kyrah42-blog

[kyrah42-blog]

Unit 13: Final Major Project

For the final major project, I will be working in a group as the production designer and sound operator.

So far, I have read the directors story and ideas on what the character would like to wear. I picked out their personality and matched what they would wear based on their characteristics, hobbies and age.

[kyrah42-blog]

SWOT analysis. . .

Strengths:

Able to work in groups

Communicate ideas well within groups or individuals

Weaknesses:

Time management

Presenting skills

Improvements:

I believe if I improve my presenting skills I can successfully to communicate my ideas in a professional way

[kyrah42-blog]

Evaluation. . .

Overall, I am happy with this project as I achieved in creating an outfit, but there are some things I wish to do for next time.

For my study aspects, I wished I explored in mixing modern looks with old looks to create something different. So creating an outfit with a modern twist.

As I did visit vintage shops, there would be issues with sizing and such, so maybe next time, I would design the outfit myself by drawing several designs and crafting outfits from fabrics and sewing it myself. Following that, next time I take rough designs that I drew myself and look around shops, so I have a reference to go to.

Finally, I think it would be great next time to take the outfit and have the model in a location by the beach or meadows to make it more authentic and have a photo shoot.

I think I should have watched more interviews with costume designers to see what their techniques are when getting inspiration for creating costumes. Also stemming from that, I should have taken ideas from Catherine Martin as she sated in an interview that she goes to museums, libraries or even locations to get a inspiration.

I feel, that my skills did develop over these days, as I was quicker picking out outfits instead of stalling with no idea on what to look for.

[kyrah42-blog]

27/01/2018

On this day, I decided to re visit the St Helena Hospice vintage shop. I wanted to look for something more similar to Catherine Martins style, as she was my inspiration. So I had something in mind and that was a long white dress, with feathers. And this is what I found. . . 

This dress was perfect and perfectly matched what I had in mind and matched well to Martins’ style and The Great Gatsby. This had more of a 1920′s feel to it than the outfit that I originally picked out, but again with the sizing issue and length, neither my model or myself could try it on. The reason, why I like this one so much, is because I could really see a Flappers girl in the Great Gatsby wearing this, or even featured on screen.

[kyrah42-blog]

26/01/2018

Today I went to Chocodolly which is a vintage style shop in Colchester.

I had a look around and there were beautiful dresses in variety of colours, however it was more of a 1940′s style era shop. The dresses were more bold in colour and were more “flowy”, and that is not what I was looking for as the 1920′s were more about more fitting cuts and simplistic colours. However, there were some accessories that were interesting. I did think about creating a style with a modern twist on it, but it was not very fitting.

[kyrah42-blog]

Outfit Created. . .

So I wanted to create an outfit similar to one from The Great Gatsby. I wanted it to be black with some jewels or sequins near the neck or trimmings, similar to Jordan Baker, who is a character from The Great Gatsby.

I tried to follow the base photo that I had as much as possible and I think I did very well. The only issue was actually selecting a suitable dress as, as its a vintage/retro shop, they would not have an item in different sizes unlike high street retail store, so that was a challenge. However, after looking around I did find the perfect black dress. The dress had jewel embellishing on the hem, but not as much as I wanted, so in order to make that up, I added a simple pearl necklace that I feel helped the outfit more by adding more “glitz and glamour” to it.

The hat was somewhat similar to what I was looking for in terms of fabric and design. For example, both of the hats are made out of see-through mesh netting and had multiple black stripes running around the head dress. The only obvious difference is the size, as the hat I found was over sized, but I feel it did work with the over all look.

_________________________________________________

I decided to broaden my choices and look into a modern fashion retailer, and I did find a suitable dress. I really like this dress because it is black, lacy and has neck embellishment and is more fitting.

[kyrah42-blog]

25/01/2018

Today, I visited the retro charity shop, St. Helena Hospice with a friend who modeled the outfits for me. So I explored the store with an idea in my head on what I would like to recreate. The purpose of this was to see if I could recreate a modern outfit inspired by The Great Gatsby from the 1920's. Here are some pictures I took around the store. It had loads of antiques from almost every era and clothing for men and women.

[kyrah42-blog]

Looking for costume designs. . .

There are 3 shops in Colchester town that specialise in vintage and retro fashion, which I will be visiting to see if I can create a costume idea from these.

