Evaluation

For my final major project I have successfully completed a final garment and photoshoot as the outcome of a seven week project entitled ‘Pre-Cinematic Animation Devices’. I have worked hard on this project, and despite some setbacks and difficulties feel proud of (and relieved with) the results. When I originally proposed the ideas I listed three main aims and criteria for completing this project in my proposal which were:

1 To Illustrate a Short Story using pre-cinema imaging techniques eg. Zoetrope reels

2 To incorporate a textiles element into the making of these illustrations

3 To combine these illustrations into a costume piece that acts as a kind of storyboard.

When I wrote these I was very caught up in the ideas of storytelling and narrative, which I wanted to include as a theme due to my interest in costume design. However, as I started researching for my project I decided bringing in a theme so early on gave the project too much initial focus, as I was thinking too much already about my final outcome and the development process with which to reach it. Therefore I initially only researched the devices themselves so that any motifs that influenced my final project could all be traced back to this single original idea. Nevertheless, as I researched and progressed with my project I picked up on the storytelling aspect of pre-cinematic animation devices. By very definition of being ‘pre-cinema’ they were the toys and entertainment that inspired and immediately preceded the invention of film, which became a new medium for storytelling. Therefore, sequences and narratives are often apparent in the subject of these devices, perhaps most notably the Magic Lantern, with which sequences of slides illustrating story were often displayed to groups in a theatre-like set up. Because of this evidence I was happy that, completely coincidentally, my project followed my original aims naturally so that I produced a garment that acts a kind of storyboard without being forced by a strict and overcomplicated premise.

I like my final garment and feel proud to have produced a storyboard of a dance routine presented only through the styles of pre-cinema devices (e.g. slides as stereoscopes depicting combres (a kind of ballet move). The entire garment is made using only textiles and surface design techniques e.g. fabric painting. I am also pleased with this final outcome due to its depiction of movement, another key theme within pre-cinema animation devices that I picked up on. However, with more time to plan and design I feel I could improve on what I have made by creating a more structured garment, one less patchwork in construction and therefore more practical.  

I really enjoyed getting immersed in my project and exploring the ideas I had as they developed. My sketchbook was very useful for this in terms of just getting down my thoughts and seeing how they could be manipulated and progressed. For example, I was able to research each device individually and then clearly see and pick out the overlapping themes between them so that I could simplify my ideas into clear and united themes. Keeping track of my progress on my blog was also helpful in developing my work. By writing about and reflecting on my work so far it was easy to see where my strengths lay and often brought to light ideas by picking out details and common themes I might have otherwise overlooked.

Overall however, the development into my final theme and idea mainly came from my interest in and the studies I did of movement. The life drawing classes I took, while improving my technical drawing skills, also encouraged me to do studies using photography and other media. Then, by looking at this work I was able to see how static images can portray movement and suggest a wider context and story. This idea is then primarily what developed into the idea for my final outcome, and it is one that I found very interesting and enjoyed researching.

Aside from my blog and sketchbook, I also checked my progress against my plan and found time management to be my greatest weakness. As with any project, focus and hard work is key from the very first day, and unfortunately I found the first week or so of this project rather slow going. This was because I had not yet completed in depth and diverse research so did not have much to inspire me. This was also feedback I received from peers and tutors in our weekly group tutorials, and consequently something I feel I have learnt from and can improve on in the future. These tutorials were very useful as they gave me an idea of the level I was working with while also providing fresh perspectives on my work. The most common feedback I received was from those unable to see how my project could develop in the context of a fashion and textiles course. I feel confident that I have successfully overcome this issue and also pleased as one of my objectives was not to be too influenced by conventional sources of inspiration for fashion as I felt it slightly limiting. I am particularly grateful to these tutorials for the range of ideas they provided, as suggestions from my peers are what encouraged me to determine a colour scheme early on.

Now that I have finished all of my work for the year to the best of my ability, all that is left is to gather together my sketchbooks, final garment and put together any other work into presentation boards for evaluation. As part of out evaluation we also put up an exhibition. For mine I planned to put up a couple of photographs from my shoot. The final decision on what we put up was made by our tutors and mine picked out my sequential photos from the shoot as a strong representation of my work: 

 

I had these printed onto high quality semi-gloss paper and mounted onto foam board before putting them up in my exhibition space. With this done I will take in the rest of my work and leave it for external examination. All that is left to do now is nervously anticipate my results. 

