Styling and photo shoot project

I really like the poster style, and the combination  with actual cinema poster.

I definitely will go for this style of photograph. It looks vintage, and works great with the style of the design.

This project originated from Ann Mao Project brief for which I created as my final piece a 1950-60s inspired cocktail dress finished in navy blue and ivory.

The design of my dress was inspired by an acclaimed and much loved classic film “Roman Holiday,” starring Audrey Hepburn.

As part of the project brief we had to collaborate with photography students within the college to assist us in realising and showcasing our final project garments. I worked with Callum, and as inspiration for our first meeting I presented examples of preferred style fashion photography, both modern and vintage, which I considered as interesting styles, and possible options for my photo shoot. I had an idea for an off campus shoot location - The Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. A venue I figured would provide a fantastic movie related backdrop for my dress. I got in touch with the manager of Tyneside Cinema - Johnny Toll, and he kindly agreed to provide me an hour to do the shoot on a certain date and time. But unfortunately it didn’t work out, as the date clashed with another student’s photoshoot in Callum’s diary. Callum could do it the following week, but the cinema was unfortunately fully booked for other events. Sadly I missed a great opportunity to create editorial style photographs of my garment in an interesting location. As a backup we used the photo studio at the college - I was running out of time.

Callum kindly offered a wide selection of models for the photo shoot, but I felt that they didn’t fit with the associated theme of my dress and its design. The proposed models had too much sex appeal. I wanted a fresher and more innocent Audrey Hepburn type look-like model. I began thinking about who would be best suited to the photo shoot – it needs to be someone young and fresh, my conclusion was my eighteen-year old niece.

Next, I had to start thinking about the accessories that would complement my dress. I didn’t want anything that would overpower the dress, and it was important that they were relevant and popular to the 50s and 60s. After further research, I decided that the best accessories for my dress would be ivory lace gloves and an ivory flowered headband. They were perfect for the look I wanted.

On the day of the photo shoot my model arrived on time, so we had plenty of time to do her hair and make-up. I brought along researched pictures of the hairstyle and make-up as reference to the image I wanted to recreate. We created a 60’s baby doll style hair-do and a connected style of make-up. When we finished with hair and make-up we fitted the dress on the model - I was very pleased with the look.  

While we were doing the make-up, Callum was busy preparing the studio. When I saw the black background in the studio I was concerned, as the body of my dress was very dark - almost black. Callum assured me that it would be okay. At the end of the day he is the photographer so he must know what works the best, we started the photo shoot.

In a beginning it was a little awkward for my model, as she had never modelled before, but step-by- step she started to relax and move as directed by Callum, who was really clear and good at orchestrating her poses. We managed to take quite a few nice shots, but I thought that it would be a good idea to show a little bit of character in the model connecting to the  ‘Roman Holiday’ theme. I asked my model to add some acting expressions into her poses and face. It worked out very well, from my point of view.

When Callum gave me the CD from the photo shoot, I realised that my worries about the black background were correct, the detail and outline of the body part of my dress had almost disappeared.

I was pleased, however, with the content of the pictures.

To counteract the issue of the black background I experimented extensively with Photoshop image manipulation by using different filters and effects such as artistic filters; sketch filters spotlights, black and white filters, and different colours and opacity adjustments. During my experiments with Photoshop I realised that vintage sepia style worked very well with the look; I also really liked the idea of replicating film poster style imagery.

This project was an ideal teamwork experience for me as it involved future work related collaboration with a photographer and a model. The contribution from other resources is extremely important to the successful realisation of the hard work I have invested in creating my finished garment. The final photography is extremely important to its overall presentation and success. The choice of the right model and accessories are also crucial to enabling a successful outcome. As I was never comfortable with the choice of black background used for the photography, I will take away the fact I need to be more tactical when dealing with photographers - to get exactly what I want in the photography.

Working in collaboration with other parties not only requires a great deal of patience and diplomatic skills, while requiring a firm hand by the person who owns the project. The knowledge I will take away from this experience is that in my future role a fashion designer, I must be more organised in the arrangements of venues and allocation of resources. Although I prepared for the collaboration with reference pictures of make-up, hair and style of photography, I recognise that I must be a competent project manager in ensuring my creations are presented in the best possible format.