Final Major Project Daily Updates, Weekly Evaluations and Plans
Course Experience So Far
I have loved the first 2 stages of the course, and I feel that I have learned so much already, both in techniques and ways of working, and about myself as a creative practitioner, which is going to inform my choice of project. I have discovered that I work best to a design brief with a heavy influence from art. Media is something which I hadn't had much experience with before starting the course and I definitely think that this is something which I would like to try and do in this project, as I loved it in stage 1. Editing on photoshop was something that I really enjoyed. One idea that I had was to film and edit a video of the garment that I end up making so that I can try and learn how to edit and shoot film as I think that this is something that I would like to use in the future. My favourite project from stage 1 was definitely the design project where I looked at the great Gatsby - this time period is something I might look at again as I love the flow of the bias cut dresses. Something else that has come out of stage 1 and 2 is that some of the costumes that interest me the most are costumes that are used for dance productions, as then you also have to tackle the element of movement in the costume as well. The movement of the fabric is something that I think is really beautiful which is why I am considering using film in this project, so that I can try and capture some of this movement. I definitely really enjoyed looking back in time for previous projects in the course, so I am thinking maybe looking at the 30s as the art deco time period is something that I think is really beautiful and had some of my favourite every dresses and costumes. I want this project to be a combination of trying new things and new skills (filming&editing) whilst also working to my strengths and choosing a project that I know I will enjoy.
Feb 8th
This was day 1 of the final major project as I had my stage 2 assessment today. I brainstormed ideas about what I wanted to do for the project, and started by mapping out the things I was the most interested in as I knew that this would make the project exciting for me, and that would be how I would get the most out of it and push myself to my limit. Once I had come up with a couple of different ideas that would interest me, I then used the mind map to come up with ways of doing primary and secondary research, to see which of the ideas would be most accessible for me, and most appropriate for a 10 week long project, and finally settled on looking at the reality behind the Golden age of Hollywood. This really appealed to me because all of my favourite movies are from this era and I love the idea of looking behind the scenes at the lives of the stars. It also incorporates dancing, as most of the movies are ginger roger and gene kelly style, which makes the project more interesting for me, as I love costumes that have the added design problem of movement.
Feb 9th
Today I had my interview at Wimbledon Art College, so while I was in London I went round the V and A museum to get some initial inspiration for my project. I found this useful as I did some primary drawings of some of the dresses. It is so early in the project, that I didn't have a clear idea of what I was looking for, so after I got back from London, I made another mind map of areas to research and how to achieve this, so that I am prepared for the week ahead, and can really jump head first into the project.
Here is the list of research I want to achieve by the end of this week:
Primary:
- London - V&A
- London - Tate Modern and Tate Britain
- London - National Gallery
- London - look at Art deco architecture
- Interview my Grandma, who was alive during the Hollywood Golden Age
- Go and draw from a Tango dance performance
- Manchester - go to art gallery and costume museum
- Draw from my New York photos (architecture)
- Draw from my Hollywood Museum photos
Secondary:
- Look at books on Hollywood costume
- Watch hollywood golden age movies
- read some articles about the real lives of the stars
- research some relevant artists
Feb 10th/11th
Kicking off research week, I spent the weekend doing the secondary research part of my list, researching hollywood costume designers, and watching golden age movies. I read loads of articles about the real lives of the stars, and I can't believe how much awful stuff happened to them that was just covered completely up, and doesn't even show in any of the movies. It was really interesting to watch the movies at the same time as I was reading about the horrible things that happened to them, as it gave an insight into the reality vs what was shown on the screen and revealed to the audience. I am excited to interview my grandma and see what she thought about the movies at the time, as she would have been part of the audiences that would have received them.
Feb 12th/13th
I spent Monday in London, gathering primary research from around London, looking at some art deco architecture, and I also went to the Tate Galleries and the National Gallery. I had my interview for Rose Bruford College on Tuesday so I stayed up in London, and continued research after my interview. After I got home on Tuesday evening, I went through all the research and found that I had developed lots of new ideas about the project, from everything that I had seen from going around the art galleries, so I am really glad I went.
Feb 14th
This evening I went to go and see Tango Moderno at the Mayflower theatre in Southampton, which was a contemporary but also elements of traditional Tango performance, which starred two of the dancers on Strictly. I loved watching it, and I also drew throughout the whole thing to try and capture their movement, so that I could put this into my project, and take influence from how the dancers move when designing my costume, so that it would work well with this kind of dancing.
Feb 15th/16th
I drove up to Manchester for an interview for Central school of Speech and Drama, so I decided to look at some of the architecture and art around Manchester while I was there. I went to the costume museum, but unfortunately it was closed for maintenance which was really frustrating, but I did go to the Manchester art gallery as well, which was interesting and helpful too, but the costume museum might have been more relevant though!