1) St. Helena Hospice Vintage

2) Chocodolly

3) Best days:

[kyrah42-blog]

memoirs of a geisha

100s of costumes were required for this film and most of them were hand painted silk kimonos were created by designer Colleen Atwood in 5 months. Colour was used to bring out certain traits in characters in which Atwood would call her mood pallette.

[kyrah42-blog]

Moulin Rouge: Costumes

Catherine Martin was the costume designer for this film. The character Satine played by Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman, had different costumes in every scene she was in, which I find quite interesting. The costumes were made in accordance to what the scene was representing, so therefore the mood, the music and the overall atmosphere.

[kyrah42-blog]

Unit 12: Moulin Rouge

Continuing to look at Catherine Martin's work, I will be looking at Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge released 2001 and directed by Baz Lurhmann.

[kyrah42-blog]

Unit 12: 1920 ‘s Inspiration. . .

These are some pictures I found on the internet that are inspired from Catherine’s work. It is a mixture of costume design and set design.

[kyrah42-blog]

Unit 12: Catherine Martin. . .

Upon doing research into Catherine, I found out that she has a website: http://catherinemartin.com/ This is where some of her work and collections are presented and from looking around, her style is very similar to one another. Her style does actually reflect the 1920′s which is a great connection to The Great Gatsby.

[kyrah42-blog]

Unit 12: Production Design. . .

 I will be looking at the production design of some films and TV shows. For example, costume, set design, props and location.

First I will be looking at The Great Gatsby. (Director: Baz Lurhmann, 2013) The reason why I will be looking at The great Gatsby is because it won multiple awards for Production Design and Costume design.

Long with many others, Catherine Martin was the costume and production designer who won the Academy Awards and BAFTAS and I will be exploring her work and looking at inspiration.

I watched an interview with Catherine and she talks about being the Set Designer of The Great Gatsby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVOe07si63I.  In this interview she talks about where she first starts to look for inspiration for the film, either that be the script or in this case actually adapting it from the 1925 novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She goes on to mention her relationship with the director and how their different views sometimes collide in terms of style.

Martin visited libraries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Fashion Institute of Technology with her husband and director, Baz Lurhmann to further their research. Since the book took place in 1922 then published in 1925, it foreshadowed the economic crash of 1929, she used that to a advantage and took anything from that decade for design purposes. This allowed Martin more room to play with trends and flattering pieces, such as her choice to dress lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio in slimmer-cut suits than what would have been typical in the beginning of the decade. For the women's clothes in the film, she erred towards the end of the decade, wanting to focus on slimmer silhouettes. She also took artistic liberties when it came to the actresses' shoes, telling Vogue that she found heels from the era to be "stumpy". Martin also worked with the Brooks Brothers and Miuccia Prada. Prada designed twenty of the dresses for the film's first party scene, and an additional twenty for a second party scene. Tiffany & Co. supplied the film's jewelry. For The Great Gatsby's sets, Martin took inspiration from 1920s designer Syrie Maugham, as well as from houses on the Long Island Shore, where part of the film takes place.In total, 42 sets were constructed under Martin's vision in 14 weeks. She and Luhrmann aimed to make the film feel authentic, but also connective for a modern audience.For her work on the film, Martin earned the 2013 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, as well as the Academy Award for Best Production Design, the latter which she shares with Beverley Dunn.

Harvard References. . . 

Sarah Yang. 2013. http://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/celebrity-homes/interviews/a1100/catherine-martin-interview/. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/celebrity-homes/interviews/a1100/catherine-martin-interview/. [Accessed 8 February 2018].

Laird Borrelli-Persson. 2015. Costume Designer Catherine Martin on Hip-Hop, Gatsby, and Working with Husband, Baz Luhrmann. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/catherine-martin-interview-tribeca-film-festival. [Accessed 8 February 2018].

Hayley Phelan. 2013. CATHERINE MARTIN ON CREATING THE COSTUMES FOR THE GREAT GATSB. [ONLINE] Available at: https://fashionista.com/2013/04/great-gatsby-costume-and-set-designer-catherine-martin-tells-all. [Accessed 8 February 2018].

Cathy Whitlock. 2013. Designer Catherine Martin Teases the Decadence of Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby'. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/designer-catherine-martin-teases-decadence-447316. [Accessed 8 February 2018]. ______________________________________________________________

Contextual research. . .

I looked at some other websites and articles that offered a professional viewpoint, and I am going to explore it and look deeper.

