Worded nicely

Just things that I have read in my travels whilst researching that I think are worded really nicely....in that they are really descriptive and they do a nice job of conjuring up a precise image in your mind.
I found them from an essay on Aubrey Beardsley: "Liminality & Ambiguity: graphic gender lines and uncertainty in Beardsley"

"If this visual carnival were not sufficient surprise, Beardsley catches our searching

eye and focuses it on scopic desire by replacing the nipples and navel of the statue with

staring eyes making the reader, in an amazing reversal, the subject of the voyeuristic

gaze."

p6

The critics were puzzled and confused by the self-conscious absence

of naturalism in modern French art. They saw it as the symptom of a

degenerative national psychosis, and they resented its intrusion into

English art. A non-naturalistic style was, they argued, the sign of a

declining sense of tradition and an all-pervasive moral laxity. (63)

p63 of p7

“the bold graphic stylization and abstraction of form practiced by the Japanese

artists…such as Utamaro and Hokuyei” that drew and influenced Beardsley’s work (68).

p68 of p7

Additionally, the androgyny of Beardsley’s figures ran counter to the increasing

influence of science and its clear-cut system of taxonomy. The ambiguously gendered

figure does not fit into the system of categories except as an “other” or deviant

expression. Sturgis explains “the twin-sexed hermaphrodite was a figure of particular

fascination during the late nineteenth century…its ‘cursed beauty’ a symbol of selfsufficiency,

sexual confusion and the anti-natural” (96). The phrase ‘cursed beauty’ is

telling as it reveals the Victorian dilemma of simultaneous attraction to and repulsion

from Beardsley’s potent androgynous figures.

Rough Script

TUESDAY 28 JUNE

Narrative

Acts:

I – Introduction, II – Lifestyle, III – Shopping, IV - Closing Thoughts, V – Edit

I – Introduction

a.     Opening of door, protagonist sprawled in bed covered in oxidized lettuce (Cuddling picture frame)

“No! No! No! What are you doing here? Your not suppose to be filming yet! I haven’t had my two hours of beauty sleep yet. And I’m not ready! Moron.”

b.     Monologue personal introduction after being woken up.

“VOICEOVER: My name is Andrej. I’m a model.”

c.     Protagonist shows film crew around room and setting.

Andrej looks at his shrine. He is also holding his picture frame (which he carries everywhere)  “Oh your fabulous darling”

Andrej watches himself on Youtube. “Oh honey! (Referring to himself on the catwalk)…..Oh Jesus I’m looking fat there.” Andrej then directs speech to the cameraman.  Stop shooting! Stop shooting! Make sure you cut that out okay?

d.     Expressions of alienation from society, reclusion, denial of stagnant social values, general aloofness and ranting of narcissism.

Andrej speaks to camera whilst nibbling on lettuce. “Some people think I’m a freak. But I think it’s just that my beauty scares people. My friends understand me. I know I can count on them.

Andrej talks to his imaginary friends – the posters on the wall with cutout faces of himself on everybody. “You guys are boring me. I’m going shopping.” Andrej holds his picture frame.

II – Lifestyle

e.     Exercise routine.

Andrej does yoga in his apartment in hot pants and a sweatband. “VOICEOVER: Oh everybody does yoga! If you want to look like this its all about the yoga and the lettuce.”

f.      Diet and maintenance: fridge full of lettuce, eating

Andrej opens his fridge, stacked full of lettuces.

Andrej eats lettuce like it is a delicacy at a table next to his friends. His picture frame is sitting on the other chair. Directs speech to one of the poster friends on the adjacent wall:  “Wow honey, your looking fabulous! Have you been eating less or barfing more?”

Andrej feeds his dog lettuce. “You’re looking a little fat Andrej. You’re only getting half a piece today.” Andrej places half a piece of lettuce in the dog bowl.

Andrej binges on lettuce.

g.     Throwing up montage, self scolding.

“VOICEOVER: its no secret. We all stick our fingers down our throats.” Andrej throws up due to binge out on lettuce. “So fat!”

We see a bucket near his bed that is there purely for his vomit sessions.

h.     Make up and posing with various outfits.

Andrej does make-up routine. Applies mascara and white eyebrows. “VOICEOVER: People say I’m naturally beautiful. I know I am already beautiful. But ugly people wear make-up to look more beautiful. So there’s nothing to stop me from doing the same.

Andrej poses for the camera. Shots are fast and jumpy and go with music to accentuate this. “VOICEOVER: I probably spend about three hours each day working on my poses. It’s actually quite a good exercise routine as well.

III – Shopping.

i.      Walking across Westfield in drag.

“VOICEOVER: It is hard for me to walk down the street without being so noticed. Everyone is like Andrej! Andrej!”. Andrej walks through shopping centre. He is still carrying his picture frame. Gets close to camera and directs speech to cameraman – “See those people staring. And over there.” (Points to random shoppers)…”wait do you hear that? Yep, I think they’re screaming my name” (shot looks at random shoppers. No one is screaming his name; he just receives strange stares CRICKET NOISE)

j.      I love shoes monologue, trying on shoes

“Oh my god, Shoes!” Andrej walks into a shoe shop and tries on shoes. The cameraman is holding the picture frame. Asks shop assistant for a size 8 shoe. Whispers to cameraman: “Do you think he realises who I am?” Quickly taps sales assistant and directs speech quietly: “Um, I’m sorry do you know who I am?” Sales assistant looks confused. Andrej directs speech to cameraman again: “Quick hand me that” (picture frame) Directs speech to sales assistant again: “This is me. I’m Andrej. You know, Andre Pejic? I’m like a fabulous international model. You don’t know who I am?” Sales assistant looks at Andrej and cameraman disdainfully. Ignores Andre and goes to get size 8 shoes.