17th Feb
I stopped at my Grandma's house in Northampton last night on the drive back from Manchester, and while I was there we watched some more Hollywood movies from the 30s and 40s that she had, and I also interviewed her about her own experiences of these moves and what the represented for her at the time. The things she said were really interesting and will definitely inform my project. I loved hearing it directly from a real person who experienced it and she told me about how these movies provided hope during the war years, and how the people used them as a chance to escape what was happening outside. I found that this gave a whole new level to my project.
18th Feb
I drove back to Bournemouth and spent today collecting all of my research together and putting into my sketchbook, so that I could easily review everything that I had so far, and see what else there was to do. I also made my pitch for Wednesday, and made a powerpoint to get across my ideas.
Week 1 Evaluation
I found that this week went by so quickly and I am exhausted now because I crammed so much in. It was all useful research though, and I am excited to get into the next week of this project. I think that out of all of my research so far, the most useful was the interview with my Grandma, and also all of the inspiration from various art galleries and museums. I have found doing primary and secondary research alongside each other to be really useful as it meant that I could back up the primary research that I was doing with contextual ideas from articles online and in books. I think that right now I have got a lot of different contextual theories and ideas floating around, so I need to focus my research so that I can iron out what I really want to look at and focus on. I am glad that I have lots of ideas though, as I would rather have too many than not any at all!
Plan for Week 2
- Plan Pitch
- Present Pitch
- Write proposal
- submit and check proposal
- more focused secondary research
- look in detail at some of the starlets lives and narrow down the one that I want to look at
19th Feb
I spent today finishing my pitch, and doing more secondary research. I got really into lots of articles on the internet, uncovering the real lives of the Hollywood starlets, and sorting out the ones that I thought would be interesting to look at further. I stuck some of the articles into my book and annotated them to keep my initial thoughts and ideas about them fresh in my mind.
20th Feb
I made use of the library today and got out loads of relevant books and went through and photocopied things that I thought were interesting and relevant to my project. I used all of my research so far to start writing a first draft of my project proposal.
21st Feb
Today we presented out pitches to the group. I found the feedback that I got very useful and I am spent the rest of the day updating and putting some of the ideas into my project proposal. This is the feedback that I was given:
- I need to thing about what my end product will be; a film/dress/still images (look at Eadweard Muybridge)/designs/illustrations
- Maybe have the dress with layers - revealing layers of the starlet's story - each layer represents something new about her life
- Remember to write out context (audience, viewer, purpose, message) in proposal
- Look at buzzfeed unsolved - natalie wood. Shirley Temple/Vivien Leigh/Debbie Reynolds
- Do I have to choreograph it?
- option 1= Evie and Charlie do their existing dance (need to get permission from Stacey)
- option 2 = Evie by herself - would have to choreograph
- option 3 = Evie and Harriet - Hollywood tap number (permission from Harriet)
- option 4 = Amber - choreograph new dance for her
All of this feedback provided good questions for me to think about and to develop my project proposal further.
I think that I can make this idea into a project because there is enough there to do some really in depth research (the time period/lives of the starlets/the way that women in the media were treated at the time/art movements at the time/30s&40s movies/etc). This project will be perfect for me because it ticks every box for what I wanted to get out of it; its focused on a time period that I love, it centres around dancing and movement, there is plenty of character development and research to do on the people involved, and it can end in a video which will help to progress my editing and film making skills.
End User Context:
The dress will be used in a theatre production about the lives of Hollywood starlets, and the awful things that they put up with, in order to shine a light on that. I would love the costume to show all of the horrible things that happened to them, whilst also being really beautiful, almost to symbolise how they starlets all had to put on a front and gloss over everything with glitz and glamour. The purpose of the theatre production might be to tell the stories of the Golden Age of Hollywood starlets, especially in light of the me too and times up movements. These movements are finally giving a voice to the women of Hollywood and the production could be used to give the same voice to the women of Hollywood of the past, who are no longer around to speak up for themselves. I think that this is a production that people would want to see as it is a very topical issue right now, and as highlighted with the me too movement, there is strength in numbers so this could encourage more people to speak up and show support to those who already have. The dress would play a part in telling the story of the starlets, in a beautiful way that would encourage more people to listen.
22nd Feb
Today I made any changes to my proposal, and got it checked by my tutor to make sure there was nothing else that needed changing. I also created and filled in a detailed time plan today, which included day/activity/location/materials needed. I am the kind of person who needs a time plan and is constantly making new plans and lists, so planning out the whole project like this was really good for me and will help me to keep focused. I also made a bibliography today. I had already been keeping notes of the websites and books I had used, but today I put them all into the Harvard format into 1 document, ready to hand in tomorrow.
23rd Feb
Today I submitted the time plan, bibliography, and project proposal. This felt good because it was like passing the first hurdle and being able to jump right into the project. I am happy with how my finished proposal looked and am now excited to get on with the rest of the project.