Despite the fact that I will not be studying a design based subject next year I have thoroughly enjoyed the past year, from the practical skills it has given me in things such as photoshop to the new perspective it has given me on the nature of ideas. I feel it has broadened my outlook and this is something that I hope to hold onto as I study philosophy next year as unconventional and creative ways of thinking and inspiration can be an asset in that field. The challenge of coming up with an entire project and all the work independently was scary at first but in the end just adds to the sense of achievement. This is another useful skill not just in design but in any area of study. I hope that I can keep up with artistic outlets in my free time in the next few years and perhaps re-visit this area following degree or as a career.

Photoshoot - Outcome

 Having taken over 400 photos I now had quite a job going through them. I needed photos that accurately represented my garment while also being framed and styled in an appropriate way to suggest my themes. I also had to consider the poses of the model, angle of shot and lighting in each. It took me a while to narrow down the photos, and I consulted peers and tutors to help determine which photos worked best. Having selected out about 20 I then began editing them. Some needed fundamental editing, for example cropping or in some cases photoshopping out objects accidentally caught in the mirror reflection. With most however, I just brightened the colours. Below is a selection of the photos I picked out. Special thanks to Alice Robinson, the model:

Once I had a selection of enhanced photos, I began experimenting with them, thinking about after-effects I could add and colour scheme changes to add interest to them. I also experimented with making some of my into anaglyphs, so as to really bring out my original themes. I hope you have access to 3D glasses for these (although something I have unfortunately found is that different kinds of 3D glasses have a different effect. The images below work best with bright shades of cyan in the right lens and red in the left):  

When taking the photos, a theme I was thinking about was the idea of movement, and thinking back to my influences from Muybridge I set the camera to take sequential photos of Alice to capture the motion. I took several of these, some of spinning, running etc. and these are the ones I feel work best:

I particularly like the spinning one as it provides views of the garment from all angles. I could also take these photos and make them into flick books to add an interactive and fun element to my project. Although photography is not my strongest area I am reasonably happy with my photographs as a conclusion to my project and feel they meet the criteria I set myself. The next stage it to present them to my tutors so they can pick out which ones I should exhibit for my final evaluation. I have now pretty much finished my project, with the exception of getting my work together to be presentable. It has been a long project and a lot of hard work as I will now go back and evaluate. 

Final Major Project: Photoshoot

Planning:

Make-up Reference

Eye Make-up

Now that I have finished my garment I needed to shoot it in a style that fits my project and reflect and communicate the themes I am hoping to convey well. Photoshoots take quite a bit of planning as location, equipment, model, hair and make-up styles etc. all need to be taken into account.

Hair and Make- Up:

After finding a friend of mine who was willing to model (and who incidentally has the same colouring as my character) I decided to keep the make-up look simple. Red lips to mirror the red in my colour scheme and a thin line of eye-liner was all I had planned. Hair I wanted styled into a messy bun, also to mimic the character and give the impression of a dancer:

Hair-styles - Sketchbook Drawings

Locations: 

http://parktheatre.co.uk/about-us

http://islingtonartsfactory.org/our-space/dance-studios/

When looking for spaces in which to do my shoot I researched spaces local to me. I was considering several themes and possibilities, such as ballet studios to imitate the dance motifs in my project, theatres or staged areas to imitate the idea of storytelling and cinema or simple art studios or spaces that felt appropriate to the style and mood I was hoping to achieve. I found several possibilities (see images) and looked into booking them. Many proved busy or very expensive, unwilling to provide discounts for student projects. In the end though, I found a space (incidentally also my favourite out of the possible locations) that was available to me. The Candid Arts Company is a collection of studios, exhibition spaces and a cafe near Angel, Islington. I have attended drawing classes there in the past and among their facilities is a banquet hall with blue floor, faded wall, a large mirror and red curtains. I liked this space as it imitated my colour scheme while the mirror also suggested a dance space. Futhermore, the faded look walls implies a age, and due to the historic quality off the devices I depicted I felt this suited my project

http://www.candidarts.net/candid_spaces.html

Equipment:

With these concerns taken care of the next thing I had to consider was equipment. My own camera is fairly low quality and as I wanted a professional look to my shoot I needed an alternative. Ravensbourne has a centre of loans that allows students to borrow out equipment free of charge as not everyone can afford or has other access to them. These include cameras, lights, sound recording equipment, animation devices etc. However, items are often in high demand (particularly at this stage in the course). Therefore I had booked a Canon 600D camera for use in my project a week and a half before I had even finished making my garment to ensure the equipment I needed.  I also booked out a projector as I was planning to shoot a short film as part of my project. I felt a film would be appropriate in representing the ideas of narrative and importance of cinema as a development from the devices I had replicated. I had already filmed  some footage of flip books and zoetropes etc. and found some of dancers that I hoped to project onto my model and garment to show the themes of movement. Unfortunately, after spending an hour waiting for the right projector connection lead to be found,  I discovered the projector was broken, which I had been unable to check before as the booking time I had been given meant I had to go straight from picking it up to my shoot. This was very disappointing, and although I did take some footage at my shoot anyway, I eventually decided I neither had enough material or time to make a film with.