Andre puts on a women’s size 8. They do not fit him but Andrej is so delusional he believes it is the perfect fit. Directs speech to cameraman. “Oh my god, fabulous!” Poses around ridiculously.

k.     Staff laughing behind separating wall

IV – Closing Thoughts.

l.      Shopping bags, and reflection on day

m.   Eating, discipline self-deprecation (damage of the protagonist).

n.     Closing thoughts lengthy montage

o.     Leaving exit.

Progress on Storyboard

TUESDAY 28 JUNE

Enter a delusional character who thinks he is Andrej Pejic. This version is suppose to be comical. A parody on the narcissistic culture of digital media and indeed the consumer himself. The film looks at preconceptions about the fashion industry and plays up to them. Whilst also touching on issues that are socially relevant, like eating habits, masculinity etc, the film's purpose is primarily to provide a mockumentary on this character and his life. The film enters the realms of fashion by referencing seventies rock glamour in an Andy Warhol-esque way. We took the less is more approach, to see what statement we could make with single pieces. For example, white Calvin Kleins with a vintage fur coat. The fashion in this film has been used to sell an idea about a certain style. We did not intend to explore the notion of product placement.

SUNDAY 26 JUNE

Enter a delusional character who thinks he is Andrej Pejic. This version is suppose to be sad and deep, contrived from the isolated emotions of an outsider who is not understood. However, the irony is in the portrayal of the protagonist's crucial importance set in a future scenario, where his existence is as both man/woman has been accustomed to. Gone are the preconceptions about his nature. He is normal.

Movie List to watch in the future

On Monday, Pamela gave us a list of must see films. I am really keen to have a look at them all because I feel after having done this subject, it puts many things in to perspective for my design studies by placing contextual, historical and social relevance on things - both in fashion and film. I feel as if more stuff makes sense to me now, because I am more aware of where things came from in the past.

So anyway, here is the list. I will be busy watching films over the next month!!!!!!!!

1917 Films of Eisenstein
Man with a Movie Camera

1920s Sunrise

1930s Metropolis - first film to envisage the future. Blade Runner drew on this film.

1939 The Rules of the Game (more noir) - Clothes by Chanel

French New Wave Films

Italian Cinema of the 1950s and 1960s

La Dolca Vita

Darley - British Movie

1960s - The new Hollywood - films like Easy Rider

Japanese Cinema - Kirasawa works - Japanese versions of Macbeth and King Lear
Ozui

Chinese Cinema - Raise the red lantern

High art cinema - Look at Andy Warhol films. Lonesome cowboys - gay or queer sensibility - similar to brokeback mountain but Warhol was not mainstream

Hindi Films - Biggest film industry in the world

Change, Identity & Rebellion: The notion of subcultures

Interestingly, the first use of the term "subculture" was used in LA, referring to gangs. Historically speaking, the first subculture to exist was probably the "zoot-suiters" of the late 1940s. About the same time the "bikers" also existed. The bikers were men who came back from WWII and couldn't fit in to mainstream America, so they jumped on their bikes and just went. Easy Rider (1969) was seen as a seminal counter cultural film to do with this sort of movement.

Moving through time, the 1950s saw the rise of the teenager (this was a democratic fact). This influenced the whole subculture movement. In 1950s film, the Hays Code began to relax and television was in nearly every American home.

I thought this point was very interesting: the importance of all subcultures: all working class BUT had money in style!

SUBCULTURAL CAPITAL and CULTURAL CAPITAL are not the same!!

Now this is interesting:
Angela McRobbie believes that their are female subcultures, but they are invisible to the public because they are not media-fueled. Instead, they exist in the school playgrounds and bedrooms......because women are particularly susceptible to domestic consumer ideologies. There is no violence in female subcultures - which is why they are invisible.

Collecting Ideas

GENERAL COMMENTS AROUND THE FASHION FILM, TECHNOLOGY AND CONSUMPTION:


Gareth Pugh whilst being a fashion designer, is also an arbiter of fashion who decides that in the world of modern consumerism the fashion film can replace the catwalk. He is now working with the medium of  a highly symbolic and esoteric fashion films.


Pugh is creating a new environment for the existence of fashion. Instead of the catwalk, Pugh applies the fashion film to his work. He capitalizes on the whole notion of being "plugged in" by making use of postmodern popular culture and consumer lifestyles. In this way, whilst at the core of his fashion film the goal stands to sell the clothes, it also generates a meaning around the consumer and the technology saturated world in which we live.


The contemporary fashion film is very much about storytelling. Designers recognize that it is imperative to create contextual significance in the fashion film in order to sell products. They make use of the postmodern condition to fuel the consumption of fashion. This includes capitalizing on the rise of technology. The contemporary fashion film becomes a work of art, creating a fantastical aura of exclusiveness that allows consumers to "buy-in" to the world of fashion inside the walls of their own homes.


Designers like Pugh are adopting postmodern concepts and presenting them to consumers in ways which not only drive the consumption of fashion, but also the consumption of technology. In modern-day terms, this includes motion pictures, the world wide web and the rise of the youtube video phenomenon. These forms of "cybercouture" (Quinn, 2002) are set within a surreal environment but are presented to consumers as real (Best and Kellner 1991). In the realms of modern-technology and cyberspace, the fashion narrative forms hyperreality where consumers are unable to distinguish between the fantasy and the attainable (Baudrillard 1988).


THE "SPECTACLE" OF THE CLOTHES:


In a world where fashion principles are applied but not adhered to, Pugh works metaphorically and poetically. The garments exist as theatrical props for the unstructured narrative. In fact, it could be argued that they create their own narrative within an environment that does not follow the classic hollywood narrative in itself.








BREAK UP STRUCTURE:


Introduction: The contemporary fashion film and its duty in driving the consumption of fashion and technology


Section One: General discussion about technology. Also find any examples from the readings that somehow link to it. Literature: Journals on fashion and technology, New York times review.


Section Two: The Spectacularity. Link to classic Hollywood - the couturier's role as the costumer designer. Example from reading.


