Fashion Film Frenzy

A Shaded View On Fashion Film is a touring festival showcasing new fashion films and promoting the increasing profile of this emerging genre. Hosted by Diane Pernet, fashion editor and blogger of A Shaded View On Fashion, it is now in its third year and gaining more and more popularity. This year, the film festival is on the move, with new film submissions required with each stop. Next up will be Paris, after first launching at the Mexico and Russia fashion weeks, the Hyères Fashion Festival April 30, then landing in Milan on May 25-30, with more destinations to be announced. In conjunction with the Milan event, Vogue Italia is looking for submissions for a short film based around the subject 'light' - if the due date wasn't so soon I would have had plenty of inspiration! Past films include work by Jeremy Scott, Ksubi, SHOWStudio, Alexander McQueen, Gareth Pugh and director Ridley Scott. Can't wait to see the new crop of exciting films, they are sure to be fantastic.

lenhenry.com

Boys Boys Boys

In celebration of explorations of masculinity, the male body and dress, man style, men everything, this week begins with a film for Dolce and Gabbana's SS10 mens collection. Filmed by Pierre Debusschere, styled by David St John-James, and starring british actor Robert Sheehan, who is due to appear in upcoming films Killing Bono and Season of the Witch, the film is inspired by the sequinned tailoring of the spring collection. Following on from my previous posts about light, this video plays with a range of sparking light sources from firecrackers to strobe lights and laser projections. Set to the music of Australian experimental rock band Pivot, it is an edgy piece, working well with the flashy light effects juxtaposed against the more dreamy twilight landscapes to communicate a dramatic opulence for Dolce and Gabbana. The film debuted on website Nowness, and also features in stills in Another Man magazine.

Dolce & Gabbana's Men's Spring 2010 Collection Trailer from Selectism on Vimeo.

Info courtesy of Nowness.com

Whiteness of Being

Here are some lovely photos from french/swedish artist Mathieu Bernard-Reymond's 2009 series entitled Disparitions, exulting in the ghostly quality of white for which they are remote and beautiful. There is the knowledge and suggestion of human presence while at the same time the landscapes are rendered alien and abandoned. I get a feeling of dislocation, of being there and not there, or maybe on another dimension. The human influence of their built environment seems to merge with the foggy land rather than encroaches - the contrast seems to work together as a whole, creating this interesting and conflicting atmosphere.

A description of the series from his website:
"The series Disparitions the artist examines architecture, people, landscape and their mutual interactions. Man appears as a flâneur in the layers of the image, randomly present or absent. The architectural complexes thus generated become compelling stage designs for human decoration in which the individual beings are imprisoned."
Helen Hirsch

Mathieu Bernard-Reymond - Disparitions (2009)
images from his website here

From white to bright (to fright?)

This is a truly fantastic photographic series shot by Rankin - who co-founded Dazed and Confused - in collaboration with makeup artist Alex Box. Beginning with a white 'canvas' the images progress in an experimental exploration of beauty and darkness. I love these because they are not your typical beauty shoot, it is a lot more raw and textural. Inspired by gothic culture in her younger years and the idea of being unattainable, she studied fine art at the Chelsea College of Art before progressing into painting the body and face. This series was shown as part of a 2009 exhibition of their joint work at Rankin's gallery space Annroy, among their other equally as inspiring images. (Dazed and Confused, Nov 09)

 

Photos courtesy of Rankin's website.

Existential White

Excerpt from Daft Punk's movie Electroma

Exploring their own brand of humanity, the enigmatic Daft Punk boys created a full-length film journeying through their robot bodies as they attempt to transform themselves into humans. The excerpt here shows the robot characters enter a space-age looking facility to undergo their transformation - the camera techniques used in this scene is where it is interesting. The high-contrast, ultra white silhouettes work really well and is a technique that stays with you visually for its strong graphic quality. This video is a bit long, it's 10 minutes, but the main thing to take away from it is the cinematography, shot by one of the duo Thomas Bangalter, who apparently taught himself about film production in order to make this.

www.electroma.org
www.daftpunk.com

The Ephemera of White

This week is about white!

I came across the work of London based stylist Fred Butler a little while ago - it's often zany and colourful, a bit futuristic and there is a love of craft and unique handmade items. Her skills as a prop maker and her wonderful imagination go beyond. While on her website, i found a film called House of Organza, made for an art event in London in 2009, that really spoke to me of the beauty and transient nature of white.The soft ruffles of the fabric unfold and enclose in a way that is fragile and sensual at the same time and makes for a very beautiful film. The detail of the clothing is really done justice as well, giving the visual closeup while conveying the feel of the light, layered texture of the organza.

