noir.

Steven Meisel- 'Vogue Italia'
Photographer Steven Meisel and Eyeball, a design based production company have partnered with Vogue Italia to make a thirty page spread for the magazine. This spread has a film noir style to it because of the moody and urban environments that have been used. The models were photographed against a green screen background and then the imagers were placed on  top of digitally created backgrounds which were created by piecing together images of New York. The technique they used creates a surrealistic styles image because of the contrast between high fashion against a film noir styled city scape. The team behind Eyeball said this about the locations they used in New York City to create there cityscapes "Dark smokey alleys, low contrast, mood lighting and depth of field were combined to create strong foreground and background elements". 

Shannon Brooke
This image by Shannon Brooke looks as if it could be a still taken from a film noir. The female model looks to be a femme fatale you can tell this because of her posture and from what she is wearing as it emphasises her sexuality. A car is often used in film noir's so by photographing the model in it automatically makes the viewer think back to film noir's. The lighting used adds a dramatic feel to the image as it has cast some shadows on to the car and highlights the model. The way the model is looking away from the camera adds a mysterious feel to the image as it makes you wonder what she is looking at and if she's planning who her next victim will be.

Azim Haidaryan

In March 2009's issue of Velvet magazine photographer Azim Haidaryan creates a series of images inspired by film noir. These images add a modern twist to the film noir genre as they almost have a dreamy feel to them instead of the very dramatic atmosphere they usually have.  The images capture the relationship between male and female characters in film noir, as well as the moody feel the films have. The moody film is created by the use of shadows in these pictures as well as smoke that has been used which creates an mysterious atmosphere. In this series the female character is shown to be vulnerable in the man's presence this is a different take on film noir inspired by photography as usually all the focus is on the femme fatale character. 

Beata Pevny
These images by Beata Pevny have a very film noir style to them with the way the models are styled and with how they are posed. The models have been styled in a way that makes them look very powerful, the clothing and styling choices enhance the models sexuality. The lighting used in these pictures makes the model stand out as it is all focused on the model and the fades out so the background is dark. By having the background in shadows gives the image a very mysterious and dramatic feel which adds to the film noir feel. 

Barney Allen

These images by Barney Allen capture a film noir aesthetic because of the location, lighting and characterisations. Allen has created a lot of interesting shadows in his images by using parts of the environment such as railing and steps. 

When Allen was taking the images he made the light source as small as possible to create hard dramatic light and so the shadows are very crisp. By having the light shine on the models gives the characters a very hard defined edge and suits the femme fatale and detective characters from film noir. The models poses in these images are very dramatic which is similar to the characters in the film noir genre. Allen's choice of locations has made the photographs very atmospheric, by using urban areas adds a very mysterious feel to the images and adds the crime feel that film noir has.The characters from these images represent the relationships of characters in film noir, in one the women looks as if she has more power over the man whereas in another the male character has got power over the female character. 

From the research I done and from watching films noir styled movies we decided as a group we wanted to recreate a traditional scene that is associated with the film noir genre. We discussed having an office scene where a femme fatale charter had power over the detective.

Initial Idea

From the research I done we developed our idea even further in our tutorial with Sam Chick to make our idea more interesting. We decided to create a street scene where a femme fatale has used her sexuality to control a man and to have him tied up in a car boot so she can steal his money. Our main inspiration came from the image below: 

Narrative

The narrative for our photograph is about a woman using her sexuality to gain power over a male to steal all of his money. The femme fatale character seduces a married man to fall in love with her, she chooses that man as she knows he is very wealthy and will fall for her charms. During the affair the female character is planning to kill the man and steal all of his money. The image we are going to create will show the man all tied up in a back of a car with the female leaning against the car appearing very powerful and in control in comparison to the man. This scene will reveal the females final plan into how she has used her sexuality to end up holding the male character as hostage while she steals all of his money.

Characters

Female : Femme Fatale, Powerful, Flirty, Attractive, Seductress, Dangerous, Enchantress, Temptress, Siren, Greedy, Materialistic. 

Male: Rich, Married, Boasts, Materialistic, Greedy.

Props

- Car

- String (to tie man up with)

- Cellotape (to have over mans mouth)

- Briefcase (with money inside)

- Cigarette

Location

- Small , dark street with a road

Styling

Female: Lingerie, Coat, Heels, Red lipstick, Red nails.

Male: Suit, Hat, Gelled hair slicked to the side, Stubble, Wedding ring.

Final Idea

We decided to change our idea so we don't have to include a car in it for the fear of the picture looking theatrical. We wanted to still do a film noir street scene with a similar narrative and story however this time we decided to focus more on the brick work and the look of the street.

Narrative

The narrative for our photograph is about a woman using her sexuality to gain power over a male to steal all of his money. The femme fatale character seduces a married man to fall in love with her, she chooses that man as she knows he is very wealthy and will fall for her charms. During the affair the female character is planning to kill the man and steal all of his money. The image we are going to create will show a man's legs appearing out of an alley way, with the femme fatale character standing in the street in provocative clothing whilst she is looking very powerful.  This scene will reveal the females final plan into how she has used her sexuality to end up either killing the man or keeping him hostage while she steals all of his money.

Characters

Female : Femme Fatale, Powerful, Flirty, Attractive, Seductress, Dangerous, Enchantress, Temptress, Siren, Greedy, Materialistic. 

Male: Rich, Married, Boasts, Materialistic, Greedy.

Props

Drain pipe on wall

Smoke

Location

- Small , dark street with a road and alley way

Styling

Female: Lingerie, Fur Coat, Heels, Red lipstick, Wavy Hair, Dark dramatic eye make up

Male: Suit Trousers, Smart Shoes.