Section Three: The themes Pugh explores. Chrysalis, rebirth, asexuality - all stems back to technology. Also look up the sinister serpentine illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley and any literature on what this deals with - what it represents - how Pugh has applied in postmodern terms. Journals on technofashion and what ideals are being sold to the modern consumer.

The mythic imagery and romantic sensibility of Pugh's fashion film harks back to early works of artist Aubrey Beardsley. In fact, Pugh was so heavily influenced by the sinister serpentine illustrations of the artist so much as to use them as direct inspirational references in his very first film Insensate (2008). Showstudio referred to it as "MACABRE PHANTASMAGORIA THAT UNFURLS BEFORE YOUR EYES LIKE A CHILLING BUT BEAUTIFUL BLOOM" (2008).

 

Beardley A, unknown, "The Third Tableau of Das Rheingold", from "Best Works of Aubrey Beardsley". Web. viewed 30 June 2011. <http://beautifulcentury.blogspot.com/2007/09/aubrey-beardsley-third-tableau-of-das.html>.

Conclusion: The relationship between the modern fashion film and technology - the interplay. How Pugh successfully capitalizes on this postmodern culture.





REFERENCE:

FASHION
Gareth Pugh at Pitti: On the Extreme
By REBECCA VOIGHT  01/18/2011 11:15 AM

GARETH PUGH AT HIS PITTI UOMO SHOW. PHOTO COURTESY OF G. GAZIA/NONAMEPHOTO

Christmas is over, it's raining, and everything is on sale—but the dreamier side of life is there, if you know where to look. Last Thursday night, the place to find it was in the double towers of the 14th century Orsanmichele church in Florence. The occasion was Gareth Pugh's small collection show for Pitti, the Italian trade fair devoted to menswear, which includes a women's annex for pre-collections, those early-bird designs that keep cash register ringing before the spring and winter merchandise arrives.

Despite the demands of today's fashion business, Pugh remains happily untamed, as does his Paris backer Michele Lamy (who also manages Rick Owens, her partner in work and life). Together, they form an unruly troika, responsible for some of the most exciting and spontaneous ideas in clothes today. The Pitti organization is no slouch, either: each season it sponsors original shows in historic sites throughout Florence, from young designers like Adam Kimmel, Kris Van Assche and Raf Simons.

For Pugh, this invitation from Florence was an opportunity to show color, which he has rarely done since he began presenting his collections in 2005 in London. Now a fixture in Paris, where he shows his men's and women's collections together, Pugh is one of the first English designers, along with Christopher Kane, who is growing his eponymous business in London rather than designing full-time for a major European label.

I took the tall, thin gentleman walking a few paces in front of me, dressed in a coat of swirling strips of black leather and multi-buckle boots, for a Florentine eccentric before he turned around and I recognized the familiar face of Gareth Pugh. At 29, he is precariously juggling his maverick design sense with the fragile cash flow of a young business.

"For me, this is a big honor," says Pugh. "The collection is a subtle hint to what I will show next March in Paris, and it's based as usual on the juxtaposition of hard/soft, masculine/feminine and light/dark. I visited Florence last October and looked at Italian history going into art, architecture, and religious iconography, and it inspired me."

Instead of doing a traditional runway show, Pugh decided to produce a 12-minute, fashion-show-length film, directed by frequent collaborator Ruth Hogben, whom he met when she was assisting the photographer Nick Knight. The two have been almost inseparable ever since, and it now appears that Hogben's scenarios inspire Pugh to design. "It's kind of like those beautiful Caravaggio paintings," he says of the small collection he designed for the show in Florence. "There's people coming out of blackness, halos over heads, sins and angels."

Presented on two 22-meter-long rectangular ceiling screens hanging from the rafters in one of the Orsanmichele towers, Natasa Vojnovic, Jonathan Baker, and a few other dancers twisted and leapt over the audience like a pack of sexy gargoyles for Pugh's fresco. Sequins flashed, balloon shapes blew up around all these beautiful bodies, and eventually everything got wet, but it was hard to get much of an idea about the actual clothes.

Luckily, Pitti had invited Pugh to display a few key pieces on dressmaker's dummies early on the morning before the show. And these looked as though they might have been taken off the backs of the divas of some secret mystic organization. A stiff coat made from gold and brilliant blue diving suit fabric, banded in black, seemed ready to take flight. An hourglass dress with matching armbands rising to the shoulder in oversize gold sequins looked like cut glass or spun sugar. And a frothy cascade of blue chiffon and gauze was positively witchy. The pièce de resistance was a slinky gold stretch dress, made from Angelskin, a performance fabric from the supplier of England's weekly competition television program Strictly Come Dancing. Covered in slits over every curve, it suggested an erotic battle.

How these pieces relate to late 16th-century Italian painting is a moot point for Pugh. "I don't like to absorb myself with historical references, so I'm not pouring over books in the library. I'm just looking for atmosphere."  He is, however, more precise about color. "Black for me is about a silhouette, which is what I do. Putting a silhouette and color together is almost too much."

Pugh is fascinated by film. He shot one with Hogben for his last show in Paris, but he will go back to the runway format for his next presentation a bit reluctantly. "Theatricality gives me ideas. I think it's better to start with an extreme and work backwards, or, as my dad used to say: 'You can't polish shit.'" That a designer would prefer film to showing clothes on live people might come as a surprise, but in Pugh's case, once you scratch the surface, it makes sense. "I want clothes to do something," he says. One recalls his London debut, when every piece seemed to light up or expand like a balloon. In one case, he even inflated the runway and the models bounced back and forth. "It looks stupid if you have a model walk out in a dress that blows up," says Pugh. "That's something that works beautifully in film, but to do the same thing in a live show is impossible."


Voight R 2011, "Gareth Pugh at Pitti: On the Extreme", Interview Magazine. Web. viewed 30 June 2011. <http://www.interviewmagazine.com/blogs/fashion/2011-01-18/gareth-pugh-pitti-uomo-2011/>.

The Fixties and Sixties: A Womans Place?