Project Title: Reality of the Golden Age of Hollywood
Review Progress and Achievement (133)
The Foundation course has given me the opportunity to develop my creative process, beyond A-level, which has better equipped me for higher education and beyond. I now feel able to tackle real life situations, including working to set briefs and deadlines, whilst taking inspiration from a much wider range of influences. I have developed my costume illustration style, with the help of life drawing and a variety of projects. I chose the Costume pathway because I already knew that I wanted to go into set and costume at degree level. Foundation has shown me what being a costume designer is like, and I now feel much more confident pursuing it further. My project has developed from my passions, which will help me to be more involved, and push it to a deeper level.
Project Concept (314)
I intend to explore the unseen side of Hollywood, behind all the glitz and glamour and the real lives of the starlets during the Golden Age of Hollywood. I will investigate how the movies were a huge façade, used to provide hope to the people during the war, and how this meant that the real lives of the actors, such as Judy Garland, were often covered up. I would like to design and make a dress in the style of a Hollywood Golden Age dance movie (Ginger Rogers and Gene Kelly style), for a dance piece about the real life of one of the Hollywood Starlets. This could be part of a theatre production shown in modern time, but in the style of the golden age movie. The purpose of the show might be to give an insight into the reality of the Hollywood Golden Age, whilst also keeping that signature style that makes it so entertaining. Initially I thought that my target audience would be for the older generation, who might remember this era, but on reflection, I have decided that it would appeal to a much wider age range. My design problem will be centered around trying to convey the true story of the chosen actress in a subtle yet obvious way, whilst also keeping the audience entertained. Areas of research will include art movements and designers of the time, including art deco and surrealism; because as art it raises questions about fantasy versus reality. This idea can be used in my project, to help tell the real story of the starlet, without distracting from the dance itself. Fabric decoration and dyeing methods will be developed in this project, possibly including silk painting, heat press and beading. Potentially, I would like to try exploring ways to document the movement of the dress, using film and photography as part of my creative process.
Evaluation (88)
I will use a combination of my blog and hand written notes to keep a log of my reflections and evaluations throughout the project, and make use of peer reviews and tutorials to get the opinions of others on my work. I am going to keep up with the weekly evaluations to identify strengths and weaknesses and make actions for improvement, which will help me to review what I learned and achieved each week when it comes to writing the critical review at the end of the project.
24th/25th Feb
I used this weekend to do secondary research and get my sketchbook sorted so that I don't get stuck with it all at the end, and so that my thoughts and ideas flow naturally throughout the sketchbook. I looked at surrealism this weekend, and did some research about how this relates to my project. In one of the books I looked at it said that surrealism is 'rejecting a rational vision of life in favour of one that asserted the value of unconscious and dreams'. Another said that it was 'allowing the impossible feasible and the fantastic to appear real'. In my opinion, this is what the movies of the war years tried to do as the rejected a rational vision of life, and gave the viewers a chance to escape and believe that anything is possible, as a form of escapism. As the surrealist movement happened around the same time as the movies that I am looking at, I decided that it was relevant and that I might look at a way to include it in my design. I looked at the designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who was friends with Dali, one of the most influential surrealist artists. She designed clothing with heavy influence from both surrealism and art deco, the 2 movements that I have been looking at in my project.
Week 2 Evaluation
I am happy with how the project has progressed this week, and I think that writing the project proposal was really helpful in getting my ideas clear in my head, and I now feel ready to move forward. I am happy with the amount of research that I have done so far, and I think that I will be ready to move on to designing within the next week. I think that I have enough secondary and primary research to start coming up with design ideas, and concepts, which I am excited to develop because I have become really interested and invested in the subject matter and I think that the design problem I have come up with is really exciting. I am going to try and find a way to solve the problem of getting the true and horrible story of a hollywood star into a dress that still looks beautiful, taking influence from art movements of the time, including surrealism and art deco.
Plan for Week 3
- finish the majority of the initial research stage
- go to bath fashion museum for primary research
- start coming up with initial ideas
- start problem solving and finding ways to show the stories of the starlets
26th Feb
Lots more detailed research on the lives of the starlets, started coming up with ways of showing their stories through dresses. I showed this through annotations, and also through some little sketches by the information and their stories. We have decided to go to Bath tomorrow to do research, so I did some research on what we can do while we are there.
27th Feb
Drove up to bath today, and went to the bath fashion museum, where I saw a beautiful 1930s bias cut dress, and did some primary research sketches from it. It was really interesting to be able to see it up close so that I could see the cut and get an idea of the pattern. Also while we were in bath, we had a look at some vintage shops with some 30s clothing in them, and I went to a haberdashery which had loads of feathers and things which could be used in the kind of costume that I am making so I took some photos for reference later when I start designing. Finally I went to an art deco style theatre and took some photos in there, just to get an idea to see where the hollywood golden age movies might have been viewed. All in all, this day was very useful and I found that I got loads out of it.
