Project 2 - Fashion Lookbook

Context/Planning/Production:

The social & historical context of media advertising for fashion products:

Media advertising has developed over many years, from posters, to billboards, to television and social media adverts. This has caused the social and historical context of fashion products to change dramatically over the years, as new target audiences and markets emerge, new fashion products are made to suit their best interests. This is due to the fact that people want to feel accepted socially through ‘keeping up with the fashion,’ allowing companies to make a lot of money as people try desperately to keep up with the latest trends. These ‘trends’ are what make up the historical context of fashion products, and it is fascinating to see how different clothing styles have changed over the years.

Billboards and hoardings are a good example of fashion advertising. This allows people's views to be subconsciously influenced outside and on the streets and as they go about their daily lives, and allows for a broad range of audience types to be targeted, as a result. This can get people talking about the products and services advertised on their travels, which could potentially boost sales. This was one of the earliest methods of media advertising and it inspired the digital advertisements that we see online today, although it is still a valuable method to reach out to the public and boost sales.

What is a LookBook?:

A Lookbook is a compilation of photographs or video edited creatively to showcase a model, photographer, style, stylist, or clothing line.

How is social media used to reach a teenage audience and to promote fashion?:

Paid advertising can be used on social media to use the data from different people’s profiles that the platforms hold, in order to target very specific age ranges and people with certain interests, to make sure your fashion advertising reaches your exact target audience, to make the advertising more effective in boosting sales.

The issues related to extreme thinness in fashion models, and the impact of media on these issues:

There is a lot of controversy around the extremely thin models, this is firstly due to the fact that it is very unhealthy for the models and many are anorexic, but also because it portrays a very unhealthy image as the most attractive way to look.

As the hypodermic needle theory suggests, this makes women around the world lose too much weight to try and keep up with this unrealistic body image due to women being portrayed this way in the media, which can be extremely unhealthy and cause mental and physical illnesses.

Plan for practical research, into filming, editing and locations:

I have several ideas of how I am going to improve the pre-production process, in order to not only understand not only how to target my audience, but also how to use the equipment and software accordingly to produce the best final product possible. Firstly, to research my audience, I am going to conduct one primary method of research and one secondary method of research, I will evaluate the pros and cons of these methods later, to decide which will be most beneficial to me.

Moreover, when planning for production, I will use the method of taking photos of locations to use for different scenes in my LookBook, and drawing over them digitally to produce a storyboard. This will allow me to show my artistic and compositional visions for the main shots of the LookBook, meaning when I go and film in my team, we will be able to manage our time much more effectively and produce high quality, well-composed footage, within the given time frame. The use of real images of the locations will convey my ideas in a very clear, visual way. I will use secondary online research to watch videos on storyboarding, and to learn more about the different types and the professional ways of annotating them.

Additionally, I will spend quality time getting familiar with the high-spec video cameras that the college provide. This will help me to produce well-composed footage, through understanding the different settings within the camera, which will allow me to capture more interesting shots, through tools such as manual focus and exposure, through practical, first-hand research. To extend this further, I will adopt the use of secondary research into YouTube tutorials on how to use the same camera, in order for me to understand its different components and tools more clearly.

Lastly, I will practice editing on Adobe Premiere Pro with test footage, to give me a good understanding of the best video effects to use for my LookBook, and allow me to feel comfortable and acclimatised to using the software, in a practical way. This in turn will allow me to produce a high-quality edit of my LookBook when I come to process my final footage within the program. Also, there are many tutorials and help sections within the software, as well as online videos; this will speed up the process of me learning my way around the Premiere Pro, and enhance my ability to use effects in a exciting, creative and flowing way, through this particular type of secondary research.

Project brief mind-map:

Research:

Audience Research Methods:

I evaluated a range of primary and secondary audience research methods, to see which would be most appropriate to use in the planning stage of my LookBook.

Audience Questionnaire (Primary):

In order to carry out primary research of my audience, I devised a questionnaire which featured multiple images as well as a video, that would interest my target audience of 16-18-year-old males who are interested in sport and street-wear clothing. This enabled me to receive a clearer understanding of how these advertisements make them feel and what are successful ways of selling the fashion to them, through different forms of media.

Audience Questionnaire Results:

After carrying out my questionnaire to five members of my target audience, I have a much clearer vision of how I will plan my LookBook to suit them. I received answers to the first question such as, 'the photo makes me feel motivated to reach that level and have a body like him, and the stereotype in the photo is of an 'alpha male' who is very strong and muscular, it is inspiring.' Others had an alternative view and said the stereotype showed 'arrogance', but the majority gave positive feedback of the image, making me consider using it as a style of clothing within my fashion LookBook.