The film footage I didn't use

Even with this setback, I took over 400 photos at my shoot and now have the job of selecting out and editing the ones I feel are most effective. I had fun at my shoot however, design and making are my strong points in this course and I am not much of a photographer. I did my best and hopefully some will have turned out well enough:

Final Major Project - Making

Having designed each 'slide' of my storyboard the obvious next stage of my project was making all of it. Thinking about fabrics for each one I started, taking great care with each one. They took me anywhere between half an hour and four hours each to make. Obviously I knew it would be very difficult and time consuming when I undertook this task, and had been warned by tutors and peers that perhaps I should lessen the number I intended to make to ease up my work load. However, I am very determined and dedicated  to this project and am very happy to have successfully made all 18 components of my final garment:

Thaumatrope: Applique, Sheer Polyester as retained image and solid Cotton on
Cream Cotton and Viscose

Magic Lantern Slide: Fabric Paint on Acetate

Zoetrope Reel: Digital Print on Crepe Polyester

Anaglyph: Digital Print on White Polyester

Flip Book: Machine Embroidery on Cream Cotton and Viscose

Flip Book: Fabric Paint on White Polyester

Phenakistoscope: Digital Print on White Sateen Polyester

Stereoscope: Hand Embroidery on Cream Cotton and Viscose

Camera Obscura: Free- Hand Embroidery on Cream Cotton and Viscose

Flip Book: Hand Embroidery on Cream Cotton and Viscose

Stereoscope: Fabric Paint on Cream Cotton and Viscose

Magic Lantern Slide: Fabric Paint on Acetate

Phenakistoscope: Digital Print on White Polyester 

Making of:

Camera Obscura: Machine Embroidery and Fabric Paint on Cream Cotton and Viscose

Magic Lantern Slide: Fabric Paint on Acetate

Anaglyph: Digital Print on White Sateen Polyester

Making of:

Zoetrope Reel: Free-Hand Embroidery on Cream Cotton and Viscose

Film End Screen: Digital Print on White Sateen Polyester
(also shown heat transfer printer paper used in making)

When making I took into account the different methods and how they would influence the final effect. For example, I did all the magic lantern slides in paint on shiny acetate as I feel it suggests the reflection of the glass that slides made of. The phenakistoscopes are digital prints of pencil drawings to give the effect of aged paper and the thaumatrope design is half done with a sheer fabric to suggest it is the retained afterimage. Alltogether, the 'slides' have turned out better than I expected and I am very pleased with them and even though I ignored the advice to set myself less work am glad I didn't, as with 18 motifs I really feel like I have a complete collection that works as a cohesive narrative. I am also pleased because with this number as it means I have really exhibited a wide range of movement studies and include all the devices I researched.

Making them was obviously not without its difficulties though. Continuity was a big one as working with many different media made it difficult to exactly match up colour shades, and although I did my best there are some discrepancies. Also, drawings are not very effectively made into anaglyphs and so practically they do not work well. However, when seen without 3D glasses I feel they still have a nice effect.

Next I had to decide how to fit them all together into a garment. I visualised this by pinning all the components together on a mannequin in order to visualise it properly:

I did find that I had to move a few out of sequence so that they could all fit together but none so drastically s to mess up the narrative as it was planned. Therefore, when I was happy with the configuration I unpinned it all from the mannequin and laid it out like so:

This layout meant I could take bits out and slowly sew them all together into a patchwork. I encountered several difficulties with this, the worst of which being sewing in the phenakistoscope designs. As they are circular it was nearly impossible but I did the best I could and it turned out well enough. Having sewn all the sections together I then stitched binding around the rough top edges and added straps. However, I decided to leave the bottom edge rough so as to give the 'storyboard' effect a continuous feel. In other words, making it look slightly unfinished so that the viewer can imagine more slides after the ending. One flaw that became apparent after sewing it all together is that the patchwork quality and use of many different fabrics does not result in a good drape. However, the garment fulfils its intended purpose as a wearable storyboard and I feel is an interesting and visually pleasing piece. With it finished I now intend to photograph it appropriately so as to bring my project to it's final conclusion.