Harvard Reference: Todd McCathy. 2001. Moulin Rouge. [ONLINE] Available at: http://variety.com/2001/film/awards/moulin-rouge-6-1200468458/. [Accessed 8 February 2018]. 

variety quotes:  "Fox will get plenty of publicity mileage out of the exploitable musical and fashion elements..."

"Like everything else in the picture, the Moulin Rouge here is a reinterpretation of the real thing designed with an eye to giving it contemporary relevance; the men might be dressed in black tie and top hat..."

“Luhrmann outstrips anything Hollywood has produced in years and now bears comparison to the likes of Busby Berkeley.” Growing up, Baz Lurhman would have been watching the likes of Berkeley and therefore would have heavily been influenced by him. So upon this, I have watched a scene that Berkeley directed from the film,The Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) and the scene is Shadow Waltz.  

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN_JXwNudh8. From this short clip, you can see that the customes are heavily influenced from the twenties.

A bit about Berkeley. . .

Born on November 29th 1895 and died March 14th 1976, Berkeley William Enos was an American movie director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berkeley's works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopicon-screen performances.  He started his career in the US Army in 1918, as a lieutenant in the artillery conducting and directing parades. After the World War I cease-fire he was ordered to stage camp shows for the soldiers.

Referencing: Stephan Eichenberg. 2008. Busby Berkeley Biography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000923/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm. [Accessed 8 February 2018]

_______________________________________________________________

In an interview conducted from Housebeautiful.com, Martin and her husband Baz Lurhmann who is also the director of The Great Gatsby, have been conceptualising the idea of doing the Great Gatsby for 10 years but only started the script 3 years prior to the release of the film. For the production design side of it Catherine states that a lot thought and research that goes into it. Lurhmanns films always has a distinctive visual interpretation and a unique take on something classic.  However with The Great Gatsby, Martin states that : “He didn't want a nostalgic, sepia-toned New York City of the 1920s. He wanted the New York we created to feel as vibrant, modern, and cutting-edge as it would have felt to Fitzgerald in 1922.”

For the research of designing the film’s Catherine says: “We do an extraordinary amount of research for any project. For this film, we visited the libraries at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York; read everything we could about the author; poured over academic appraisals about the novel; and looked at historical analyses of the time period.”

Catherine stated that “ Since the book took place in 1922, published in 1925 but foreshadowed the economic crash of 1929, anything within that decade was available to borrow for design purposes”. So in terms, this gave Martin more room to play around with trends, such as the slimmer cut suits for the lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio. As for the women’s clothes, she geared the costumes more to the end of the 1920’s era, wanting to focus on slimmer silhouettes.

In an article from the Hollywood Reporter, it says that Martin was in charge of creating 500 outfits. Martin also worked closely with Miuccia Prada, who reinterpreted 40 classic styles that were a mixture of European glamour and New York Sophistication.

[kyrah42-blog]

Evaluation. . .

I did not do anything creative in terms of recording sound on location. However, when selecting sounds from online websites, I did try to pick sounds that weer authentic to our project. For example, I chose background music from Henry Purcell as he was a classical music composer from the 1600′s. Our project is about the Siege of Colchester which took place in the 1600′s, so I thought it would be suitable music for the time era. As for the technical issues, on our filming day, it was extremely windy, and as a result of that, it did drown out our actors voice. However, this minor issue was resolved as I decided we could do voice over and dub it over the footage. We used a Marantz and it was a success. I haven not acquired any new creative technical production skills during the course. As for the future personal development for me as a sound recordist, I hope to learn new effects I can learn to enhance, distort or change the way something sounds for special effects. I researched Foley techniques and watched a few videos on it. I watched one documentary called The Secret Life of Foley. I was influenced by the theme of our project for selecting sounds. Our target audience was teenagers, but as whole the project was more aimed at an older audience. However, for my role I think the sound were suitable for all audiences.

[kyrah42-blog]

more sound. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKK15lJ60Ps: This short video is of a stabbing sound effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DUaMe1f3mg: This video is a demonstration of how to create a realistic stabbing effect. They use a watermelon and place it inside somewhere confide, like a tent or a small shed. They then stab or hit it very hard and record it very closely with a microphone.

I also watched the episode Battle of the Bastards from Game of Thrones for reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsFeIVJfKsA

[kyrah42-blog]

4/12/2017 voice over . . .

Today we did voice recording of our actor because during editing the recording were very muffled by the wind and was not good quality. So, we booked out a Marantz and recorded in a quite location. This went very well, as I could hear his voice properly and there were no distractions.