Le Ballon Rouge

We've just watched a film in lesson called Le Ballon Rouge. Its going to inspire our next shoot I've got to say it was actually really good and quite interesting.

Its basically about a little boy who doesnt seem to have many friends and is quite lonely, finds a red balloon and sort of befriends it. It sounds weird but the boy and balloon become inseparable, going everywhere togther and following each other round. As soon as i saw the little boy climb up the lampost to grab the balloon it reminded me of Banksys graffiti art Balloon Girl which i think was propbabbly influenced by the film.

There are no words to the film its literally just accompanied by music, which i think is really effective as it makes you come to your own assumtions about the film and whats happening. The music also tells the story as well as it has a lot of emotion and feeling to it.

I think any audience can watch the film but certain age groups will take it differently. Younger children wahtching the film will most probably find it fun and enjoyably and relate to the little boy having so much fun with the balloon, and at the end when the balloon gets popped they will probably share the boys sadness, where as when i was watching it, i gathered that the little boy was lonely and found a very close friend within the balloon, I think they both seemed very dependant on each other.

2 new editors..

I’ve decided to compare another two stories of two editors that I haven’t looked at to get a little bit more variety of all the different stories.

I’ve researched to find a couple of different editors, I found Anders Solvsten Thomsen. He’s done lots of work for Dansk magazine, Love magazine, Hero magazine and a few others. His work is very edgy and sharp, his models are very confident looking and a lot of his stories are very cool and different, like a few of the models have different coloured hair like blue or orange etc, and the garments have a lot of texture and look well made.

The stories look very modern and expensive. The story that I’ve chosen from him is called Gloss. The models in the pictures are posing quite sexy and provocatively, they are posing with grapes and drinks with straws and one model is on a lilo. The colours are really nice and bright and the pictures have been edited to have a sort of glossy sheen over them so that the models if anything look fake and plastic, that’s where I think the name reflects the story.

Another editor I’ve chosen is Alister Mackie. His stories are very classy and some of the stories look quite old fashioned as if they’d been made to look like that on purpose. The story I’ve chosen to look at for this editor is called Portraits. The pictures are very old fashioned looking and the hue is very low and dark. The models are mostly dressed in black or been made to look like that and the background colours are very dull and subdued.

The models look quite old fashioned in some of the photos because of what their wearing, although some of them still have the look of an old fashioned photo, although the garments and posing are quite modern, so there is slight contrast and sense of confusion in these photos, like in one of them a model has a head piece made out of peacock feathers and is wearing jeans and a t-shirt and is jumping in the air, this again is a contrast to some of the other photos as it’s a more modern pose and garment in contrast to another photo of a male model not looking into the camera and wearing an old fashioned hat and camera.

These two stories  are very different as Gloss has a very high happy upbeat sexy mood to it, and the photos look very modern and glossy and new, whereas the photos in Portrait are very old fashioned looking and dull, and have a very subdued quiet mood to them. I think both of these editors are very different as Anders Solvsten Thomsen seems to style his models with a lot of edge and moderness and really concentrates on the garments, whereas Alister Mackie’s photos are very subdued and some are quite dull and they have quite an unhappy quiet quite confused mood to them so each of these editors both have a very different style.  

Stina vs Erte!

There is a massive contrast when it comes to the two artists i looked at! Im glad i looked at these 2 different ones, as its given me a clear line between high street and couture which helped me a lot when doing my A2 boards!

Stina persson's work is very messy and quick and has a lot of texture and movement to it, this says to me its more high end high street as the colours and lines appeal to more cheaper brands with a young fresh and fun target market.

Where as Ertes work is very chiseled and neat and sharp, very detailed and plain black and white in colour. You can tell he's taken a very long time on each illustration where as stina's work is quick and done withing 5-10 minutes. This says to me that Ertes work is very haute couture as couture is a lot more expensive and the target market targets people with more money and the clothes are a made with a lot more work and time and class.

 so these 2 artists are both very different in there own way and its helped me to understand starget markets a lot more!

Stina Persson

I really really like the way stina persson illustrates. I think she has a really edgy way of conveying her fashion figures and faces and her work has a lot of texture and shading to it. I think her illustrations scream energy and life and i love her use of ink and all the different medias,

This last drawing is the one i recreated myself, i think i recreated it well and tried to use the ink to get the different textures and blends and colours. I love this ink drawing as its so quick and messy but still looks so effective, i love this style of illustration!

comparison of two stories

After looking at 12 different stories by 4 different fashion editors, im going to chose two very different ones and look at the different contrasts and comparisons between the two. The two that I’ve chosen are Katie Grand’s What Lies Beneath, and Katie Shillingford’s In Bloom.

I’ve chosen these two because I think they have a lot of similarities but also are both very different.

I think the similarities between the two are that they both have wide open scenery. A lot of the shoots have very plain backgrounds that are just a plain black white or grey or slightly coloured backdrop, but both sceneries in these two shoots have open background where they are on a set or in a real life place. I think it can sometimes look more effective and more realistic when the models are posing in an open set, especially for these two shoots.

Also the backgrounds are both nature related, each one has plants and foliage in the background as well, although In Bloom is shot in the day as it’s a lot more light hearted, and What Lies Beneath is shot at night as it’s a lot more dark and confusing.

Both shoots have very different stories. What lies Beneath is very dark and disturbing and have a feel of surrealism about it, its quite scary in a way and some of the photos are quite sexual and have hints of bondage in them, where as in a big contrast, In Bloom is about the models looking like blooming flowers and it has a really nice happy feel to it and I also think it represents life and the celebration of it, so both stories are very different in that sense.