28th Feb
I spent today collecting all of my research and started doing some initial designing. I have decided that I am going to come up with a design for each of the 5 starlets that I think have the most interesting stories (Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Natalie Wood, Clara Bow, and Jean Harlow) and then decide out my designs which has the most potential to be developed further in the project.
1st Mar
I finished coming up with ideas for each of the starlets today. I found problem solving for each one so fun, and I loved trying to use their own stories to come up with interesting design concepts, including a butterfly motif for Natalie wood because of the way that her mother ripped up a butterfly to make 5 year old Natalie cry for the camera, and using bleached fabric for Jean Harlow, because of the horrible process of using real bleach on her hair to keep her blonde bombshell look. I also linked Surrealist art in with an idea for Vivien Leigh by using automatic drawing on her dress because of how it was said to unlock deep psychological tensions.
2nd Mar
The snow meant that uni was cancelled today, so I used the opportunity to make up 2 dresses out of fabrics that I would consider using and did a photoshoot in the snow, to see how the fabric moved. This was really fun, and the photos that came out looked really cool and it was helpful to see the fabrics in action. I edited some of the photos in an Eadwaerd Muybridge style.
3rd/4th Mar
This weekend I finished off my designs for each of the 5 starlets, and decided to take forward Natalie Wood as I think that her story has the most potential to be pushed further within this project. I did some further research on her story, and started coming up with some initial ideas specifically for her costume.
End of Week 3 Evaluation
This week I made the jump from research into designing, which I am really happy about, because solving design problems for me is the most enjoyable part of the design process. I started off some practical testing of fabrics, and came up with some initial design ideas. I am glad that I have narrowed down to just one starlet and now that I have made the decision and I am excited to move forward. Decision making is often something that scares me, so I am glad I have moved past that and can now accept my decision and go forward.
Plan for Week 4
- initial ideas / problem solving
- materials testing:
- silk painting
- ice dyeing
- marble printing
- dyeing with salt
- developing ideas
5th Mar
I used today to look at some books on 30s evening dresses and researched how to create bias cut dresses, which is really important as it gives that really beautiful drape to the dress, which will look especially good when being danced in.
6th Mar
I did some initial sampling today, using and ice dyeing technique where you tie up some fabric and then put lots of ice over the top and the sprinkle fabric dye powder over the top. It created some really cool effects that I am really excited to put into the project. I might use some of the samples to tear up and create texture later in the project for some other samples.
7th/8th Mar
I spent these 2 days coming up with design ideas that tell the story of the starlet and ways that I can make it fit within the brief. I did this though sketches and notes in my sketchbook. After I have completed some sampling, I am going to take my favourite designs and put them into photoshop and put some of the samples in so that I can see what looks best and most appropriate for the brief.
Peer Review
I did the peer review today, and went though my project to see if I was where I should be for this stage in the project. On the whole I am about where I should be, and I think that something that was highlighted was that I need to remember to note down my thoughts and ideas as they happen, as otherwise the project will move too quickly and I will forget them.
9th Mar
I did some developmental sketches at uni in the day, and then in the evening I used a marbling bath and marble paints to create some cool marble effects, which could represent the water on the dress. I think that I am going to continue testing and find some other techniques however, because marbling, to me, is reminiscent of the 1960s, and as I am looking at the 30s/40s I think that it doesn't quite fit.
10th/11th Mar
I used this whole weekend to do lots of testing; I painted some silk paint samples for water and for butterflies with different coloured gutta and silk paints. I loved the gold gutta because of the way that it looked almost art deco style, which links in well with the project. I also did lots of samples with just regular fabric dyes and I made up different buckets with different colours in and used dip dye techniques to make it look like watermarks to show how Natalie Woods drowned. I also put salt on some of the samples, which created a really interesting effect, so I tried it on the silk paint samples as well.
End of Week 4 Evaluation
I am so happy with how the project is going so far, and I am really enjoying doing it, as it is has come out of loads of things that I am passionate about. Now that I have started designing and problem solving, I have found that the project is moving really quickly and I need to remember to keep up with noting down my ideas and thoughts so that the project doesn’t move too fast and I forgot my thought process. I have done quite a lot of sampling and designs now and I think that the next thing to do is put them into photoshop and decide on a final design. Once I have done that I am going to do some more sampling to help with decision making on my final design, such as which colours look best/the different options for texture etc. This week I also started organising the filming of my movie, and I have now got 2 dancers and I have spoken to a choreographer who has given me permission to use her choreography. I would say that I did take a bit longer than I expected to narrow down my project and decide on 1 starlet, but I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, as having taken that extra bit of time to research and decide, I am now 100% sure of my decision.
Plan for Week 5
Finish Initial sampling
Put samples into photoshop
More design ideas and problem solving
Come up with a final design
Test out different colour ways on photoshop
Start sampling for final design
Come up with some initial pattern designs
12th Mar
I used some of my ice dye samples to rip up and make a texture that could be used for the bottom section of the dress. I am really happy with how this turned out, and I think that I am definitely going to use this technique, or a similar technique in my final design. Later in the the week I would like to try the same technique with some different fabrics and colours.