The fifties saw a focus on the breasts - the apotheosis of erogenous. The foam bra appeared. Whole careers were built on breasts. Jayne Mansfield's were insured for $1 million dollars!!! It was a decade for competition for titillation. (Ironically 10yrs later, breasts would disappear).
Alas, it was true, gentlemen did prefer blondes - 3 out of 10 women dyed their hair blonde. The typical fifties celebrity phenomenon was contrived out of sex appeal. Publicity became more explicit than film. This is perhaps when the hollywood celebrity outside of film began. Through the printed picture. The 1950s was all about the sex symbol. The two most archetypal sex symbols of the time - Marilyn Munroe (America) and Brigitte Bardot (France). They both embodied an intense, child whorish eroticism, whilst still retaining a sense of innocence at the heart of it. They were representations of Dr Kinseys findings, enjoying and relishing healthy sexual appetites. They were in control; they treated men as playthings; their deepest emotions were narcissist. Munroe made a virtue of her acting limitations by being amusing. She had caressable curves, wondering eyes and a hushed baby voice. On the other hand, Bardot had the look of chaste girlhood. Her sensuality was not femme fatale but enfant fatale. She was a nymphet. Audiences were convinced she was virtually naked. She was not submissive but she was not a whore. Her movies proved love could be filmed erotically but not pornographically.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

So in discussing my essay topic with one of my tutors (the contemporary fashion film - focusing on Gareth Pugh/Ruth Hogben) she suggested I firstly break it down into a textual analysis of each of the films I am looking at. I have already looked at 4 Gareth Pugh fashion films (see previous posts) - I'm not sure that there are any more to date. Apparently there is not much academic literature out there at the moment that is based on the modern consumption of the contemporary fashion film.

So this got me thinking. I needed to remind myself of how to in fact deconstruct a text:
I googled it and this is what I got:

A Basic Guide to Textual Analysis

Analyze the Rhetorical Context

1. Who is the writer? GARETH PUGH
2. What is her or his role or position? FASHION DESIGNER
3. Who is the intended audience? ANYONE INTERESTED IN ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS
4. What is the exigence which prompted this writer to write? I BELIEVE GARETH PUGH WAS TAPPING INTO THE CONSUMPTION OF BOTH FASHION AND TECHNOLOGY COMBINED. HE IS AWARE CONSUMERS HAVE A HUNGER FOR IMAGERY, FOR "NEW THINGS". THEY ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON, IT IS THE WHOLE NOTION OF BEING "PLUGGED IN". PUGH RECOGNIZES THAT THERE IS A BIG AUDIENCE FOR THAT. HE ALSO SAYS THAT THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT CAN GO WRONG WITH A FASHION SHOW. 43 OUTFITS CAN MEAN 43 "BAD" IMAGES THAT WILL DEFINE A DESIGNER FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS. AS A DESIGNER, HE IS NEVER HAPPY WITH THE IMAGES OF A LIVE CATWALK SHOW - THEY ARE NOT THE IMAGES HE WANTS CONSUMERS TO SEE. THE FASHION FILM IS THEREFORE ALL ABOUT BEING IN CONTROL, HAVING THE CAPACITY TO EDIT, "CLEAN IT UP". IT IS ALL ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY; TO SELL THE CONCEPT AND THE CLOTHING AS "EXPENSIVE, SLEEK AND WELL CONSIDERED".
5. What discipline or discourse community does this text seem to be a part of? FASHION, DESIGN, ART

Analyze the Textual Features

1. What issue is being addressed? IT IS FUELING CONSUMPTION BY ADDRESSING MODERN DAY IDEOLOGIES SURROUNDING TECHNOLOGY, GENDER AND ARTISTIC VISION. PUGH UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS IS WHAT GETS MODERN DAY CONSUMER GOING. HE IS USING IT TO HIS ADVANTAGE BY CREATING PHANTASMAGORIA WITHIN THE SPECTACULARITY OF FASHION.
2. What position does the writer take? THE IMAGINATOR, THE ART DIRECTOR
3. What is the author's major claim or thesis? THE FASHION FILM IS A COMMUNICATION OF HIS IDEAS. HE INTENDS TO CREATE A LANGUAGE ABOUT HIS CREATIVE VISION THROUGH CINEMATIC IMAGERY.
4. Is the claim qualified (does the author hedge)? If so, how? PUGH SAYS HIS FILMS ARE VALIDATED ACROSS ALL AUDIENCES. HIS FASHION FILMS ARE NOT TARGETED AT THE FASHION INDUSTRY, BUT RATHER INTENDED FOR ANYONE TO WATCH AND APPRECIATE BEAUTY.

Place the Text in a New Context

1. How does this text relate to other texts you have been reading? LITERATURE THAT TALKS ABOUT FASHION BEING USED IN FILM AS A SPECTACLE. MOVING AWAY FROM TRADITIONAL USE OF COSTUME TO ASSIST WITH THE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE & CHARACTER. USING THE CLOTHES TO TELL A STORY BY THEMSELVES. STELLA BRUZZI TALKS ABOUT THE COUTURIER USING COSTUME TO CREATE SPECTACLE AND THE COSTUME DESIGNER USING IT FOR NARRATIVE IN HER BOOK "UNDRESSING CINEMA".
2. How might another writer (or you) use this text? I PLAN TO USE GARETH PUGH'S FASHION FILMS TO DECONSTRUCT THE IDEA OF USING FASHION IN FILM AS A FORM OF SPECTACLE. MOVING AWAY FROM THE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE, AND ENTERING AN INTERFACE BETWEEN CINEMA AND TECHNOLOGY, WHERE THERE IS OFTEN NO NARRATIVE. IDEOLOGIES ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY HAVE SHIFTED - IMAGERY IS BECOMING ASEXUAL AND NOTIONS AROUND GENDER ARE BEING BLURRED. PUGH'S FASHION FILMS ARE ABOUT PERFORMANCE, CHRYSALIS, REBIRTH, THE BODY; THEY ARE NOT SEXUAL. CONSUMERS ARE ACCEPTING THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE "PLUGGED IN". FOR THE MODERN CONSUMER, IT IS ALL ABOUT SELLING TECHNOLOGY - GARETH PUGH UNDERSTANDS THIS.

