Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Statistics
We looked inside some of the posts by roomformovement and here's what we found interesting.
Average Info
Notes Per Post
0
Likes Per Post
0
Reblog Per Post
0
Reply Per Post
0
Time Between Posts
1 hour
Number of Posts By Type
Text
17
Last Seen Tumblr Blogs
Fun Fact
The most popular pages on Tumblr are about Minecraft, GIFs, and David J. Peterson.
Text
The same pictures, edited
To achieve this effect, I downloaded the app ProDigital Software and used their StarFilter to add the glint effects. I also turned up the temperature and altered the colour balance so that the image was more red to fit in with the theme of the publication.
I spent a lot of time editing this shoot, because it was my first and wasn’t relevant or aesthetic enough. I edited everything to be within the correct colour scheme, edited his face to look more evil, and altered the perspective to give a more surreal look.
0 notes
Text
Overzealous Editing
As I decided early on, I really enjoy the look of unashamed photoshop. I think it’s retro and surreal: two things I wanted my publication to be. To achieve this, I roughly cut out the background of my images and replaced it with sequined fabric.
0 notes
Text
CONCEPT BOARDS: STUDIO - MONTY BLACKSHIRT, ROY SWETT, CHASTITY HOLLERS, AMBROSE BROWN, DIRK PAUL, MISS TRICKELLA DOWNE AND WEBB FOOTE
0 notes
Text
Going through my statement of intent to update and explain any changes (only sections that need updating)
0 notes
Text
Written Rationale Draft
Written Rationale
This project was about creating a satirical magazine posing as a manifesto for an abhorrent populist party of the type that is currently enjoying a resurgence. The far right went too far decades ago when Timothy Mcveigh detonated his car bomb in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. It went too far when Dylann Roof killed 9 African Americans in their home church while they held bible study. Too far in New Zealand, too far in Charlottesville and too far in Norway. It went too far when Thomas Mair murdered MP Jo Cox as she held her constituency surgery.
Aside from the 2008 crash, I trace this turn to radicalism to a particular set of people – Alex Jones of Info Wars, Steve Bannon, ‘Tommy Robinson’, Richard Spencer, Rebel Media, Lauren Southern and Milo Yiannopoulos (to name a few). Then there are the ‘reasonable’ people who enable them: Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, Fox News, Nigel Farage & Ukip etc. My publication attempts to mock these people.
It seeks to send a strong message by highlighting common racist dog-whistles, hidden agendas and prejudices via the use of fashion and humour. I have tried to address these issues using collaging, styling and photography.
Each model plays a character – Roy Swett as party leader, Chastity Hollers for health, Ambrose Brown for industry, Webb Foote for immigration, Monty Blackshirt for housing, and Dirk Paul for education.
My publication captures each character looking shifty, or otherwise creepy. Getting the balance between a comedic picture and a satirical-but-still-stylised was very important to every shoot. I think this line could have perhaps been better tread in the headshot shoot – where even though lots of effort was put into styling selections – it could have been perhaps elevated to the level of fashion more effectively. Having said this, as images I do think they are very effective and have the satirical effect that I really wanted.
The collages (which are my favourite method of illustration and feature throughout my body of work) were produced from the mindset of some of my politicians. They attempt to complement their imagery and polices, and visually make manifest their words.
I think the world is getting scarier, with ‘men of the people’ either being scripted to the absolute hilt, informed by the latest (illegally?) attained public data or saying abhorrent things that have poisoned the discourse. ‘Telling it like it is’ mostly now seems to mean identifying scapegoats, attacking them and standing up for the ‘traditional working class’ (a dogwhistle for *white* working class), all with either a pint or a golf club in hand. Because this ‘honesty’ is poisonous and negative rather than constructive, I think it is important to not meet this with further negativity. This is often the reaction of well meaning people, but it creates tribes. Further, compassion is so important and I think in some respects necessary here. But validation of this movement is incredibly dangerous. This is why I have, therefore, decided to meet it with humour. To make these powerful figures look less powerful. I focused on distinct tropes, and each shoot was a response to these: ‘conservative women are the most beautiful’, climate change denial, a strong popular leader, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and paranoid health concerns.