When I played them the video of an advert for a streetwear fashion brand in question 2, my audience really enjoyed it, and they said that 'the editing created a feeling of high energy, making me enjoy the video more. The fast cuts made it flow well and made it exciting.' As a result, they said they do 'feel slightly compelled to buy their products as it is targeted at my age range and makes me feel like I need to follow the fashion.' From this I could conclude that the style of editing used, of fast cuts and transitions was appealing to the target audience and made them pay attention to the advert more, which could in theory boost sales after watching the LookBook. The music used in this advert had a lot of bass and was very intense; this was approved of by some of the target audience, however some did not like the image it symbolised and said it put them off buying the clothes as they did not want to be viewed by the public in this way when wearing the clothes.

Unsurprisingly, the overriding result of question five, was that because the football boots were being shown off by arguably the best footballer of all time, it made them want to buy the boots more as many of my target audience would have grown up watching Cristiano Ronaldo play, and would idolise him in many ways, once again showing the effects of the Hypodermic Needle Theory. Although I will of course not be able to use anyone of that level of fame and success in my LookBook, this did help me understand the concept of the Hypodermic Needle Theory more clearly and how my target audience think and view certain people.

Furthermore, after studying the photograph linked to questions 6,7 and 8, the views of my target audience became even more transparent to me. The majority (4/5) believed that because of the expensive brands the person is wearing, that they earn a lot of money, making them appear successful causing them to give the person more credit as a result of his choice of fashion that not everyone would be able to afford. This conveyed the fact that my target audience are very brand conscious, and that the brands used can change their first impression of people, on first glance. However, one of the five members of my target audience I questioned did hold an alternative view, where he did not approve of the persons morals, as he said that it, 'portrays a life of caring a lot about your appearance., which is something I don't care about that much.' This made me think I need to find the balance in my own LookBook between showing off expensive brands, as well as making everyday clothes that most people can afford appear fashionable. This would allow for the target audience to relate to the content in my LookBook more easily, making them want to buy more of those kind of clothes as a result.

Lastly, when viewing the image depicted in the final questions, my target audience were very positive in the feedback they gave, and said that the message it conveys is that, 'hard work pays off, no matter what,' causing them to feel very inspired, as the photo shows Lewis Hamilton, ones of the world's best race car drivers, putting in work behind the scenes to make sure he stays physically and mentally fit for his races by going running. This kind of image is very motivational and paints the picture of how nothing happens by accident and that you have to work to be successful, I could use this message within my LookBook, in order to make my audience feel inspired to act like those within it, and also to look like them by buying the fashion that is being cleverly advertised within these symbolic scenes.

In conclusion, after carrying out this method of primary research, I am now able to alter my plans to my own LookBook in a way that will excite my target audience, as I understand their views on certain fashions and topics more clearly, and I will want to portray affordable and stylish street clothing in an attractive and inspiring way This in turn will make the audience enjoy the LookBook and want to buy the products advertised. I will also use fast cuts and exciting transitions to keep their attention, and use an upbeat hip-hop soundtrack, that is less intense than the example in my questionnaire, to suit the opinions and tastes of my audience.

Online Audience Research (Secondary):

After evaluating my secondary research options, I decided to search online for information on marketing to people within my age range. I found an article on The Guardian by Luke Mitchell, published in 2012, which focused on 'what 16-24s want from brands' https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2012/oct/25/future-marketing-youth

This contained a lot of useful case studies and statistics, such as the fact that students, 'contribute an estimated £20 billion to the UK economy every year,' which clearly shows that they are willing to spend a lot money, making me realise showing expensive clothing and brands within my LookBook would excite my target audience.

Additionally, it confirmed my knowledge that the vast majority of people in this age range use social media with 97% using Facebook and 45% are on Twitter in their survey in 2012. Although this article is 7 years old now, the information is still relevant and the fact is these numbers will have gone up even more, proving that my LookBook needs to be an advert that could be shown on social media, if I want to target my audience.

Furthermore, 'TBG Digital's Jeremy Waite summarised Red Bull's successful social strategy as: "50% of people go online to waste time. So let's give them some really cool s*** to do when they get there." This is appropriate for my LookBook, as I would like to publish it on social media in video format, to not only entertain my audience but to also advertise the products, through making the video exciting through a variety of interesting shot types and visual effects.

Analysing the communication methods, layouts and techniques used in LookBooks:

https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTWGazf53jw

When viewing and analysing this particular fashion Lookbook, it is clear to me that they are targeting the audience in a number of ways. For example, the use of the location of what appears to be a street underpass creates a relatable theme for the young adult audience, entices them into the video. Furthermore, the use of hard-core, edgy music, with mildly distorted bass, ties in with the nature of the location and the outfits the models are wearing, and makes it exciting for the specific target audience.

They utilise the environment of the tunnel to its full capacity by slowly making their way through it stylishly with different camera shots and poses, to create a small narrative within the Lookbook. They use the textures of the walls and the floor in the tunnel to create eye-catching shots for the viewer.

The lifestyle depicted is of someone that is very free and independent minded, and prefers the nightlife to daytime living, as do many of the target audience, making them feel interested by the video, and want to try some of the outfits shown. This idea can be linked to the hypodermic needle theory, as the style of the LookBook is influencing the audience’s views into making them want to look like the people depicted in the LookBook through buying the same outfits and brands worn.