Link for Template for a Basic Textual Analysis: http://www.engl.niu.edu/wac/txtanal.html viewed 25 June 2011

The Capacity of the Fashion Film

The Visual Design of the Fashion Film

Munich A, 2011, Fashion in Film, Indiana University Press, Bloomington

What SHOWstudio has to say....

Link: http://showstudio.com/project/fashionrevolution/exhibits/fashion.film/fashion.film viewed 25 March 2011

What idea are consumers buying into? We already understand that the fashion film's job is to preview the upcoming collection or reveal it instead of a catwalk display. But it is also there to serve as a projection of the designer's vision and the philosophy behind their handwriting. So then what is the counter purpose? It is there to stand as an image which relates to the ideologies of the consumer. What future does it project? Who is it appealing to? What is interesting is that Pugh's fashion films do not seem to fit into the mainstream, yet they do because of their heavy exploitation on technology.

Thelma and Louise: Bad Girl Cinema

Left Link: http://www.evilbeetgossip.com/2010/12/08/a-thelma-louise-redux-ohhellsyes/ viewed 24 June 2011

Right Link: http://permanentobscurity.com/perm-obsc-origins-badgirls-thelma-louise.htm viewed 24 June 2011

What I find really interesting in this film is the role of the female identity. The girls go from quite feminine to androgynous and powerful. Especially Thelma, who is rather permissive under the wrath of her husband in the beginning, and who ends up taking charge - and committing a robbery!

The female character is portrayed as being strong-willed and independent in this film. It is very much a message to men that women can be just as good as the action heroine. 

Link: http://thecupofjoe.blogspot.com/2008/03/dawn-wells-thelma-and-louise-moment.html viewed 24 June 2011

Brad Pitt's character is also interesting. His image of masculinity portrays the masculine body - more importantly the chest - as being stripped and fetishized. Pamela Church Gibson refers to this as the 'carb-depletion' body!

Help! The Mobile Phone Film?

In class today we discussed the simple steps in planning the production for a mobile phone film.


Audience: work out who is suppose to be watching the film, and frequently remind ourselves of this during the production process.


Be         B O L D         and           S I M P L E


We had a look at the NY 2008 Tropfest Winner:
Shot entirely on a cell phone. Simply using the words in signs to convey a message about the homeless. 
Definitely BOLD and SIMPLE.
I think it is Genius. It was my favourite pick of the day.


Beginning/Middle/End


Restrictions: 
Panning - be inventive and use clips on your phone - attach to a bike, car, wheely chair etc - make sure it is SLOW.
Zooming
Lighting
Camera Shake - be steady, again use clips
Audio

Editing: 

Final Cut Pro or IMovie

I found it really useful to remember the planning process and prepare a highly considered, mapped out plan of action.

Planning requires a C O N C E P T, followed by a storyboard and then a SHOT BREAKDOWN.

Shot breakdown is so important! Every single thing needs to be considered in every single shot!

- location

- props

- actors

- background

- make-up

- costume

- accessories

- sfx, graphics

- schedule

Masculinities

Brando, Dean and Clift changed the way of masculinity. They used method acting - becoming the character. They were not authentic blue-collar, they learnt it. Lumberjack shirts, tshirts, the 'slob look'. They looked the same on and off screen. They projected a blue-collar sexuality.

Richard Martin said American Gigolo marked "a seminal moment in the history of menswear" - Richard Gere getting dressed for his date, lining out his shirts, suits and ties. Before this we never saw a guy 'getting dressed'. Julian loves his body, luxuriating his body. This was completely revolutionary. It upped the sales quite considerably.

1980s franchise film around the male body - Rocky, Die hard, Terminator, lethal weapon.

Laura Mulvey - visual pleasure and narrative cinema - women as an image - man as bearer of the look. 1975. Masculinity - linked to activity, voyeurism, sadism, fetishism, story. Art history shows two types of masculinity - phallic (big muscles) or slender boy. Feminism - linked to passivity, exhibitionism, masochism, narcissism, spectacle.

Steve Neal talked about mainstream cinema as not investigating the male body. Whereas the camera obsessively follows the woman, the men are associated with action.

Rudolph Valentino was the first cinematic male pin up. When he played young Rajah, he was wrapped up in pearl chain bondage. When he died, women committed suicide.

1950s was the age of the chest (Cohan). The male chest begain to be fetishised. William Holden in Picnic (1955), Paul Newman in Cat on a hot tin roof (1958), Alain Delon in Plein Sileil (1960, a french film). Delon has been used as a reference in modern advertising.

1980s menswear revolution saw the rise of grooming products, men in ads, on billboards, the new man.

Li Eldkort talks about the trend of the new male model - the rebirth of the burberry model not the abercrombie and fitch model. The earth body, the farmer, cycling etc. Not the pumped up gym body.

So its time to think of a narrative.......

How about a story on masculinities...
extrapolating iconic male looks from classic hollywood to now
and placing the protagonist in an environment where he is not quite sure where he fits in
so he adopts all these different personas (use audio snippets from hollywood characters to project thoughts)
to finally realize that the modern man,
is in fact a man that is also a woman....
it is not genetic, he is not a hermaphrodite, it is not drag
it is just a beautiful man, who is also a beautiful woman


How about a bear grylls style mockumentary....
which taunts different male characters and what they stand for
in their clothes. in its entirety it is commenting on different masculinities but parodies what they have or will become

Polarized archetypes: masculinities and hollywood role models

Flugel talks about a shift in masculinity as the Great Masculine Renunciation: "the assertion that at the end of the eighteenth century men rejected fashionable dress, which became thereafter exclusively feminine" (Flugel, 1930:110). It is tied in with the rise of industrial capitalism. Sumptuous garments and ostentatious self-presentation became gender specific in the late eighteenth century.