14th Mar
Today I put my samples into photoshop to see how they would look against each other and which samples worked best together. I think that after sketching and designing I have come up with a concept that I can develop into a final design.
15th Mar
I tested out some different colour ways in the design that I came up with yesterday, and I think that I have narrowed the shape of the design down, so it is now just the finer details that I need to sort out. Photoshop is proving to be a really useful tool when it comes to figuring out ideas, as well as sketches to quickly map out ways to problem solve.
16th Mar
I used today to do some more refined materials testing - I made a table and compared and contrasted all of the techniques I had tried so far to see which ones to take forward. I then used some of the ice dye samples in the correct colours to create 4 new samples to further refine how I want my piece to look. I have now chosen what I want the back section to look like, I just need to find the right gold fabric to use, because the one that I tested with was too heavy and stiff to use for the whole dress.
17th/18th Mar
I finalised the design this weekend and made sure that I had linked all of my research within the design, by going through all of my research and writing down what I had taken from it and how I had applied it to my design. This can be found in my sketchbook.
End of Week 5 Evaluation
I managed to get almost everything on the list done this week, except for coming up with some initial pattern designs. I have had a look online to see if there is any patterns that would work for my project and so far I haven't found any that match my design. I am excited to draft my own pattern though because this is something that I have done a lot before and I really enjoy doing. However, the fact that my design is bias cut will be an added challenge that I have not had to face before. I am now thinking that drafting a pattern will take longer than I anticipated so I am glad that I added in days on my time plan to make a toile which I think will be an important step.
Plan for next week:
- Final design
- problem solve to create the right pattern
- make a toile/test pattern
- finalise pattern draft
- find a fabric to use for the gold fabric
19th Mar
We did a peer evaluation today which was really helpful because it helped me to take a step back from my work and see things from further away with the help of my peers. I think that I had been so wrapped up in my project that I hadn't been able to look at it objectively for a while, and compare it to the mark scheme so it really helped to go through it slowly with other people. These are the things that were highlighted by my peers for me to work on:
1. context: - relate it more to current audience
2. research: - movie/book references - Great Gatsby
- colour theory
- me too movement, relevant
- famous people now - coping mechanism
3. Problem solving - this was all ok, just keep up with sketches
4. keep up daily evaluations (I think that as the tasks become longer, eg. making the dress, these will become less frequent as each task will take longer, so I will reflect/evaluate every couple of days/less frequently)
from here I made a plan of what order to move forward:
- final design
- final testing
- last bits of research
- production plan
- make
- film/photograph
- edit
- finish sketchbook/final process
20th Mar
I went back to research today and looked at the 'me too' and 'times up' movements which I found so interesting and relevant because it has really shown me how my project is relevant in this day and age, because these issues are still very very topical and there is a lot of attention of the movie industry right now. Women in the entertainment industry are finally being heard, and one purpose of the theatre production would be to given women of the past the same voice. Some are not alive to tell their own stories, so this is the aim of my costume. It shows the audience some of the horrors of Natalie Wood’s life, whilst also being enjoyable to watch. This in itself is an echo of the Hollywood Golden Age; beautiful to the onlooker, yet covering the awful things happening in real life. The difference however, is that in the time that these movies were first shown, the audience held on to the excuse to forget real life and allowed themselves to be taken away from their own lives, and with that vanished the real lives of the actresses. When seen now however, I am using the costume as a platform to tell the true story, not hide away from it, which I think the audience would be open to because it is presented in a way that is accessible and pretty to look at, whilst also getting the message across.
21st Mar
I carried on using photoshop to develop my final design and I think that I am pretty much happy with it now, so i just need to do a little more testing to iron out any last things and then I will start drafting the pattern.
22nd Mar
I started looking at patterns online today, and found lots of 1930s patterns online. I used the drawings of these to do some more designs and sketches/working drawings to see if there was any which i could potentially use as a pattern, or to develop a pattern from. I downloaded one and used the guide to upscale it and draw it out actual size, which took ages because of the old fashion method that I had to follow. I am going to make a toile up of it next week.
23rd Mar
I ordered some fabric samples about a week ago which arrived today so I went through them all to see which fabric was the best, and I decided on the gold stretch satin as the stretch element will make fitting slightly easier, and also the fabric has a nicer and more forgiving drape because of it. The stretch satin also has a proper warp/weft unlike other stretchier fabrics which means i can still use the bias cut design that i was planning on using.
24th/25th Mar
This weekend I finalised all my research and caught up on evaluations and generally just made sure that my sketchbook/blog was up to date before going on to the making stage of the project.