I wasn't able to find a video of the whole film to put on the blog, so posted here is a teaser of it, however you can view the actual film (which i recommend) on Fred Butler's website or here at DazedDigital.

Photos and video teaser shot by Mari Sarai
Styled by Kim Howells

images from coutequecoute

"HOUSE OF ORGANZA"' - Extended Video Teaser from PRICKIMAGE on Vimeo.

Heavenly Light

Soft projector light lends a surreal, filmic quality to this editorial featuring Kate Moss. It adds another layer to the clothing, reiterating the tulle and angelic hair and yet is also juxtaposed by the hard edge found in elements like the cigarette and graffiti style projections. Some photos show the projection of a film still - referencing beauty and the beast. Almost like the projection of inner thoughts and feelings, ephemera, and a gauzy veil imprinting on the body.

source: http://community.livejournal.com/ru_glamour/2716512.html?style=mine

Vogue Paris Dec-Jan 2005

Photographer: Craig McDean

Stylist: Carine Roitfeld

Lights, Camera, Lasers!

 

RE-BEL - Film by SHOWStudio

 Shot by Pierre Debusschere and styled by Rasharn Agyemang

Neon and futuristic, this is another exploration into light and a frenetic, expressive journey into a high-tech world. Suggestive of techno textiles, robots and new modes of existence, it is interesting for the atmosphere the work invokes. Shot as a precursor to a new magazine of the same name, the possible applications for film are so far reaching..

more neon eye candy

I just came across this pic on a website called Bleach Black - UV light from the tanning bed and a great photo. A bit more low-tech than the Herring & Herring images but equally as interesting.

www.bleachblack.com

Radioactive Light

A great photographic collaboration exists between Dimitri Scheblanov and Jesper Carlsen, who founded Herring & Herring in 2008. Radioactive uses the one technique to amazing effect, and the neon, glowing garments literally jump out of the image like very cool kids stepping out from the nuclear reactor - or another planet. Styled by Katie Collins, published in Surface Nov 2009. For more of their work go here.

Let There Be Light

UV light, laser light, glow sticks, flare guns, fairy lights, halogen lights, neon lights, projector light, torchlight, candlelight, strobe light, black light, night vision, infrared.....

LIGHT

So many different possibilities and effects. So many ways to affect perception and experience. Light can be emotional, it can cause anxiety, it can wash something out so that only a brief impression remains. Light often means life while a lack of light is dangerous and threatening. Light can also be heavenly and suggest another plane, or it can be futuristic and technology-driven.

LED Spraycan by aïssa logerot

Dazed and Confused, styled by Nicola Formichetti, photographed by Pierre Debusschere

Dazed and Confused, styled by Nicola Formichetti, photographed by Pierre Debusschere

The artwork of Olafur Eliasson is so arresting in his experiential projects with light. His dutch/icelandic heritage conveys a fascination with the human condition and its environments, and his installations immerse the viewer within them. This attests to how significantly light impacts on us, and having been to one of his exhibitions i can say that his work truly resonates for a long time after the experience - hugely inspirational. www.olafureliasson.net

The weather project (2003)

Your atmospheric colour atlas (2009)

Beauty (1993)

Room for one colour (1997)

Stylists no. 4 - Nicola Formichetti

Nicola Formichetti has been amazing me with his work lately. Having established himself through his position as creative director at Dazed and Confused, he also fills the boots of fashion editor at Vogue Hommes Japan, V mag, Another magazine and Another Man. I am in awe of his styling work with men's fashion in particular - it really goes beyond the typical representation of male fashion and toward a less gender-stereotyped sensibility. His creative style is quite diverse but the use of props, accessories and makeup often play a large part, combined with photographic effects or location to make a complete and engaging story. I'm very much drawn to colourful things at the moment, especially in fashion photography, however his black and white work is also beautiful.
Here's a taste of some editorials, a whole lot more on his website www.nicolaformichetti.com

Stylists no. 3 - Michelle jank

ACNE Spring/Summer 2010 presentation - by Michelle Jank and Richard Brandon Cox
featuring art by Katerina Jebb at the Barbican Curve Gallery, London, music by Jonny Seymour and Paul Mac.

Originally from Perth, Michelle Jank now flits between Paris and Sydney, her work encompassing styling, her own jewellery and fashion designing, and now some video work. Making the clear link between art and fashion, this film for ACNE's 2010 summer range is set in a gallery and conveys a rather ethereal quality. I've also included a recent shoot she has styled with photographer Harold David, which is just beautiful for the monochromatic colour blocking (nude colours are so hot right now!) and the florally constructed eye mask. Dry australian bush meets mademoiselle.

 

 

http://linleeloves.blogspot.com/2010/02/when-michelle-jank-met-harold-david.html