Also, a multitude of conventions can be seen within the LookBook, such as framing through the location of a tunnel. This draws the human eye to this point which is in the centre of the image, which is also where the outfits are usually positioned, causing the audience to pay attention to them, hopefully leading to more sales of the brands, as a result. Furthermore, the walls of the tunnel feature interesting rustic textures, that make for visually pleasing shots, especially when accompanied by the special effects used. For example, videos are scaled down and positioned to one side as an overlay of another video, showing different angles of the clothing in a really interesting way, before a glitch effect is used on the overlaid video as a stylish way of it being removed from the screen, whilst fitting in with the urban, street theme of the LookBook.

The shots are quite slow in movement, but this is really effective, as it fits with the pace of the vocals in the song used, however the editing allows the shots to cut quickly to keep up with the beat of the song, creating a brilliant contrast in pace. A range of shot types and photography conventions are further used, such as rule of thirds, to convey the different areas of the outfits, as well as extreme close up of shoes, for example, to keep the viewer engaged.

Brand names are shown through their different outfits within the LookBook, this will coincide with the 'uses and gratification theory' which demonstrates how people online can search for what they are interested in, for example their favourite kind of music, or in this case, their favourite clothing brand, they may then come across this LookBook as a related search, which will allow them to see the clothes being modelled; causing them to want to buy the clothes and inevitably boosting sales.

When comparing the hypodermic needle theory, and the uses and gratification theory; they can both been seen as useful to understand the audience in different ways. Firstly, the hypodermic needle theory can help you understand how you can influence the thoughts and ideas of your specific passive audience, to manipulate them in a way that will make them want to buy your product. Whereas, the uses and gratification theory allows you to pinpoint your target audience, as you can see the interests of people in your target age range online, and only advertise your product to them. Consequently, this can reduce costs of advertisements as they are only being shown directly to your audience alone, which also causes a rise in profit and sales as they are interested in the kind of product/fashion you are marketing - a win-win situation.

This particular LookBook has given me lots of ideas for my own LookBook, such as the location of a tunnel, the different kind of camera shots, the use of slow-motion on close ups of the clothes and the use of glitch special effects/scan lines on overlaid video. I am not sure on their choice of music, as it is quite slow and almost too intense for my urban streetwear theme; I will be most likely using a more standard hip-hop rap genre for my LookBook. This has been approved by my target audience as something they enjoy listening to when I suggested it, which could potentially make all the difference in them enjoying the LookBook and appreciating the clothes if they like the song to go along with it.

Audience Definition Statement:

The Lookbook I will be creating will be specifically targeted at 16-18-year-old boys, who are likely to be attending college, based in an urban/town area. They are interested in casual fashion and mainstream street brands with a sporty and comfortable look, and would view these daily through advertising on social media platforms, such as Instagram.

When browsing social media, they are likely to encounter lookbooks, based on the type of people and companies they follow (uses and gratifications theory), and as young adults they would want the lookbooks to be entertaining and eye-catching through a large variety of quick transitions and exciting effects to flow seamlessly between the different camera shots, as this is something that excites them based on their opinions on music videos.

Additionally, to make it more entertaining I will be using a wide range of compositional techniques in my filming for the Lookbook, such as rule-of-thirds, leading line and framing, to hold my very active audience’s attention. Moreover, after interviewing members of my target audience I am aware that they use many different forms of media and are very competent at navigating these different applications and websites.

I am aware that the media they use the most is social media, as this can provide entertainment, whilst allowing them to communicate with friends. I could use this successfully, as they could see my Lookbook advert on social media, and then message their friends about it and share the Lookbook video, all on the same application, giving the clothing more publicity and inevitably increasing sales. The age range of 16-18-year-old boys are known to spend a lot of money, based on my online research, meaning they would like to view fairly expensive clothing selections in a fashion LookBook.

Furthermore, the target audience of 16-18 year old boys are highly engaged in mainstream fashion brands, as they want to make a good impression when meeting new people in different scenarios, such as in college, for example. Based on my knowledge from previous interviews and questionnaires I carried out during Unit 1, I understand that the audience are very interested in sport, mainly football. After researching footballers and football brands on social media, I understand that they can be used to model clothing as well as football kit, and I want to shoot my Lookbook in a similar, street and urban style that these mainstream marketing photos have been taken, in order to attract my target audience as much as possible.

Target Market Statement:

As my Lookbook is targeted at 16-18 year old male students, my idea is to create a narrative of walking and travelling through the streets of an urban/town area, whilst wearing mainstream, popular streetwear brands that receive a lot of attention from this audience on social media.