End of Week 6
I feel that this week was really helpful in the overall development of the project because thanks to the peer review I really slowed down and re-evaluated where I was so that I could regroup my ideas and make sure that i was moving in the right direction. I think that this was important for me to refocus my project and just check that I am where i should be. i am happy with how the project is progressing and excited to get on to the next stage of it. I think that the media project earlier in the course has sparked an interest in how the garment will be presented, so I am really excited to film and edit it, and learn how to shoot/edit/colour grade the footage. I think that over easter I'm going to shoot some test footage and practice editing it so that I have a basic idea of what I am doing. I am really excited to learn a new skill though, and i think that i am definitely going to use it in the future and make more short films like the one i am planning over summer.
Plan for next week:
- come up with a final pattern
- finish testing
- basically be completely ready to start making my garment
26th Mar
I started off the week with using the 30s pattern that I drafted to make a toile of the skirt (because i already know the shape of the bodice that I want so i don't intend to use a pattern for that). overall i didn't like how the skirt came out. I think that the drawing that went with the pattern was very misleading as it was in the 30s style so it was quite different to how it actually came out and it was a lot tighter than i anticipated. I think that i am going to use the basic principles of the design of this pattern but i am going to completely redraft it. i will keep the placement of the godets and the same way that the pieces fit together, but i am going to completely redesign the shape of the pieces.
27th Mar
Today I experimented with new design ideas for the shape of the garment, moving forward from the pattern that i used to make the toile. I used quick sketches and diagrams to come up with fast problem solving solutions, and ended up with a plan that I think will work moving forward. This design relies partly on measurements and straight lines, but also partially on draping on the stand, so i need to wait for the fabric I ordered to arrive before I move forward into the next stage of the project.
28th Mar/29th Mar
I spent the last 2 days before easter finalising my design, and sorting out any remaining issues with it, and documenting it all in my sketchbook before going home for easter. This is because 1. my fabric hasn't arrived yet and 2. I want to start dyeing my fabric at home so that I wouldn't have to transport it, and that the ice in the ice dye could be left to melt over night so that the colours would work well.
30th Mar/31st Mar/1st Apr
I spent these 3 days prepping for the actual construction of the costume; I dyed the ice dye fabric, and left it overnight so that the colours were really vibrant. Then once it was dry, I used the ice dye fabric to colour match the silk paint and made the butterfly wings using gutta and silk paint, which came out really well and I am very happy with. Now that I have the silk painted wings, the ice dye, and the gold fabric has arrived, I am ready to move on to the contraction of the actual garment.
End of Week 7
This week was very productive, and I made good progress in making the actual garment, with the ice dye and the silk paint. I am super happy with the colours so far, and I think that the cooler colours in the ice dye/butterfly will look really nice against the warmer gold colour as they compliment each other really well. I think that the gold will make the blue stand out really well, as the gold has orange and yellow tones, which are complimentary to blue. This should look really effective on the video when the model is dancing. I need to make sure that when I construct the dress, that there is an appropriate proportion of gold to blue, so that one does not over power the other. I need to think about composition of the 2 colours, and make sure that it isn't just 1 block of blue and 1 of gold, and that they actually blend into each other and guide the eye nicely down the dress.
End of Week 8
I wasn't as productive as previous weeks this week, mainly because it has been Easter, so I have been spending time with family and friends and taking a bit of a break before getting back into my project. I did however finalise the pattern, and cut out the pieces of gold fabric and draped it all on the stand, so that it is ready to construct next week. I also spent this week making sure my sketchbook was up to date, which was useful. I think I needed this week to relax, which will make me much more productive next week, instead of trying to power through and having the work I'm producing being subpar, because then I would probably end up doing it again anyway. I also went out this week and shot some test footage in the location that I am using, so that I can practice colour grading and filming. I am using the program 'filmora' to edit the videos.
Below are 3 out of the roughly 50 very short clips I took, just roughly put together so I could test out the colours.
9th/10th/11th Apr
The last 3 days have all been spent putting together the actual dress. I had already dyed the ice dyed fabric and done the butterfly wings in silk paint, so it was just a case of putting it all together. I made sure to cut all of the silk on the bias, and for the skirt, I had a pattern already, but it was also a case of draping on the stand and checking that it looked ok, especially with the back ice dyed section of the skirt. I used strips of gold fabric and left over ice dyed fabric to build up texture on the skirt. I think that this produced a really cool effect, almost like the gold is shimmering up though the waves as she drowned. All thats left of her is the gold that the world saw. After I had finished that I put all the pieces of skirt together, and attached all of the bodice pieces. I sewed the top and bottom half together, then started to experiment with straps, which took some work as I didn't know how I wanted them to look, so I tested different styles on a mannequin. The arrangement that I settled with has a sunburst pattern, which is reminiscent of the art deco movement which I have been looking at in this project. I tested various arrangements of the butterfly wings to try and determine which looked the best, then I used a combination of machine stitching and hand stitching to attach the silk painted wings to the main garment.
