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exhibition booklet
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contents 4. introduction 6. my film & it’s message 10. the journey 22. reflection
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4. For my final exhibition, I chose to create
portrays themes of friendship, protest
a documentary/interview style film based
and self-expression and aims to show the
on my friend Michael, his identity and
world that it doesn’t matter who or what
why that so strongly links in with the
you identify as you can wear whatever you
way I percieve Art Schools image and
want and be whoever you want, even if
story. I believe that Art Schools whole
that means not conforming with societies
brand is largely based upon identity and
‘norms’.
expression. It’s about enabling people,
Art School are heavily influenced by the
no matter who you are, to be whoever it
80’s British club scene, headed by the
is you want to be and to not be afraid to
likes of the Mudd Club, Boy George and
shout that from the rooftops.
David Bowie. Not only was the fashion
Now for a little background on Art
and freedom of expression in that era an
School; Art School are a non-binary,
influence, but also the music, causing
genderqueer fashion label, started
Loweth and Barratt to often use acid
through the partnership of Eden Loweth
house music in their performances.
and Tom Barratt. Both graduates from
They’re also influenced by other designers
prestigious London universities, Central
in the industry, such as John Galliano
Saint Martins and Ravensbourne, Loweth
and more recently,
and Barratt met at a uni party, fell in
daring and established designers, that I
love and the rest is history. Their brand
think Art School could end up following.
Charles Jeffrey. Both
a real connection with their audience.
be part of a series produced by Art
The whole premise behind their brand to
School themselves, called ‘Art School
me, is expressing your true identity,
Presents: Identity’. In which they would
being who you want to be and celebrating
interview and film their friends or
that with your friends and although their
interesting people they come across in
shows are very telling of that, I think
life and business, and release them as
they need to be more active on their
2-3 minute, short videos. In the films
social feeds and with putting out their
the interviewees would discuss their
own content that can be accessed by their
lives, identities and creative outputs as
followers. By interviewing interesting,
well as their own relationship with and
creative and diverse ‘everyday’ people
opinions on what Art School are achieving
it would definitely help to make their
as an up and coming brand. I wanted to
brand more relatable and come across more
keep my films short and to the point yet
attainable to its younger target audience
still extremely visually interesting and
than its high price points.
exciting, this way not only would they be optimizable for social media channels but
As one of my original ideas was to
also would hold the attention of their
create a pop-up store in the North of
audience and keep them enthralled.
England to expand Art Schools consumer and follower base, I thought it was
My film & its message
My logic behind choosing to create a
important to pick someone Northern. In
film as my final piece has many different
the interview I made sure to discuss
has many reasons behind it, and was
how where you grow up effects you, not
actually an idea that came to me later
only personality wise, but also creative
on in my project. One reason is that I
output wise and how you see and interpret
believe that film is the most exciting
the world. This is another factor that
and inclusive way of sharing content at
I think would help Art School to expand
the moment, it’s accessible and can be
its audience base, as I believe the
consumed by almost anyone and in almost
importance and regularity of non binary
any way. You don’t need to be walking
clothing is finally beginning to move
past a billboard or be sat watching TV,
up North, but could do with a push to
you can open Instagram while you’re still
normalise it and really bring it to live
lying in bed or travelling on the other
up here.
side of the world, and are immediately able to consume this content.
I wanted the film to have a candid and almost retro look to it, I didn’t want it
Another reason that I chose this for my
to be cinematically shot and immaculately
final piece is the fact that I think it’s
edited as I didn’t feel like that fits in
one thing Art School’s missing is having
with who Art School are and represent
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The idea behind my film is that it would
are a little bit messy but they embrace that and its became a huge part of their brands identity. This is also another element that I think makes them so unique and relatable to their younger target audience, especially those that could be struggling with finding themselves in some way and would be able to find comfort in the fact that you don’t need to have your shit together all the time; which, with my editing and filming style is something
School existence, I think it’s extremely important to not define people by their sexuality, gender or the clothes they wear but instead everything else that makes their personality and creativity unique and wonderful. I’d say the main mission of this project for me, was to give Art School a greater connection with their audience in a way that celebrates what they’re about through qualities such as friendship,
I really wanted to get across.
identity as well as the way people grow
Another reason for me to choose creating
didn’t want it to focus completely on
a film for my final piece was because I really wanted to challenge myself and create something completely different to anything I’d ever made before. Because I’ve never filmed and edited anything in my life, I found it extremely challenging and definitely struggled a lot all the way through, from the initial filming, editing, interviewing and bringing together all of the different elements in a cohesive way. The documentary, retro style I was going for made it very complicated which in the beginning I didn’t expect, however I’ve learnt that in a lot of cases companies are using teams of people that each specialise in individual areas. I didn’t want the focal point of my film, or any of the would be ‘series’, to be focused on gender or sexuality but instead on the wider image of someone’s identity and everything that makes them who they are. Even though being a non-binary label is a big part of Art
up and choose to present themselves. I identifying as non-binary or who someone is sexually attracted to, which is often who they’re portrayed in the media. I believe Art Schools is much bigger than that and although in some ways this is a main factor to their brand, it’s about protest, acceptance, being who you are and learning to love who you are which is what I really want to come across above all else, in my film.
