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.

The Commission- 'The Portrait Issue'

These three images by photographers Finlay Mackay, Toby Glanville, Ulrich Geber all focus on the working class. The photographs look at the subjects daily routines by photographing them whilst there at work, and in the work clothing. By capturing the subjects in there daily routine allows the audience to identify with the characters in the image. In the series that these three photographs came from they look at the individual subject as well as the group of people who work with them or who work in the same type of job. Each image also looks at the environment in which they work at which creates a personal feel to the images. 

Finlay MacKay, ‘Changing Pace, David Weir’ for ‘The Road to 2012’

Toby Glanville, ‘Actual Life’, 2002

Ulrich Gebert, ‘Freischneider’, 2004

Finlay Mackay’s series is titled ‘Changing pace, David Weir’ and is for ‘The Road to 2012’. This series was commissioned by ‘The National Portrait Gallery’ and captures the journey towards the London 2012 Olympics. It’s aim is too record all the people who have contributed to the London Games such as world class athletes, builders who contributed in the making of the site, people who live in the Olympic host boroughs and people who work behind the scenes. Mackay’s images are unique compared to traditional sports photography as he captures athletes in the locations where they train, as well as people who support their ambition. A Paralympic double gold medalist is pictured on a starting block by a swimming pool with her trainer, Mackay adds an intimate feel to his pictures by including the trainer as you can see the team work that goes into preparing for the olympics. This series by Mackay tells a story of the athletes and of the olympics as you can see the build up to it as they are preparing and training for it. A large depth of field has been used in all of Mackay’s images which allows you to see all of the environment in which the athletes train.The subjects are central in all of the pictures which gives them a dominant feel and emphasises there power.

‘Actual Life’ is a series by British photographer Toby Glanville that was taken between 1997 and 2000. This series looks at ordinary people going about there everyday life, Glanville focuses on subjects that would normally be overlooked however he captures them in a way that catches your attention and makes them stand out. Adam Phillips a Psychologist and writer said this about Glanville’s work ‘one of the many striking things about Glanville’s portraits of people – apart, that is, from their unstartled stillness – is that his subjects are revealed but never exposed. His photographs seem to give people a sense of themselves, without exploiting their self-consciousness in front of the camera.’ This is true as his work takes a sensitive look into the life’s of people but never reveal to much about the character. In each picture of this series the subject is looking directly into the camera which creates an intimate feelings because of the connection it creates between the viewer and the model. The connection with the character makes you feel as if you know them especially as Glanville has photographed them in there everyday life as it makes you feel as if you are getting a private glimpse into there world. Glanville has given his images a very natural feel with the way he has used natural lighting and with how his images aren't staged. The images in ‘After Life’ are cropped to only include the subject and a part of the area around them to set the scene, this creates a more intimate feeling as you feel closer to the subject. Each image has a large depth of field which allows you to see the location that the subjects are working in and gives you an insight into there life. 

‘Freischneider’ which is translated to ‘bushcutter’ in English is an image of a man in protective gear

by photographer Ulrich Gebert. In the image the worker is not photographed at eye level which makes you look up at the man making him seem more powerful and inferior. Even though he doesn’t show the environment in which the man works at he isn’t shown in this image in his exhibition he places his portraits next to images of tree’s so you can see the location he works in. Gebert has used a close up crop so only the face is in the picture, this emphasises the workers facial expression which looks deep in concentration and enables us to analyse the man so it feels as if we get an understanding of him. The mixture of the workers clothing and the mans facial expression gives the man a very powerful feel. By having the portrait pictures separate from the landscape images suggests a conflict between man and nature. 


When comparing all three images they all have an intimate feel because of how personal they are as they show you the subject whilst they are at work. However Glanville’s and Gerbert’s images feel as if they have a more intimate feel because of the tighter crop they have chosen which makes you feel more connected to the subject. However the lack of the subjects gaze in Gerbert’s ‘Freischneider’ image means it stops a relationship forming between the subject and the viewer so you start to form an opinion on the mans job more then him personally. The subjects in Glanville’s series look directly into the camera and at the viewer which creates a connection between the viewer and the model. In Mckay’s series the connection between the viewer and the subject isn’t as important as we already know they are athletes training for the Olympics and therefore already have a connection with them. Both Glanville’s and Mackay’s images show the areas in which there subjects work by using a composition which shows there work space around them wheres Gerbert uses separate framed photographs to show the mans work area which creates a conflict between the subject and his work environment. A large depth of field has been used in all of the images to emphasise the subjects work space so you have a look in to there everyday life which makes you feel personally connected to them. Each of the photographers have chosen subjects who have completely different jobs however they are all similar in the way they give you a personal insight into some one else’s every day life. 

The Commission- Waste statistics

Waste statistics in Medway

To gain inspiration for The Commision project I researched into waste in Medway, as we have to take photographs in that particular area. On the Medway Councils website I came across a customer feedback chart showing the councils target on waste disposal for 2010/11 and 2011/12 as well as the customers percentage on how they think they did. 

From the research I found that Recycling had the lowest percentage as a target and as the customer feedback, this shows that Recycling in Medway is there biggest waste problem. This inspired me to focus on recycling in this project, to help find out why it is Medway's biggest problem and what causes it to be.