12th Apr
I shot the footage for my film today, which on the whole went quite well despite the weather not being what I wanted. I ended up shooting most of the movie at the side of winchester cathedral which worked really well because it was all grey and cream tones which really helped set the colours of the dress of, and will be especially helpful when it comes to colour grading the video. The costume fit my model really well, and her hair colour looked really pretty with the colours in the costume, which I had predicted because I knew that I was going to use this model from quite early on in the project. I made them do their dance quite a few times and filmed from different angles, as well as following them round with the camera a couple of times so that I could get the best angles for each bit of the dance. The hardest part to film was definitely the first 60 seconds before they started dancing because I needed to make it not boring but also simple enough to not drag focus from the dress or the dance. I used a rig mount to try and stabilise the camera, which I think worked for the most part. I do wish that the weather had been better, because it was really overcast, but it is the best that the weather has been in the last few weeks so I decided that it was better to just shoot anyway, instead of trying to reschedule. Hopefully I will be able to colour grade it so that you can't tell that it was overcast.
13th Apr
I spent today starting to edit the video, and checking that I didn't have to reshoot. Luckily I definitely have enough footage without shooting anything else and I tested some colour grading on one of the clips and also decided that the weather issues didn't matter. I made a rough cut today and got the clips down to the size I want, and matched up the music with the video so that I have a rough outline to work with and edit now. I am so happy with how the dress moves on the model, and the way that she danced really made the silk look pretty, and I am glad that I decided to cut on the bias as I really think that this made all the difference to the movement of the dress.
14th/15th Apr
I worked on colour grading today, and graded all of the clips to make the dress stand out, and especially the contrast of the blue sections of the dress, against her red hair and I also made the background colour warmer and more orangey so that the blue really stands out. I also sorted out other issues I was having, and tried to edit out shakes, although this is what I found the most difficult. I also hadn't anticipated how long the intro was before they started their dance, which meant there was one or two issues with continuity but I think that I managed to sort them out. One minor issue that I had was that Charlie looked directly into the camera at one point but I decided that this because it was only for a fraction of a second it was irrelevant and didn't matter. By the end of the weekend I was happy with my video, and posted it on my costume Facebook page. The reviews I got from the people who have liked my page were good, and people seemed to like it, so I am happy with how it ended up.
End of Week 9
I feel that this week I really managed to conclude the project and the final piece, as I finished the dress and shot/edited the video. I am so happy with how the video came out, epically because I have never made a video before, so I had to learn how to film it properly and edit, as well as colour grade it. I am so happy that I managed to do it by myself as I think that these are skills that I will be able to use in the future. I am really glad that the dress fit the model and that it flowed really well when she danced. I am happy with my decision to use film to record the conclusion to this project, as I think that this captured the movement of the dress far better than photos would have done, and I think that the movement was a key component of the design. I think if I were to change anything about how my video has come out, then it would be that I wish I could have shot on a day that wasn't so overcast, but this is something that I didn't have control over, and I think for the most part I was able to save it with colour grading. I am relieved that I have been able to finish it with 2 weeks until the deadline so I have 2 weeks to get my sketchbooks and analysis to the best that it can be, and really make sure that the whole project is backed up with research and evidence.
16th Apr
First day back at uni today and I made a to do list of everything that I needed to do to try and complete the project, in my sketchbook and on my blog, including rewriting my proposal and time plan and doing the 500 word critical review and writing about the end user context.
End of Week 10
I feel that the project is coming along really well and I am definitely where I should be, ready for the hand in next week. I spent this week going through my sketchbooks and my blog, filling in anything that I may have missed out, and double checking everything against the mark scheme. I also wrote the critical review and 200 words about the end user context. It really helped to write a critical review as it helped me to take a step back and look at what Ive done, and allowed me to be proud of what I have achieved.
Critical Review
In my initial proposal I decided to focus on the untold stories of the movie stars during the Hollywood Golden Age. I wanted to create a costume depicting the awful and degrading things that the starlets went through, and that simultaneously attracts an audience with its beauty in order to provide a platform to tell their stories. The issues Hollywood starlets suffered and those which I want to highlight are reflected in the current movie industry (Me Too movement), further justifying the importance of my proposal.
Having such a large expanse of information available, it was a challenge combining the bulk of complex research, and finding the most crucial and relevant pieces to use in my project, particularly surrounding surrealist art and the treatment of women in the 1930s movie industry. I successfully used mind maps, sketches and analysis on a blog to come up with a concept for a costume that would combine all of my research, creating an end result that kept within the simple elegance of the time period, without overcomplicating the piece.
In the final outcome, I specifically liked how the cooler blue and turquoise colours in the silk paint and ice dye compliment the warmer gold colour of the main body of the dress. I came up with this design by testing a range of various techniques and methods, which I documented using tables and annotations comparing each method to find the most suitable one for the dress. These techniques tell the story I wanted to effectively, whilst also maintaining the ‘Golden Age’ look that I wanted. For example, the delicate silk painted butterfly wings are symbolic of the cruelty that Natalie Wood experienced as a child; exactly the contrast that I set out to achieve in my proposal.