This will be popular as it will appear online as the target audience are likely to follow these popular brands in the media already, meaning hypothetically my Lookbook would come up as a related account/post, giving it lots of public attention and drawing more of the target market to the brands displayed in the Lookbook, increasing sales. The target audience will enjoy the Lookbook, as it will use hip-hop rap music, which a popular genre of music for my target audience, and the narrative of travelling through the streets is very relatable for students travelling to college and part-time jobs and meeting friends.

Furthermore, the exciting editing styles with colour grading, transitions and effects will engage the target audience and cause them to pay attention to the Lookbook as they are mainly interested in entertainment in the media. Also, the use of a wide range of imagery and compositional techniques and devices, will make the Lookbook stand out to them and consequently target the audience. The content will interest them as it will convey brands that they follow and are likely to own some of already, making them want to buy more of their new range.

Additionally, the use of the street environment will draw them to my Lookbook as it is the type of area that my target audience will spend a lot of their time in. Lastly, several influences that the target audience are interested in, such as footballers and online creators, will wear the street-wear brands that are on show, making them want to buy the clothes as they look up to these people and want to be like them.

Planning:

My Project Brief:

As my theme is based around urban streetwear clothing, it is important that I understand the culture that surrounds this, in order for me to steer each task in this project in the correct direction. This in turn, will allow me to produce a LookBook that clearly depicts this theme in an exciting way.

When planning the LookBook, I will use a range of photographs of urban locations, to springboard ideas that can then be conveyed in the format of a storyboard. Consequently, when I am shooting the footage to use in my LookBook, I will know the exact urban areas I want to go to for each scene, allowing me to collect attractive footage, efficiently. Also, after previously analysing urban LookBooks, I understand the kind of camera movement and popular shot types that are used to showcase this theme, and I will look to effectively incorporate these techniques into my own work, to great effect.

Furthermore, when it comes to the post-edit process, after analysing the LookBook in the previous task above, I have many ideas of how I can use video effects in order to compliment my urban theme and showcase the street-style clothing, in a way that will engage my target audience of 16-18-year-old boys. My research into Adobe Premiere Pro will allow me to complete this successfully.

My Storyboard:

I made a location based storyboard to plan out the main scenes for my LookBook. Shot types are shown in bold.

Scene 1: Begins with a full shot of my model who will be facing the graffitied brick wall, to establish the urban theme. The camera will quickly pan left, as shown by the arrow, and smoothly transition into scene 2 using motion blur.

Scene 2: Camera pans right from the brick wall to the tunnel. This will seemlessly continue from the pan at the end of scene 1 using motion blur. The camera will then hold on the model at a wide shot, before panning upwards to the sky.

Scene 3: Camera pans down from the sky to a pair of trainers in a close-up shot, before using a follow shot to remain focused on the trainers as the model walks down the path.

Scene 4: Model standing in front of metal fence around backsetball court (urban theme) in a medium shot. The model will look into the camera and place his hand over the camera lens and at the same time the edit will fade to black.

Scene 5: Model standing upon wooden assault course apparatus in a wide shot. The model will then jump down off the top, and a second camera angle will show the shoes landing on the floor in a close-up shot.

Scene 6: Model will start behind the camera and walk down the pathway, away from the camera. This will mean that the shot goes from a medium shot of the model, to a full shot, as they walk further away from the camera.

Reflection:

Reflective Log:

Throughout this project, I continued to add to a reflective log, to evaluate the techniques I have explored in filming and editing, to showcase peer critiques and how I utilised these to improve my work:

25/10/19

Today I started editing the first scenes of my LookBook, which gave me the chance to reflect on and evaluate the footage I have filmed, and start experimenting with video effects in the edit on Adobe Premiere Pro. During the opening shot of my LookBook, I used the filming convention of a tilt shot, to go from looking at the sky, to the basketball hoop, to the model standing in front of it, in a dynamic way. Reflecting on this, I believe this was a really visually engaging way to begin, and excite the viewer into wanting to watch the full LookBook, also the location used clearly established the urban/street theme from the beginning.

Furthermore, during the edit, I added the video effect of inverting the colours using the ‘In Phase Chrominance’ settings, this gave the video a blue tint, which also changed the colour of the logo on the trainers from red to blue, this became a really interesting concept to experiment with later on, as I switched between the colours using cross zoom transitions. Originally, I tried to blend the invert colours effects with the original colours of the footage, however one of my peers advised that to improve I should leave it on 0%, meaning the blues were brighter and more eye-catching. This cold blue theme to start the LookBook was effective in showcasing my edgy, urban theme from the beginning, in a street location.

Moreover, to be able to switch back to the original colours from the raw footage in the edit, I added keyframes to change the scale of the video, with directional blur, timed with the bass of the song, to quickly zoom in and then as it quickly zooms back out the colours revert to the original. At first I tried to do this without directional blur, and the ‘screen pump’ was a little too sharp, so I added a blur length of 20.0 of directional blue to act as motion blur for this manually created transition, which made it much more easy on the eye.