The consumer has a continuing fascination with archetypal role models in Hollywood. Different masculine identities have been portrayed overtime beginning with classic Hollywood. Polarised archetypes include heroes, attractive villains, fathers, sons, smoothly suave, and down-home blue-collar guys. These characters dominate contemporary Hollywood. They are complex trajectories of the modern man. This modern man is now concerned with his own looks.

The Brad Pitt look (white, muscly, strong jaw-line, toned stomach) was reinforced - if not created - within the menswear revolution in the 1980s (Mort 1996, Nixon 1998, Simpson 1996) through the world of advertising.

The George Clooney look (more relevant today) represents the "variation" - debonhair Lotharios - smooth men - undeniable appeal for women. He is the suited hero - the antithesis to the rugged, bare-chested action man. This harks back to classic Hollywood. He is not a fetishised spectacle. He is the eternal bachelor.

Brando's sartorial style was the trademark 'slob look' associated with agricultural labour, heavy industry and military service.

The 3-piece suit has remained similar over the last 200 years. It is a static and utilitarian form of dress.
Anne Hollander refers to the suit as controlled, sexy and stylish. It hints at the body underneath by highlighting the contours. It forms the basis of our understanding of the "antique male hero" (Hollander, 1994)

1950s - the antiheroes. James Dean was in touch with his feminine side (Rebel without a cause & Giant 1956). Brando and Dean adopted blue-collar images to reflect their oppositional stance. Whereas, Steve Mcqueen (1960s) possessed authentic proletarian origins.
1960s - the decade of social mobility & youth cultures. The new macho, new cool. Authenticity. Real blue-collar (from the roots outside of film). Steve Mcqueen - the real life action man who did his own stunts, real life garage mechanic. His clothes were of the moment - "dateless". The trends he set in the 1960s continue today -  on and off the screen. He is vitally influential in the world of consumption.

The new man in Thelma and Louise presents a new man. Brad Pitt is a mix of Dean and Mcqueen. He is an erotic object, a greek statue, his body is fetishised in every way - be it for "sexual pleasure or demure appreciation" (Pamela Church Gibson p72). Arguably, the first time cinema introduced the "homospectorial gaze" (Nixon, 1998:38)

The Official Ralph Lauren 4D Experience - London

Urbanscreens.
I feel like this was more of a product placement film. It was very saturated in branding. The beginning showed promise but then it just went down from there. It was trying to capture the heritage of the brand with the polo horse and everything, but I felt like it was just more of an advertisement in its entirety.

Dior Homme - Un Rendez Vous (by Guy Ritchie starring Jude Law)

For me, this really taps into the new wave of masculinity. Of course it is not new to us, we are already accustomed to it, but it is socially relevant. It is about the man who at the core is still the dominant species (the submissive female bends down to tie his shoes etc) but is still in touch with his feminine side enough to take care in his appearance so much as to be perfectly polished, suited, styled and scented.
This film is very much about product advertising towards the end, but I think it still works in its transition from a real narrative to slightly more advertisement focused in the closing scenes. The story is still there, from beginning to end. We are not taunted with product placement throughout the whole duration. Thats why it works for me.

Dior presents Lady Blue Shanghai by David Lynch (full)

Wow, this one was lengthy! I felt like it dragged out. It could have been tighter. And after you are exhausted watching the whole thing, its like, 'it comes down to that one little blue bag, and thats it?'.
I don't think the whole idea behind the blue bag works well anyway. I mean, it's not like it was made out to be attractive. If anything, the film presented it to be dangerous and not something you would want to be near.
The one interesting thing I got out of it was the way that Lynch used an Asian man to portray this really strong masculine character. A masculinity that we normally identify with a the Western world, not the Orient. The thing that makes it work is the fact that this male character is actually quite tall and handsome and strong. So it was about using the Orient male, but using one that had characteristics usually connected to an Anglo man, so as to make it that little more acceptable more the mainstream.

Gucci Guilty -- Director's Cut

So this one references the action film. The narrative was very clear in this aspect. But I felt it was more like an advertisement than a film. You didn't lose yourself in the narrative very much.

First Spring by Yang Fudong

There was obviously a lot of production $$$ in this one. Definitely not low-budget!
It was a really beautiful film. At first, it was a bit confusing - the message. You had to think twice to really understand what the director was trying to say. But from what I can work out, it was about romantic notions of early 1920s Shanghai and the Orient, compared to the modern day.
I think the visual aesthetic of this film works really well, it is quite magical. But yes, I was a little stumped at first in trying to figure out what was actually happening.

The Role of the contemporary fashion film

"The world of couture has hitched itself to the entertainment wagon. Fashion has always hovered near the interface between art and commerce but in more recent times its been absorbed into the larger world of mass marketing" - Peter Wollen Fashion Notes, Framework. No 41, Autumn 1999.

Fashion has submitted itself to the imperious norms of celebrity and media culture.

The contemporary fashion film looks to offer a vision of creative display. It delves into aspirations, concepts and ideologies of both the designer and the modern consumer. To view clothing and fashion as a  spectacle, but simultaneously question deeper meanings. To take away the traditional hollywood narrative and let the clothes speak for themselves. The way they look, the way they move, the way they shine. To provide audiences with a phantasmagoria of fashion in its own right.

I do think that Pugh successfully does this. However whilst attempting to be different, he has still been absorbed into the larger world of technology and modern consumption, which is an obvious influence in his fashion films.

Product Placement and the story of 'the garment'

Firstly, it must be acknowledged that some designers collaborate with film through a genuine interest to express imaginative creativity. On the other hand, some do it looking for cultural capital. This approach is very much about product placement, with of course themselves in mind.

