Film Locations 3 and 4, with Lighting

Scenes 3 and 4 will be entwined to express She's new found confidence to fight discrimination. It will start with a headshot of She to introduce this new feeling of self acceptance and liberation as her black and white world transforms into colour. The educational fashion will will be filmed in black and white until this moment to accentuate the vibrant colours entering her life, representing her freedom. I want the lighting in both scenes to either be very similar or complement each other as they will be edited together so closely. Both styling designs will have strong silhouettes so emphasising these to express her confidence will be vital. 

Scene 3 - This scene starts off with She staring into the camera in black and white film and then the powder paint is slowly introduced until she indulges herself in it. She scene will be shot in the same frame to keep a constant when editing in the dance scenes. Even though this scene represents escapism, I still want to use dark and dramatic lighting to express her new confidence and strength to stand up to discrimination. 

Location and Lighting

I will shoot this in a studio to get a clean black background as it will be shot from the shoulders up throughout so the setting will not be visible. This will put a lot of focus on the model's facial expressions so I will be to brief the model with all the details to achieve the right emotion. 

(Tourchin, 2017).

I was inspired by the portrait above as the shadow running down the centre of face would continue the mohawk shape of the hair. There are dark shadows, giving a strong and dramatic look; however no detail is lost in the face as both sides are lit evenly, creating a flattering balance. The strip of shadow down the centre is reminiscent of war paint, reflecting her new strength and determination to go to war with discrimination. A light will be placed on the right and left side of the face, meaning the powder paint will catch the light to reveal bursts of vibrant colour against the black background. The background will be kept as dark as possible for a clean, editorial look. I didn't want a detailed background as I wanted all the focus to be on the powder paint and model's face.

Scene 4 - This scene represents She's inner feelings of liberation, with an expressive dancer portraying her emotions for the ultimate escape. This will be a different model that is trained in dance to create a beautiful, strong dance scene. 

Location

I had initially envisioned this scene in a studio setting because I wanted a blank, black background with full control over lights; however I am concerned I will be too restricted when using powder paint in the studio. I did my two previous test shoots in the studio and used powder paint; however the first time I created a mess and had to stay behind for over an hour to clean it and the second time I felt like I couldn't throw it in certain directions incase it hit the walls or floor. I covered the floor and some walls in sheets to make sure no powder paint got anywhere; however this meant the floor looked bumpy and messy which disturbed the clean, editorial look I wanted to achieve. I can film the first powder paint scene in the studio because it is a small frame and so the powder paint will be more controlled in a smaller area and the uneven floor won't be visible; however I want to feel extremely free when throwing the powder paint in the dance scene as I think this liberation will translate into filming. 

Chaos by Gareth Pugh
(Pugh, 2017).

I had envisioned a completely black background to give me more freedom when editing, as I would be able to layer footage without having to consider the background. I was inspired by Gareth Pugh's Chaos as the background is blanked out in black and then different models are layered into the screen to create a collage of movements and styling for a chaotic look. I wanted to layer different clips of my model showing a variety of emotions to reflect She's explosion of emotions in her liberating state. I am unsure whether I would still be able to achieve this if the footage was shot on location as the background would have to be completely black. I will discuss this with Harrison to see if this is possible; however I may prefer to use the lighting set up shown below.

Screenshot from Iguchi (2017).

Screenshot from Iguchi (2017).

This scene portrays She's fantasy of life with no discrimination and her new found confidence and strength to beat it so I want a fantasy element to the lighting. I was inspired by Vera Iguchi's fashion film for Dressing the Screen: Russia because of the ethereal, back lit lighting creating an out of this world atmosphere. The music in this fashion film mirrors the same dream-like feeling, whereas I have chosen to have a stronger, more upbeat soundtrack for this scene so I would have to adapt the editing to create a more energetic visual. Many of the scenes are lit from the back, creating eery silhouettes; however you can still see detail on the model, meaning some fill light or reflector was used to light up the model slightly, creating a softer, more ethereal look.

Smoke has been added to the scenes to soften the lighting and add a light haze, creating a heavenly, ethereal effect. I want the choreography to be strong and the styling is powerful and structured, so adding the haze of smoke over some scenes will soften the over all visual, mirroring the mix of ethereal and strong in the music. There is a clip in the fashion film where thick smoke covers the floor which I would not want to use as I think it looks cliche and slightly tacky. 

Screenshot from Iguchi (2017).

There are many slow motion closeups in the film, drawing the viewers' eye to certain details and body movements. The lighting used above creates a soft silhouette of the model's hand, capturing the glistening detail of the dripping water; I could use this technique to capture the differing densities of the powder paint. The light source is placed within the frame, giving a sunlit effect as the rays of light add a soft haze to the image, adding to the ethereal, heavenly look. I will discuss this with Harrison as I think this soft back lighting would capture the powder paint beautifully and give the dancer's strong movement a subtle ethereal edge, reenforcing the fantasy element. I am concerned the vibrant colour of the powder paint will be lost in the dark shadows so I will discuss using fill lights of reflectors to brighten the front view in certain clips to capture the true colours.

The fashion film is shot in a large warehouse location, giving them the freedom to use smoke and smoke grenades. It could have been shot in a studio but small details of the background added interest and depth to the setting, making it look more rough and grungy, reflecting a cold cement asylum cell. I will research the availability of warehouses within reasonable distances and look at car parks or other concrete locations with open space. My main concern will be using powder paint in these areas as I think this will deter people from agreeing to me using their location.

References:
TOURCHIN, V., 2017. Face With Dramatic Lighting Art Print [viewed 9th March 2017]. Available from: https://fineartamerica.com/products/face-with-dramatic-lighting-val-black-russian-tourchin-art-print.html

PUGH, G., 2017. Gareth Pugh S/S 15 [viewed 8th February 2017]. Available from: http://showstudio.com/project/gareth_pugh_s_s_15/chaos

IGUCHI, V., 2017. Dressing The Screen: Russia [viewed 11th February 2017]. Available from: http://showstudio.com/project/dressing_the_screen_russia/fashion_films/