Meeting with Alumni Sasha

I decided to go for a 1-1 with Sasha to discuss collaborations as she used to study BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and she is now doing an MA in Creative Direction. She emphasised the importance of collaborating to create the best work possible which motivated me to keep contacting stylists to hopefully collaborate on my fashion film.

Her advice is as follows:
- Always ask to see their previous work before committing to collaborate to gain an understanding of their style and if I thought it would work effectively with my concept. She advised I did this before meeting up; however said it would be a good idea to meet up if I was unsure as I may find I really click with them.
- Make sure you create a mood board for each look you want the stylist to style to give them a clear indication of your vision. This should include the makeup, hair, styling, possible lighting and location so that stylist can picture the final outcome and find styling that is most appropriate.
- Create a call sheet for the production process so everyone in the team, including models and film maker, understand when they need to be finished by and so they can contact anyone in the team.
- Create a budget for the stylist to stick to so they don't create an outfit that you can't afford.
- Create a budget sheet for the whole production to make sure you can afford everything and if you think you're struggling with money apply for some extra money from the uni to support your FMP.
- Keep in close contact with your stylist to check on how they are doing, if they have any new ideas or if they have found a suitable item of clothing. This will make sure they are going in the right direction and are keeping to their deadline.
- Make a detailed call sheet for the day of filming to make sure everyone knows exactly how the day is going to run and what they should be doing.
- Have people as back ups in case someone in the team can no longer do it or drops out. This will make sure you don't find yourself panicking at the last minute!
- Do as many test shoots as you can to make sure everything will run smoothly and effectively on the day!
- Leave plenty of time at the end of the project in case something goes wrong or you have to reshoot something. She advised to leave three weeks at the end; however I think I will give myself an extra two weeks so I don't limit my production time more than I need to.

I found this meeting extremely helpful as I now feel confident contacting a stylist to collaborate, when before I felt very anxious about it as I was not sure how it worked. Sasha also gave advice about our blogs, saying how important it is to document everything to show a true representation of your process. I am really excited to put all her advice in action!