Whilst some could argue that Gareth Pugh's fashion films are very much an advertisement of his clothing - "product placement", he does not inundate his films with branding and labelling. They are enigmatic. The clothing speaks for itself in the beautiful fabrics, texture and movement. I don't think he has created the films with advertisement in his mind. If someone watched his films having not known what they were for, they may not even recognise the intention behind them: Pugh's alternate way to exhibiting his clothing against the mainstream catwalk.

Gareth Pugh's fashion films are very much a form of spectacle. He claims to bring forth an expression of his creativity - to communicate his ideas. His films do not follow the classic Hollywood narrative. This is his intervention to mainstream catwalk by crossing over into the interface of cinematic text/film. In this way, Pugh goes against the traditional use of costumes and sensationalises the clothes. It is a different strategy for audiences to identify differently with the clothes. The narrative can actually be told through the garment itself as oppose to on a defined body. This is the same with the likes of Alexander McQueen. This may be the reason why Pugh remains to fragment the bodies in the editing process of his films, creating seemingly mysterious and unconventional hybrid creatures. It could be to place further emphasis on the clothes.

What I did find interesting, was that Pugh said in an interview that he was trying to work on the balance between art and commerce. Whilst his collections are extremely avant-garde, his stance from the beginning has been to purely communicate his ideas as a designer. After a collection not having made many sales, he recognised that he was not mainstream influential and that he needed to find a balance in order to remain successful in the world of modern consumption.

Sabrina

Ahhh alas the show-stopping gown. Designed by none other than Givenchy himself. Sabrina marked the beginning of Hepburn and Givenchy's relationship together with costume.

At this point in time, Hollywood started to see a shift in the role of the costume designer. Whilst the costume designer began to be handed the pre-transformation outfits, the couturier's role was more important and they were glorified in their show-stopping creations- just like this one.

Isn't it funny that in all her roles, Audrey always fell for the older man. In most cases, they were old enough to be her father! I have a feeling it had something to do with her unique star quality. She was different to all the other female stars at the time. She was never sexualised, she was always rather boyish and innocent. She brought a unique European beauty to the table. Her characters never married the older man. Was it this whole notion of being an untouchable, unsexualised unique sort of beauty that put her in these roles??

There was controversy over this dress. Costume designer Edith Head claimed it as her design but Paramount said it was too innovative for her and it was derived from Givenchy's sketches.

The Film as a Fashion Show

The earliest forms of fashion films were cinematic fashion shows, "simple displays of gowns which progressed to a story-line built around the display" (Lease, 1976: p11). What have they become now?
What was the message then and what is the message now? As Charlotte Herzog distinguishes, of course there are two different ways fashion can be sold to the consumer through a fashion film:
Firstly, "to position it as the central core associated to the action. Secondly, as an incidental display of fashion which obtains unconscious (and not conscious) judgement by the consumer". (Frederick, 1925, Bruzzi, p4)

Couture & Costume: A Spectacle or Subservient Visual Role?

All hail Couture!!!!!!!!
All hail Costume!!!!!!!
Non functional flights of fancy? Or Incidental displays of fashion?
How does this relate to film?

After reading Stella Bruzzi's text on Clothing and Identity in the movies, there was a clear message at the forefront of her discussion: between the interface of fashion and film lies a tension between couture and costume, the couturier and costume designer. Take Chanel for example, she prioritised the clothes over the narrative which saw her premature departure from Hollywood, barely after a year of being there.

Bruzzi talks about the couturier creating clothes for spectacle and the costume designer creating clothes to serve the purposes of the narrative. The positioning of fashion in a film highlights fundamentally different motivations. The friction over the 'authorship' of the most innovative design was exemplified when Edith Head claimed the black bateau dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina was her creation. When in fact, Paramount claimed the dress was too innovative for Head and that it was in fact Givenchy's creation.

Eventually, the couturier surpassed the costume designer, creating the show-stopping outfits, whilst the costume designer was given the pre-transformation clothes.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, fashion in film became a general reflector of current modes. The exceptions were known as "non-functional flights of fancy" (Bruzzi, p7). Gaultier worked within the realms of cinema because it was an oppurtunity for him to explore his imaginative creativity. Other examples include Chanel's flamboyant outfits for Delphine Seyrig in Last year in Marienbad; Paco Rabanne's space age suits in Barbarella. Interestingly, just on this point, the 60s was the last time that fashion really looked into the future.

In most aspects of the spectacularity of the couturier show-stopping outfits within film, the costume preceded the character, rather than follow it. Especially with Gaultier, costume was deliberately intrusive.  Bruzzi talks about Gaultier's costumes as being 'pure aesthetic displays and perversely functional (p11).

Traditional means to accentuate and compliment the narrative was lost. The clothes became sensationalised in their own right; the character hidden behind the costume spectacle. This was how couture differentiated itself from general fashion in films. I think this is very relevant to the contemporary fashion films, in particular Pugh, who uses the spectacularity to his advantage - to create beautiful cinematic texts.

On the other hand, another interesting thing about the 60s was the fact that there was less reverence towards haute couture. There was a more "harmonious relationship between couture and street styles" (Bruzzi, p7). The unexpected started to occur. An example of this was Belle de Jour, which had a much more mundane wardrobe.

Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent epitomised the 'perfect simplicity' in their 60s couture. The capsule look; to look cool, elegant, understated. It was about all about minimalist couture still functioning in a spectacular way because of its exclusivity.

Moving on from this again, was the desire to highlight quality, a fetishism of detail, not about the wearer. Armani propelled a male interest in clothing in American Gigolo with the famous Armani Suit. Erotic fascination and objects of fetishism is what the 80s were about.

Why ask for the moon when we have THE STARS?

The star system is all about lifestyle, aspiration and fashion. Richard Dyer was the first film and cultural theorist to look at the star system. If we take Marilyn Munro for example, films were made for her. As they were for other stars like Joan Crawford and Betty Davis. The narrative was constructed for the star.