This is a publication for people who despair at our current political climate – people like me. Although this could be seen as ‘preaching to the choir’, I think it is important for people who want to fight the far right to feel empowered – less alone. This, in turn empowers the movement. And a movement, to be truly pervasive, should ideally come from all spheres. Maybe fashion is not the first thing you would think of, but fashion should be motivated by contemporary issues. And for me, this is the greatest, along with climate change. I feel like if you feel a gap for something, if you feel like the way you feel is not being represented, then there are at least a few people who feel the same, and as this is a global movement, and the zine does not focus heavily on one particular nation, it could appeal throughout the western world. The words from this publication are a new idea for me – normally I would include poetry and interviews – but in this circumstance, they come directly from the politicians themselves. To get a real feel for how these people think, I pored over Infowars.com, Alex Jones clips on YouTube, Dave Rubin gaffes (he genuinely wants to scrap building codes because he believes the market would ensure safe builds – NOT SURE THAT WORKS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD…), Katie Hopkins, Sargon of Akkad, Stephen Yaxley Lennon, Breitbart and Dennis Prager etc. Among other things, I begun to realise just how depressing this worldview is. I lost a lot of hope and humour while submerging myself into this world, and can only imagine what it would be like to believe every word. I think it would make you very, very angry at the world.
I can see this publication on the shelves flanked perhaps by Adbusters and Eye on Design’s latest issue. The are both motivated by external political stimuli, which they respond to in an urgent, but lighthearted way. With more of a focus on fashion, rather than art (although I produced a lot of collages), I think this justifies the gap being left between them on the shelf for The Sovereign Advancement League. The target audience is the same – creative, liberal individuals who are politically motivated – from around 17-40. My unique selling point is the concept as it pairs with fashion. As hard as I looked, I couldn’t find anything similar, but really feel there is a need for it.
This zine will be sold over the internet (find at ellieedis.com/sovereign-advancement-league) at £20 (each costs £10 to print). I would like to make this a series of issues – either continuing with the same group of fake politicians, or with a different group each time focusing on the most pertinent issue of the day – perhaps a whole issue of climate-change-denial. It will be in print each time because, while I think online is a great space to promote, I think it is more likely that people will come across the issue by chance, and feel more of a connection with it in person.
I took all images myself apart from the headshot shoot and the picture that I feature in. The first was shot by Declan Creffield, an amazing professional portrait photo who I was able to collaborate with because I offered to model for him for free. He was great to work with and he really understood the kind of awkward feel I wanted. The second mentioned was a collaboration shoot between me, Lauren Davey (an illustration student) and Simi Kanda (a photography student). We got together to take some fairly simple shots (alternating photography/creative direction ideas) and then went on to edit them however we wanted. Lauren did all of the makeup, and I did the styling. As with most of my work, each shoot was very different from the other, but with a common thread. I like to do this because it keeps it interesting as you go through the zine. I kept the colour scheme (deep red, blue and cream/gold) throughout, to maintain cohesiveness. A lot of these shoots are innovative mainly through post-production, editing faces slightly to carry a sense of evil/awkwardness, changing colours or adding a sense of retro kitsch fantasy by changing the background altogether, as in the final collaboration shoot.
The stylisation of the shoots references a lot of 70s/80s, but the zine is hopefully self-aware enough to modernise these concepts. Further to that, these eras are back in a big way, evidenced by the famous Balenciaga A/W18 campaign shot by Robbie Ausberger. I mainly used lightroom and photoshop to achieve the effects I did.
When it comes to evaluation, as always happens with projects, there were a lot of hurdles to overcome, particularly the headshot shoot, where it was vital that I had at least 7 models showed up on the same day, at the same time. Three models I had planned all messaged last minute to say they couldn’t make it, so sourcing three people who were right for the shoot on the same day it was happening was stressful. Despite this, I actually think that it turned out for the best, and that the models who were able to do it in the end were actually even better for the party. This is the kind of thing you expect when you are asking people for favours, and you have to account for it. I do normally have shoots with two models and shoot them both, so that if one pulls out I can definitely shoot that day, but having backups for 7 people was a lot! I also got my publication printed too early, and noticed certain issues and so had to rejig it and print again. This was tough on finances, but was important to the final outcome. I have learned to be more persuasive and to double and triple check things before I send them off for print.
I am happy and proud of what I produced. I think if I were to do the project again, I might perhaps somehow focus more on the fashion element. I styled everything down to small details, but I think the images could look slightly more editorial (in a fashion communication context). I also produced a short promotional film (also viewable at ellieedis.com/sovereign-advancement-league). I am proud that I managed to turn a political issue I care about deeply into a fully realised, stylised project. The photographer I collaborated with is the most professional I have thus far, and I believe the models are also more relevant to my project than they have been in the past. I pushed myself in this module despite a few hurdles, and I hope it shows.
0 notes