The poses are a lot different as well, the poses in what lies beneath are very quite sinister and strange, also some of the models are lying face down as if to be hurt or not even alive which again has quite a strange feel to it, also the bondage photos of the girl tied up is quite sinister and scary, although the poses in In Bloom are very big and wide and the models are jumping and there clothes and hair are blowing about and it just seems a lot more free and happy and gives you a nicer feeling when looking through them.

In my personal opinion, I really like what lies beneath as I like the mystery and thought that goes with it and as I researched surrealism for my decade brief, I can really relate to the surrealist feel and weirdness in the photos and I also quite like the freaky creepyness as well!

With In Bloom, I also really like it as I think the colours are amazing and the whole shoot is a lot of fun, I also love the garments and think that there’s a lot more to them than the clothes in What Lies Beneath as I don’t even think the clothes are much to do with the story, the scene and poses and mood are what is concentrated on mostly, where as in In Bloom, the garments are the main focal point, so that’s what I like about each story.

what lies beneath

In Bloom

erte..

.. is amazing! I love his illustrations and I think he's so talented! I love the way he uses his fineliner as i also love to use mine and the detail is just incredible! His illustrations are very 'haute couture' as they are so detailed and he has obviously taken a lot of time on them to make them look as effective as they do! Also they are in black and white and quite plain making them very couture as couture illustrations are classy, glamourous and detailed and his illustrations are just that! I love them!

grace coddington - swept away

The lighting in the image is very natural, but it highlights there bodies and faces so they dont blend into the back ground,

The props used are a net that one girl is trailing behind her, and there are also children in the shot with the women highlighting the fact that the models could be on a day out to the beach with there children,

the colours are very soft and pastelly, lots of sky blue shades, pastel pinks cremes and beiges all work really well together, i think this shows innocence and freshness, it also has a feel of romance to it. It conveys maturity and kindess which i think is shown with the models and children in the shot,


The poses of the models are quite soft and relaxed, very natural looking, a couple of the shots show the models not actaully posing into the camera but in a kind of action shot, either playing or walking down the beach, other shots show the model purposely posing for the camera but still softly. This shows a lot of naturalness in the photos and as the poses arent too strong, it again shows the innocence of the models but also conveys confidence as well,

the back drop is of the models at a beach, this is a really nice back drop and i think it shows the ro,ance and softness of the photos and that the story of the set of photos is about the models going to the beach for the day and relaxing and enjoying it but at the same time looking stylish and natural.

the title is 'swept away', i think there is a big clue as to what the story is about the photos as the poses also go with the title, the way its called swept away and the way the models are posing like there walking off into the distance could show that they are being swept away from life and are thinking about something like a serious decisision, or it could just mean that the models athat are posing with children that they are going out to the beach for a day out and are getting swept away together and having fun, or it could just show a young romantic girl getting swept away in love and lust and all kinds of things and learning lessons on the way.

I think the moods of the photos are really nice and relaxed and fun, i think it says about the pictures that the models in thema re having a good time, thinking to themselves and just taking in the nice surroundings, as being on a beach is very refreshing and free

I think the photo has been edited so that the models stand out really well, as they are wearing similar colours to the background but they still stand out as the lighting has emphasized them even more,

the facial expressions of the models are really soft and natural. I really like the ones where there not lookimng at the camera because again that shows the naturalness of the photos and

The september issue..

We've just watched a film in class called the septemeber issue. The film was about the editor of American, Vogue, Anna Wintor. It gave us all a really good insight into what goes into just one issue of vogue and i couldnt beelive how intense and stressfull the whole thing was! There was so much planning and thought and everything had to be absolutely PERFECT!

Anna is incredible and works so hard throughout the amazing issues vogue sell every month, she has so many commitments and her whole life is this magazine. She has plenty of help though, there are sooo many people working on the magazine with her and giving there opinions on which garments to feature and which stories to create.

Her creative director, Grace Coddington has been working with the magazine ever since she was 17. She started out as a model and then after she had a car crash, was offered to work as a junior stylist and has worked her way up ever since. I really liked the way she took criticism well but also stoood her ground and made sure her point was known, Anna was brutal and a lot of people and even designers feared her, but i learnt that if you want to make it big and keep on selling your magazine and making it the best selling one out therem, then yes you do have to be brutal and honest and the fashion industry is tough, but as long as you dont take things to heart and learn from your mistakes then thats where you will grow and do well and get higher and higher up in the buisness.

The film 'The Devil Wears Prada' was based on Anna and how hard it is to work for her. She has been working for such a long time and i really admire the way she is, even the designers are scared of her! Ive also learnt how much you have to really work as a team and how important communication is. There was one point in the film where the photographer hadnt taken enough photos and the story wasnt right and looked incomplete. It had to be redone and changed and that lack of communication took up a lot of time and effort to put the mistake right, thats where it shows how important it is to communicate properly with your team.

High street vs Couture!

Okay so weve been asked to procuce 2 A2 boards of the same garment, recreating it in different ways, but one has to be high street and the other couture.. This is my garment :) -

Ive had to recreate the dress on one 2 boards and the first was high street. The dress is from topshop anyway so that already being high end high street made it easier for me, as high street is a lot cheaper than couture so i did brighter colours, a more relaxed pose and added all the aspects of topshop into one picture. I really liked the outcome and thought it looked like the brand, target market and very high street!

The other board was the couture board, this was a tough one as we had to use the same photo but try and make it look couture. I did a very different pose, a stronger one and i also made the whole figure look a lot more stronger and edgier. Although couture is glamorous and classy, i still had to incorporate the edginess of the dress into my illustration so I added shorter scruffier hair but the dress itself was a lot neater and i added black gloves to give the picture more glamour. Im sooo stuck with the back ground though so at the moment its just misted with lilac water colour and hopefully i can add to it if needs be at a later date, i'd rather leave room for improvement than do it all wrong!

All in all, really enjoyed doing the boards and i hope there right!