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themselves as. They’re not perfect, they
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Starting back at the beginning of the year, we were given 3 brands to initially research into, and eventually choose one that we felt the most connected to and want to take forward. One of the brands being Kalaurie, an Australian womenswear brand that’s built on emotional experiences that the designer, Kalaurie KarlCrooks has experienced herself. Kalaurie uses sustainable deadstock fabrics for her collections and very much bases her brand on being completely Melbourne made. I decided not to choose Kalaurie, as I felt like the overall feel of the brand wasn’t 100% fitting with my personality and also that with such strong Australian roots, it might not work as well when expanding to the UK. The next brand we were given was Nichols and Co. A local lifestyle boutique based in Chester, Nichols sells vintage furniture, jewelry, candles and avant-garde clothing targeted towards the older woman. After visiting and spending time in Nichols, I felt that not only was the brand completely
Kalaurie
different to my style and aesthetic, but also there was so much that could be done as improvements for their campaign that I thought it would almost be an obvious, easy option. My main mission this year was to challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone, and I feel like choosing Kalaurie or Nichols wouldn’t have enabled me to reach my full potential. This was one of the main reasons I chose to use Art School, as I felt like not only were the non-binary themes becoming extremely prevalent at the moment with brands such as Gucci merging menswear and womenswear
on the catwalk and the likes of Topshop and Urban Outfitters introducing all gender changing rooms, but also the whole gender neutral concept was something that I previously didn’t know a lot about but was extremely interested in. I also felt like Art School’s overall aesthetic and protest/going against the grain message was something that really resonated with me, and I felt like I could adapt my working and creative styles to produce the best campaign possible.
from queer artists being the main focus,
thoroughly into our chosen brands, to
giving an exclusive look. I kept the
ensure we knew them inside and out. The
theme of Art School using their friends
first section of this brief was to create
as models at their shows, and brought
a report on our chosen brand discussing
that to the store by having them working
all relevant research, including target
there as the staff, enabling consumers
audience, social media and references
to feel like they were a part of what’s
that our brands use. This report also
happening down in London.
detailed what we planned to initially
For this report I also designed other
create for our 360 degree campaign, which
elements that would go alongside the
would launch for A/W 2019 and was heavily
pop-up for the campaign such as a social
image based, enabling us to visually
media campaign across Instagram and
communicate our ideas. At the outset,
Facebook, exclusive merchandise that
I decided that as the brief for Art
could only be accessed by visiting the
School was to launch them in the North,
store and most importantly, a club night
I wanted to research where would be the
in the basement of the pop-up that would
most receptive of Art School up here to
be on the last Saturday night of every
launch a 360 degree. After visiting and
month the store was open (September,
investigating two main cities, Liverpool
October, November 2019). The idea behind
and Manchester, I decided that with
the club night was that it followed on
Manchester’s huge links to the LGBT+
with Art Schools 80’s roots and also
community and with it having the 3rd
would bring together people of all ages,
largest population in the UK (Following
races, sexes and genders which is a
London and Birmingham), that it would be
huge part of Art Schools identity. I
the best fit for Art School.
visualised these elements by creating
I then moved onto researching the newest
mock-ups on Adobe Photoshop, which I
and most exciting platforms brands are
think really helped to bring my ideas to
using to launch campaigns and themselves,
life.
and quickly learned the pop-up stores were becoming a favoured trends across brands around the Winter/Christmas period, which obviously fit in with our campaign launch date. I decided to move forward with the pop-up store idea, and began looking at other brands for design inspiration, such as Comme Des Garcons’ Guerilla Store. My vision for my store ended up following quite a simplistic layout, with the clothes and art work
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To begin with, we started by researching
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Over Christmas break we reflected on
ent our ideas in front of the class and
what we’ve produced and thought about
tutors, we hadn’t previously shared our
doing for our reports so was, via
ideas so it was interesting to see and
another report. This one was hard to
hear about what everyone was thinking
condense, as we only had around 1,000
about producing as their final campaigns.
words and needed to discuss all as-
I wouldn’t describe presenting as one of
pects of our plan, as well as key
my strong points, however I made sure I
technological trends we’d researched
was extremely prepared and made cue cards
into, such as virtual reality. I came
for each slide. We also worked with an-
to the conclusion at the end of this
other class member when presenting, who
report, that in an ideal world I
changed our slides for us enabling us to
would love to take the pop-up store
stand away from the screen and focus on
and club night ideas forward, but for
our presentation skills. As an introvert-
the sake of creating a product that
ed person, I do struggle with my confidence
could be displayed at our exhibition,
in these situations however I was really
I thought it would be more fitting to
proud of my outcome.
create a lookbook or a short film.