Drafting the pattern for the dress also proved difficult, because I decided to stay within the fashion of the time period and cut the dress on the bias, so that it moved effectively whilst being worn in the performance. I found a vintage pattern online and used it to make a toile, which was difficult because I had to go back to an old fashioned method of drafting patterns, and upscale it from tiny drawings. Dissatisfied with the shape of the toile, I drafted a new pattern using sketches, working drawings and measurements. Arguably the main benefit of using film to record my final piece was that it accentuated the bias cut and the movement of the fabric. Albeit challenging, learning new skills (how to shoot, edit and colour grade footage) I think that it was worth it ultimately, as evidenced by the video.
I chose to film at Winchester Cathedral, because of the grey stone background, which I felt would bring out the colours in the dress, as well as enable me to colour grade more effectively as I was able to pick out specific colours in the dress and enhance them individually, therefore increasing the vibrancy of the garment.
Overall, I feel that I fulfilled the aims in my proposal, although the ideas with in it developed throughout my project as expected, and I felt that I achieved what I intended to.
My costume would be used in a theatre production about the real lives of the film stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. The issues my costume presents are topical and relevant still, with the ‘me too’ and ‘times up’ movements bringing attention to the corruption in present day Hollywood. Women in the entertainment industry are finally being heard, and one purpose of the theatre production would be to given women of the past the same voice. Some are not alive to tell their own stories, so this is the aim of my costume. It shows the audience some of the horrors of Natalie Wood’s life, whilst also being enjoyable to watch. This in itself is an echo of the Hollywood Golden Age; beautiful to the onlooker, yet covering the awful things happening in real life. I have chosen to present my costume in the form of a film, being worn by a dancer, as I feel that this best captures the movement of the dress, which was important to me as the flow and drape were key elements of the design. They are dancing a waltz which was a favourite of Golden Age stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger, as I thought that this would best get across the feeling of the costume, and how I envisaged the production to be.
Review of the dress itself
My favourite part of the dress is the colours, and how they looked on the model. I chose to use a warm gold tone for the satin (instead of silver) so that it complimented the cool tones in the ice dye, which I think worked really well. I think that I used the right proportions of each colour, so that one does not overpower the other, and I think that this was quite effective. I also blended the 2 colours by crossing them over into each other: I colour matched and used gold silk paint in the dots on the butterfly, and also used gold strips in the ice dyed train, which I loved because it looked almost like the reflection of the gold dress from the bottom of the ocean. This is symbolism on the dress for how when Natalie Wood drowned, the only thing that was left of her was the 'golden girl', the starlet, and how she was only seen for her looks/performance, and not treated like a human being.
I also tried to tell Natalie's story by using the butterfly motif, which came from the harrowing story from her childhood when her mother tore up a butterfly in front of her face to make the 4 year old cry for the camera for the movie that she was forced into. Surrealist artist Salvador Dali uses butterflies in his work to represent freedom, which I thought was appropriate to mention, as the butterfly in my dress has been torn up, which is representational of Natalie's mother tearing up her freedom, and forcing her to perform. The 'splodge' section in the centre of each butterfly wing is also inspired by surrealist art; from the dream worlds that surrealist artists create. This is because I felt that Natalie Wood (and other troubled starlets in the 30s and 40s) was trapped in this dreamworld created by the studios to distract the public from the great depression and world war 2. However, whilst being a distraction from this, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood also deterred the audience's attention from the terrible and degrading way in which the stars were treated. The gold in the dress is a representation of how the public saw Natalie Wood: a golden girl, who's worth was entirely dependent on her beauty, and how the studios saw her as a gold trophy or object to be used in their movies to get them to sell. The gold straps on the dress are reminiscent of the art deco period that was popular in the Golden Age, as I wanted my dress to fit in with the golden age style, whilst also telling Natalie Wood's story.
The cut of the dress was also reminiscent of the 30s, and was cut on the bias, which give it a silky/liquid look to it when it moved, which is what I wanted. I used godets to increase the space for the dancer to move, and over all I am so happy with the way that the dress looked whilst it was being danced in and I think that it flowed really nicely.
End of Week 11
My project is basically done except for a few minor things that I will finish over the weekend. I am so happy with how it turned out and I can't believe how much I have learned over the space of this course. I am so glad I chose to do a foundation, I have had the best year and I really think that my whole creative process has matured and progressed beyond what I thought was possible when we started in September. I feel so ready to go on to my chosen degree course, which I also don't think I would have got on to if I hadn't been here first. AUB has given me so much more confidence in my own work and creative style, and I think that the lessons I have learned here will stay with me in the future. I am sad to be leaving, but AUB has been so inspiring that I am excited to work on my own projects over summer.