Also, my ideas from my storyboard came to full fruition, as the sharp pan to the left at the end of the shot I decided to experiment with during filming worked brilliantly as a transition into the next scene in the tunnel. This became particularly effective after I used the razor tool to time the cuts between the two clips perfectly, as well as the use of directional blur at the direction of 270 degrees to make sure it was going in the same direction as the camerawork, to mimic the speed of the transition and to cleverly hide the cut between the clips in the middle of it.

27/10/19

Today I experimented with a ‘3D glitch effect’ after researching video effects in Premiere Pro on YouTube. This clearly explained the use of the arithmetic video effect, I learnt that if you changed the operator to max, the blending mode to linear dodge (add) and the red value to 255, you can create a brilliant red effect. This worked particularly well after I duplicated the clips using a new shortcut of holding the ALT key and dragging the clip up on to the next track, and altering the positions of the video overlay tracks, to create an interesting overlapping effect making there appear like there was three of model in the tunnel, in a more exciting way than simply masking, and on reflection I was extremely pleased with how the effects worked out, and is definitely something I can experiment further with, later on in the edit.

During filming, I used the colour black to be able to create a match-cut during my edit. I used a cross-zoom transition between the black of the model’s jeans and the black of my backpack. Also, this was effective as it slightly slowed the pace in the edit, making the video less fast paced all the time, enabling the viewer to spend more time looking at the outfits on show.

Furthermore, when I walked away from the camera after it was focused on the black of my backpack, a lot of light entered the camera lens, and this meant that the exposure had to automatically adjust, creating an effect of a white-out screen, which worked really well to add to the excitement of the transition in my edit.

However, the problem at first was that this automatic change in exposure took too long at first, which left a largely white colour on the screen for a lengthy amount of time. To improve this, I used the speed/duration tool to increase the speed at the start of the clip until the exposure has fully adjusted, this allowed for a seamless transition into me walking down the alleyway.

In addition, my song contains very fast-paced sections in the beat, using what sounds like a snare drum, and I used this in time with fast cuts of one frame each in my edit, to flash between an inverted and non-inverted video, to create a strobe-like effect. This also acted as a way to transition into my next clip, as want to use multiple different manually created transitions, as well as the ones in Premiere Pro, to create the best final product possible, in order to excite my aspiring audience of 16-18-year-old males.

In continuation to this, today I experimented with the ‘Change Colour’ video effect. Originally, my idea was to cross-dissolve to black and white as I lifted my hood up, however one of my peers suggested that I could use the change colour instead to improve. After testing out a few of the different settings, I found that if I used the colour picker to pick out the colour of my t-shirt, then I could use keyframes to fade down the saturation of this particular colour, and as my hoodie was already grey, this made my whole outfit effectively black and white, whilst keeping the rest of the background its originally colour.

Moreover, I was particularly pleased with this as it produced a very clean effect with no visible edges to any of the video effects, unlike if I were to use masking for example, which proved to be very difficult, due to the shadows and lighting used in this particular shot.

29/10/19

Today I spent the majority of my day editing, and I was able to complete the remainder of my LookBook, whilst using a number of different video effects for the first time, I feel like I have greatly improved my skills on Premiere Pro this week and have taken my video editing skills to the next level through learning an industry-level software. Firstly, today I experimented with the artistic camera shot of my reflection in the puddle.

The raw footage shows me upside down due to the reflection, so during the edit, I duplicated the clip so I could start with the clip in its original form, before flipping it vertically on time with the beat of the song using a cross-zoom transition and directional blur. Moreover, at the same time, I added the video effect of lighting effects and experimented with it for the first time, and on reflection I was really pleased with the results. I used the 'omni' light type in white and placed it above my head. This was really effective, as it looked almost like the sun reflecting in the puddle, and brightened the whole shot in a really engaging way.

I also added text in my edit for the first time, which matched the lyrics of my song, as I believe the words symbolised my theme of an aspiring teenager in an urban area very well. It suggests that they need to be confident in the face of new beginnings, such as college for example. Furthermore, I added the text in a way that fits the style of the rest of my edit, using cross-zooms transitions and directional blur, as well as the font style of Agency FB in bold, which I believe suited the urban/street theme very well. Overall, I believe it added a very good message my target audience in an attractive way.

Along with that, I used the rectangular masking tool to be able to overlay clips of me and my model on phone, to make it appear like we were speaking to each other on the phones, this was fairly effective although will not be using this in my final LookBook, as I do not believe the shots are very interesting.

One of my peers suggested I used the ultra key video effect so that I could use the video of me as an overlay of my model, without the background of the white wall. This was a good idea in concept, however the shadows I created on the wall made it difficult to get a clean cut out of me with clean edges all the way round. I tried to increase the opacity and add black and white filters to counteract this which worked, however, I do not believe the final edit of that particular shot suited the editing style of the rest of my LookBook.