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The next part of the project was to pres-
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20. Next we started on creating a research file, full of each and every aspect that will go towards what we were planning to create for our final product. I started by researching into ideas for both lookbook and video, as I hadn’t fully decided on one or the other. I also looked into photographers, filmmakers or magazines that were creating content in a style that I would like to incorporate into what I was going to create. My research file also ended up being full of articles about how to shoot in different ways, lighting and camera equipment as I’ve never really tried
Alongside our research file, we were
to shoot anything that professional
asked to create a big moodboard in our
before. After having tutorials and doing
own private spaces that brought together
more research into film creation, I
all different aspects of our final prod-
finally decided that I wanted to create
uct, I wanted mine to stay on brand with
an interview/documentary style film.
Art School as well as being informative,
I began planning out the film with a
which I think I achieved as it was a huge
story board and asking my friend whose
explosion of colour, research and ideas.
living in London, if he would help me
For this section of the project, we also
out in being my model, which thankfully
had an impromptu-ish presentation in
he agreed to as I knew he would be
which we weren’t allowed notes and just
perfect for what I was envisioning in
had to candidly present our wall space as
my head. I then continued researching
well as the content of our research file.
into different films that were fitting the
I found this quite challenging, as in
path I wanted to go down, such as videos
general I find presentations difficult, so
on SHOWstudio, Dazed and i-D’s Youtube
without notes it was definitely difficult
channels.
to elaborate all my ideas concisely!
Harley Weir
humanly possible, even if it’s something
creation of our final project. I started
that I’d not previously planned as a
off by arranging a date with my model,
shot. It’s so surprising when you start
Michael, in which I could go down and
chopping up clips how much footage you
stay in London for a couple of days and
actually use, without even realising it
we could get all of the filming for my
would be helpful at the time.
video done. Unfortunately, the couple
I think when you haven’t done something
of days I booked to go down happened to
before, and you have a specific vision in
be the only week all Winter that it was
your head of what you want something to
blizzarding in London. So a lot of the
look like, it’s easy to feel discouraged
shots that I planned on getting didn’t
and down about what you’ve created and
work out. Such as neon signs in SoHo
I’ve definitely felt like this throughout
that weren’t turned on, temperatures
my project. However, the further on I
being in the minus so we were unable
got and the more practice I had with
to utilize a lot of the clothing I’d
the software, near to the end I finally
ordered for Michael to wear, and also
started enjoying it more and would
not being able to get into Michael’s
definitely consider video as a media for
university, Westminster, to film the sit
what I create in the future.
down interview portion. However, we worked with what we had and tried to get all the shots we could without it looking like a total Winter wonderland, Christmas special. We ended up recording the interview portion over Skype when i got home, and although we don’t have any sit down footage, I think the crackling audio and video overlay works really well for the style of video I’ve gone for. I found the editing portion as well as knowing if I’d got all of the right shots the hardest part, I’d never edited a video before until this project, so getting to grips with Premiere Pro was quite tricky and the whole video has taken a me a long time to piece together with all the different bits of footage, audio and effects. If I was to create another video in the future, I’d definitely make sure to film as much as
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Finally, we moved onto the actual
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26. If I was to carry out this project
this project has taught me is just to
again, I would definitely ensure that I
go with the flow. As a perfectionist,
plan my time management better. It’s
I always want everything to play out
so important to look ahead, check the
exactly how I’ve imagined it in my head.
weather, meticulously plan what you want
So when things start to go ‘wrong’, I
to carry out and then make a backup plan
need to stop thinking of it as if my
too. I’ve learnt that you never know
whole world has came crashing down, and
what’s going to happen and luckily I
just embrace it, adapt from it and grow
was able to work with what I had, but
from it. There was a point where I was
feeling stressed and panicked wondering
so unhappy and embarrassed about what
if you have enough content to work with
I’d created, because I didn’t feel as
is not a good feeling.
if it was good enough when comparing it to other videos and short films I’d
I definitely think if I was to create
looked into. This forced me to just
a film again, I’d be a lot more time
step back and remind myself that teams
efficient with the editing side. That’s
of 20+, highly experienced people make
definitely what has taken up the most
those films, I’m new to this and there’s
time this time around and I would have
only one of me. Just stay optimistic but
liked to have got it finished sooner,
realistic with your goals, always.
just so I felt more ahead with the rest of the work I needed to get done
On reflection, I am definitely happy with
and didn’t feel like I was rushing in
the final outcome of my film. Although
places.
it’s not exactly what I envisioned in my
Overall, I’d say creating a film was a
head at the beginning of this project,
lot harder than I expected it to be, and
after looking into videos from the likes
I don’t think I was completely ready
of i-D and Dazed, I think it’s impor-
for that. I think my naivety at the
tant to stay pragmatic and not to be
beginning of the project, really ended
so hard on yourself. I know personally
up hitting me like a tonne of bricks
that I really challenged myself through
when I realised all of the different
creating a film, but I also know that I
elements and components that go together
made sure to work 10 times harder to
to make a video successful, and how
fight against that. In the end I believe
little time I had to do that. This is
that I’ve created something that I can
something that I know I would be way
be proud of. As well as something that’s
more prepared for next time.
not only just on brand with Art School, but also on brand with all my other work
Another lesson that
too.
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