CONCEPTUAL DUALITIES:

- Consumption: manipulation vs. agency
- Film Studies: text vs. audience
- Passive vs. Active
- Stardom: stars as manufactured commodities and social models vs. stars as producers and communicators of meaning, ideologies, desires and pleasures

THE STAR SYSTEM:

- stars as icons, transcending their role as actors
- films as vehicles for particular actors
- scripts written for a specific star
- the importance of off-screen persona
- western cultural conception of individuality: exceptional individual as symbol
- stars personify types - linked with consumption

CHANGES TO THE STAR SYSTEM:

- rise of the male star
- technology - tv, internet
- stars not controlled by the studios to the same degree
- celebrity

RAGS TO RICHES:


Tracing back through time, many pivotal female roles are stories around the transformation of the working class girl's rise to the top. Take Betty Davis in Now Voyager (1942), Anne Hathaway in The Devil wears Prada (a more contemporary example). Also, Joan Crawford in Mildred Pearce (1945).
A classic modern day example of the rags to riches story is Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Interestingly after this movie, the catwalks picked up on the working-girl thigh high boots and not the classic red dress at the end.

If we look at Audrey Hepburn however, there is something different about her. She is the the epitome of Sheike. She was Givenchy's muse. What was different about her was that her transformations were controlled by her, not a man. She also initiated that slightly gamine look. She was never sexualised and had a more boyish nature to her than the other female stars at the time. One could argue that the Jean Seberg's and the Kate Moss's hark back to the Audrey look in some way - with the cropped hair.

An interesting comparison that Pamela made in the lecture was that of Carrie Bradshaw and Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's. This movie really did influence New York as a fashion capital. The link between the two characters is that they both have the amazing fabulous wardrobes, but no visible income.

Link: http://bptop100characters.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html viewed 22 June 2011

Link: http://shutupilovethat.blogspot.com/2011/05/best-top-knots.html viewed 22 June 2011

G E N T L E M E N   P R E F E R   B L O N D E S

Link: http://www.newshat.net/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-for-lovers/4202/ viewed 22 June 2011

Marilyn's character Lorelei was just another character she played which emphasised the permissive and sexualised female. Her roles were never the strong and independent type, she always relied on a man or was chasing a man. In fact, it was probably her that caused someone to coined the term - the 'dumb' blonde. Her characters were quite silly, but definitely loveable.

Link: http://www.thisisfyf.com/2010/08/aint-there-anyone-here-for-love-jane-russell-1953.html viewed 22 June 2011

It is interesting to note that Jane Russell is quite manly and amazonian in this scene. Ironically, she sings about not being athletic and such, yet she looks like she could take out any one of those guys on the olympic team!

Also, when she is done up, she looks like a man in drag. This could have perhaps been quite purposeful although not explicitly obvious for the consumer of the time. Now looking back, we can consider these types of things more closely and not just view the film as cynical.

Link: http://www.cinemaspy.com/entertainment-news/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-star-jane-russell-dies-at-89-3843/ viewed 22 June 2011

GARETH PUGH PITTI 2011 - FILM BY RUTH HOGBEN

His latest film for Pitti (2011) references lizards and angels, religious iconography and Florentine opulence. We are introduced again to the dark noir visuals of his first film. To accompany, we are given an audio compilation of violins and pianos, which resonate a disturbing and unsettling ambience. Designed for the space in which it was to debut, the film is presented a ceiling fresco, where we see these gargoyle like creatures leaping over our heads. These dancing figures have an albino-like unearthly appearance and once again their gender is unclear. Pugh described it as “people coming out of blackness, halos over heads, sins and angels” (Pugh, 2011: Interview Magazine). There is an alienated sensibility to the figures in this fashion film. They are almost nonhuman.

Again, he plays with the notion of optical illusion and reckons with reality vs. fantasy. And again, he incorporates electronic music, reverberating frames and kaleidoscopic visuals; highlighting the unnatural world. We see a woman having an epileptic fit in water and it forces us to question whether her existence is human. What is highlighted in the robotic movements of these unearthly creatures is the spectacularity in their clothing. Again, through clever suggestion of light, Pugh highlights what is important – the textiles, the textures, the sheen and the silhouette of the garments.

Next we experience the movement of the body. What appears to be a male figure confuses us in his feminine bodily movements. His dancing resembles fluidity, wind, water and beauty. It is not at all masculine. Genitalia are exposed but unclear. When we do identify figures as female, they look quite masculine; in fact they look as if they are in drag. There is a moment where we see a male figure suspended in water; he looks more boyish than manly in his 1930s swimsuit. Perhaps Pugh has included this because it is contextually relevant in a time where masculinity has shifted and we are returning to a boyish, slender more earthly silhouette of the male body. Nevertheless, we identify that Pugh continues to question gender. He also questions identity. Throughout the film we encounter figures but are unable to see their heads. We question the meaning of their existence. Who are they? What are they? Perhaps Pugh is saying that his fashions have the ability to appeal to both man and woman in a world of digital narcissism where gender is blurred and anonymity and ambiguity is acceptable. The film closes with a collection of naked statues - perhaps indicative of Pugh’s Florentine influence. We assume that these statues are the original source from where the gargoyle-like creatures in the opening scenes of the film have crawled out. 

1 March, 2011 by BoF Team

Quotable | Gareth Pugh on Fashion Films versus Fashion Shows

“

I’m not saying that I’m never going to do a fashion show again. I’m not saying fashion film is the future. It’s just an idea…and it’s nice to have the option to do both.”

Avant-garde designer Gareth Pugh speaking to BoF founder Imran Amed in Florence, Italy at Pitti Immagine, where he projected acritically acclaimed fashion film on the ceiling of a 14th century church. On Wednesday in Paris, Mr. Pugh will present his A/W 2011 collection in a fashion show, his first since March 2010.

1 March, 2011

The Business of Fashion

Link: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2011/03/quotable-gareth-pugh-on-fashion-films-versus-fashion-shows.html, viewed 25 March 2011