Although, I did learn how to use the ultra key effect to blue screen/green screen video in the future, which could be a really useful tool when it comes to me making my FMP, at the end of year 1. To improve, I could have used the free draw Bezier for masking, in order for me to be able to cut my body out of the original footage, and use feathering on the edges, to create a smoother overlay, to improve its overall effect, however I no longer need this particular scene in my LookBook, but I will hope to use masking later on today.

Furthermore, I experimented with the warp stabiliser tool, to stabilise the somewhat shaky footage which was taken around a fire bowl at a friend’s house. Originally, the warp stabiliser did not work, and I later discovered this was due to the fact that the clip dimensions did not match the sequence settings, which could be fixed my nesting the clip. This then allowed me to add the warp stabiliser effect, which made the footage a lot smoother, especially after I increased the smoothness percentage.

However, once again I did not include this in my final LookBook, as the clips were not filmed in a very urban/street location, so it did not really fit in with the style of the rest of the LookBook, although I am not competent in using the warp stabiliser tool for my work in the future.

Finally, during the last scene of my LookBook, my footage was interestingly composed using the photography convention of rule-of-thirds. To further improve this and end the LookBook in an exciting and memorable way for my active audience, I used the rectangular masking tool and feathering, to successfully show three of me in a seamless and almost believable way.

As you can see below, I altered the mask path on the right, in order to remove the background of the overlaid footage, so that the background of the overall edited shot, flowed in a more realistic and smooth way, to avoid the edges of the masking showing, making the edit feel smooth and stylish – mirroring the fashion being advertised to my active and aspiring target audience of 16-to-18-year-old males.

During the edit, I added another layer of me in time with each beat of the song, to further engage my audience and improve the flow of my final product. I finished the LookBook with a sharp cut to black in time with the music, as I believe the use of the video transition dip to black, was too gradual compared to the rest of LookBook, which largely contained sharp and fast cuts, so I wanted to be consistent with this style.

Practical Skills: My Lookbook

Evaluation: Final

During my Lookbook project, my aim was to create a Lookbook that would excite my active and aspiring audience, into wanting to broaden their array of street and urban clothes, through advertising them in a unique way through using a range of video effects, locations and eye-catching styles.

Furthermore, throughout the projects featured in stage 1, I was aiming to develop a range of practical skills, in filming and different Adobe software, in order for me to successfully create attractive final products. Alongside this, I wanted to develop my theoretical knowledge of the media industry, in order for me to incorporate this into my written work, and allow me to justify my points through linking it to media theories such as the hypodermic needle theory and the uses and gratification theory. This was very successful, and I believe I have a very solid base level of knowledge of the media industry now, that has enabled me to create well written and explained sections in all of my projects. Additionally, my skills have become fairly advanced in using Adobe Premiere Pro after researching into YouTube tutorials of incorporating different video effects and transitions, and I have learnt many new filming and editing techniques that I had not used before prior to the start of the course.

I used a variety of visual planning techniques, such as mind-maps, tables and a location-based storyboard, as well as many other written plans. This was very successful in producing and presenting my vision for the theme, audience and intentions of my Lookbook clearly, in an interesting way. For example, in my storyboard, I drew digitally over photos of locations from the main scenes in my Lookbook. This was really effective in allowing me to seek out good locations to film in and imagine the shot types, camera movement and modelling techniques I could use prior to filming, saving me time during the shoots and the editing process later on.

Similarly to some of the Lookbooks I analysed, I used an overlaid video on top of a different video, this allowed me to show different angles of the same outfits, in the same scene, in a dynamic way. I was really pleased with how my take on the editing technique turned out, through using the rectangular masking tool to create a slanted rectangle overlay, which provided for a very stylish and eye-catching scene in my Lookbook.

Furthermore, I used a variety of tilt shots, as seen in the Lookbook I analysed, this allowed me to very successfully tilt up/down from the sky, for example, as a match-cut transition to the next scene, which became a key technique that allowed my final product to flow very smoothly between certain shots. Also, I used a variety of shot types, such as extreme close ups, full shots, medium shots and wide shots, to keep the interest of my active young audience.

In addition to this, another new technique I experimented with and improved my knowledge of during this project, was masking. I became particularly skilled at using the rectangular masking tool, as seen below. This allowed me to create interesting video effects that coincided with the style and theme of my Lookbook. The tool of feathering was particularly useful in blending in the masked areas with the original footage, through softening the edges of these sections, allowing for seamlessly integrated overlays.

As a way to improve my technical editing skills in the future, I would like to begin to use Adobe After Effects, as a way to create more advanced video effects manually, to make my video edits even more engaging, through techniques such as animated paint lines and various other types of animation, in text for example.

Moreover, I spoke to one of my peers to receive critical feedback of my final Lookbook from another’s perspective. I was given largely positive feedback:

Extremely smooth transitions between shots
Everything was in sync with the beat
Good use of advanced skills, such as masking and overlaying video
Effective use of colour correction and invert

However, there were a suggestions that I could take on board in the future:

Try using lens distortion and flare effects within your work.
Include more of the 3D colour overlay effects for the clips, it worked very well and I would like to see it used more

I found several editing techniques to be very useful during the post-production editing process of this project. Of course the basic techniques such as the razor tool, track select forward tool and selection tool, are constantly used to cut, manipulate and order clips on the timeline. I became very confident at doing this and felt like I had a high level understanding of how to operate the timeline. However above that, I really enjoyed experimenting with the invert colour settings, cross-zoom transitions, masking and arithmetic settings, and I believe I used these very effectively to enhance the urban style and theme of my Lookbook. This has been very useful for me to learn and develop these specific areas as I now have a good set of advanced video effect knowledge, and I will continue to extend this in the future, in order for me to produce more exciting work in later projects, such as the television advert.

I would love to learn more about masking and using the free draw Bezier, and how to use this tool as a video transition as well as a video effect, as this could be a very interesting to cut smoothly between clips. Furthermore, I would like to experiment with more of the lighting effects within Premiere Pro, as well as the lens flare effects, as this could provide stylish and natural looking edits, to enhance my work.

To help me understand and plan for several different processes within this project, I used a variety of different practical research techniques. For example, I used online video tutorials of how to manipulate different video effects settings on Adobe Premiere Pro, which allowed me to incorporate more advanced settings within my work, such as how to use arithmetic settings to produce something like this:

Furthermore, I spent time getting used to using the video cameras, through learning practically in a lecture, and through going on practice filming shoots, to scout out locations to film whilst getting comfortable with using the high-spec equipment in an advanced way. Additionally, I experimented practically with alternative methods of video effects, such as different methods of turning video black and white, such as reducing the saturation of the video, or using the Blackmagic Cinema Camera SL nouvelle red video effect, or using the colour change tool and using the colour picker to select the colour I wanted to desaturate.

This allowed me to select the one that I thought suited the style and complimented my Lookbook in the best way possible. I chose the colour change video effect and believe it was very beneficial in enhancing this scene from my Lookbook, as I was able to isolate myself in the edit using the colour picker, so the background remained the same colours and I became largely black and white.

Furthermore, I also tested out different processes of making cross-zoom transitions. This was due to the fact that for some of the scene changes, the pre-made cross-zoom transition on Premiere Pro, zoomed in too far and it didn’t appear to work very well in certain areas. Consequently, to solve this issue I made my own cross-zoom transitions for certain scenes, by manually adding keyframes, to increase the scale and then decrease the scale in a fast movement, to mimic the features of the cross-zoom transitions, but without zooming into the video as dramatically.

Of course I made mistakes and had problems on the way, for example, on my first photo shoot, the videos were shot in 4k resolution, this meant that when I came to edit the footage, the college computers struggled to process the videos and to be able to show them in the playback section of Premiere Pro as I was editing the footage. To solve this problem, I rendered these clips separately in 1080p format, and then placed them back into the edit, meaning that they then matched the sequence settings of my project in Premiere Pro, allowing me to edit them much more smoothly. Although this appeared a problem at first, it actually allowed me to learn more about different video formats and resolutions. As well as this, it gave me my first experience of rendering footage within Premiere Pro, which was of course a very useful piece of knowledge for me to have, as I came to the end of editing my Lookbook.

As I have mentioned, the main creative software I used was Adobe Premiere Pro, although during the early stages of the project I did play around in Adobe After Effects, but I then became very comfortable with Premiere Pro and decided to stick with that for the remainder of my project. I will definitely spend time learning how to use After Effects for future reference and projects, as I believe it would allow me to become even more creative with my video effects. However, I did manage to use Premiere Pro in a variety of an advanced and creative ways, as seen in my reflective journal, to produce a very exciting and visually engaging final product. One of the main benefits of using Premiere Pro is its intuitive interface, I really liked the way the timeline can be operated, as it made me feel very much in control and aware of what was going on within the edit, and allowed me to manipulate my clips in an organised way. Additionally, there is a huge array of video effects and transitions, that were extremely useful and played a key part in the overall style of my Lookbook, and I look forward to experimenting with more of these effects in the future, and becoming more advanced in areas such as masking, for example.

Overall, my Lookbook was a great success, and I feel I have improved my editing skills and use of video effects dramatically over the last couple of weeks. Also, my knowledge of filming and manipulating camera settings to produce exciting visuals has become much better, and I look forward to shooting more films and footage in the future, whilst using dynamic shot types, camera movement and filming conventions. Additionally, I believe research into certain artists throughout stage 1 inspired me to use certain shots and editing styles. For example, Chuck Anderson uses many layers within his work on Adobe Photoshop, and I took this style and transferred it to Premiere Pro, and used multiple layers and video overlays, to create very dynamic and exciting effects; my research into artists really helped me understand how to take my work to the next level of creativity.

Amid the earlier stages of my Lookbook projects, I conducted my audience research using primary and secondary research methods. Firstly, I used the primary method of a target audience questionnaire. This was extremely helpful in helping me understand the current opinions of my target audience on fashion advertising of a similar urban/street style to the fashion I wanted to convey in my Lookbook. The feedback was largely positive, so as a result I knew the kind of theme and style I wanted to go for, for my final product of this particular project in Stage 1.

As a second method of audience research, I used the secondary research method and going online to find out more about my target audience age range and their views on brands, and what they want to receive from them. Although this article was made in October 2012, the points made and the statistics shown were still very relevant to me during this project. For example, the overwhelming high percentages of people in my age range in the UK using social media platforms was clearly shown, and these numbers have grown exponentially since then, convinced me that my Lookbook needed to be created in a style that would allow the fashion shown to be advertised effectively on social media.

Consequently, I researched into popular fashion brands such as ‘Kings Will Dream,’ to discover the kind of editing and filming techniques they use in their advertisements, to attract a young audience on social media. I also asked my target audience about one of these particular online video adverts in my audience questionnaire. Once again, my target audience loved the style of the advert, so I was inspired to incorporate the use of some of the effects and styles in the advert; I also noticed the fast pace of the video and the cuts between clips, and this was the kind of exciting intensity I wanted to include in my own work to engage my target audience and keep their attention throughout, as ultimately this would increase sales of the fashion if the Lookbook was used as a real advertisement for the clothes featured within it. As well as this, I noticed the use of extreme close up shots of the clothing brands in the popular adverts I researched online, and I wanted to incorporate this shot type and style into my LookBook, which after adding video effects such as invert colours, became a really exciting part of my final product, that I know will attract my active and aspiring target audience of 16-18-year-old males.

Online Advert: My Lookbook:

As this project progressed, I collected notes of the feedback from my peers around me, and wrote about this and how I could use their advice to improve my work, within my reflective log. I then showed these improvements being put in place and that I had taken action based on the ideas and improvements given to me from my peers, in order to better my final product. This allowed me to discover new video effects suggested by those who have used the software for longer than me, which I could then experiment with and test as an alternative before deciding whether to add these into my work. This helped refine my work as I used techniques such as masking instead of overlaying video, for example, which made the editing seamless and appear natural to the viewer.

I used online research on YouTube to watch tutorials and also the tutorials within the editing software to learn advanced technical skills and visual effects that I could use on Premiere Pro. This greatly enhanced my work, and enabled me to have a better overall understanding of the video effects available and the settings you can use to adjust them, such as the different blending options. Furthermore, I researched into filming conventions, shot types and camera settings, to enable me to feel in control in my film shoots for the Lookbook, and to use the camera in an appropriate and creative way for the urban style of work that I wanted to produce.

The project definitely enabled me to improve my use of different types of research, as I had to be able to use different primary and secondary methods so that I could not only understand more about my target audience, Lookbooks and fashion adverts, but also to help improve my own ability practically when using filming equipment and later editing it in a creative and exciting way in Adobe Premiere Pro. To do this I had to use my own initiative to find out useful information that would help improve the overall outcome of this project, And looking back I believe I did this very successfully, as all my research and the knowledge I gained from doing it came together to produce the vision I wanted to create in my final product to effectively attract the target audience that I researched, and I am really happy with my final Lookbook.

In the future, I could use alternative forms of research in order for me to develop my skills further, such as researching into the use of Adobe After Effects online and watching videos of how to navigate and use the software creatively, in order for me to take my use of video effects to the next level for future projects and work. Furthermore, a good understanding of a broader range of software will make me a more attractive employee to the media industry in the future, so this is definitely something that I will spend time researching in more detail.

Moreover, I would love to become more experienced at using the manual filming and photography settings in cameras, to create even more dynamic shots by altering the focal points and lengths of the shots, for example. I could do this through reading the user manual of the specific camera I am using or research online to see a more visual explanation of the different ways you can manipulate the camera settings to improve your work.

On the whole, during this project and the entirety of stage 1, I believe I have conducted my work in an organised, creative and engaging way and consequently I have produced my best work within the deadlines given. I believe the stage 1 projects have already helped me become much more experienced and knowledgeable of media and the structure of the media industry, and my new found skills in Adobe Premiere Pro are a great next step into reaching my future goal of becoming a video editor, which is something I am really excited by. Also, I have developed certain characteristics such as my reliability, organisation, teamwork, communication and creativity, that will really boost my employability in the media industry in the future.

References:

Lookbook example: DIY Streetwear Lookbook by TheLineUp, YouTube, 2 March 2017:

https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTWGazf53jw

Online Research:

The Guardian, Luke Mitchell, 25 October 2012:

https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2012/oct/25/future-marketing-youth

Kings Will Dream Advert: Urban Celebrity, YouTube, 24 March 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg2sbZgytN4

Questionnaire Photos:

Steve Cook, Gymshark, 6 March 2018

https://www.gymshark.com/blogs/news/steve-cook-x-gymshark-the-collection

Lewis Hamilton, 2017, Article by Evan Saunders on Fortress of Solitude, Puma