Saint laurent commercial film contectual brief

SAINT LAURENT SAC DE JOUR COMMERCIAL FILM DPT SOUND BITE CONTEXTUAL BRIEF DAISY MENGXUAN ZHANG BA FASHION MARKETING DATE SUBMITTED : 8 JAN 2014

The initial idea behind producing this commercial film for Saint Laurent was to advertise the Sac De Jour handbag, because the company plans to introduce a medium size of this bag between the current large and small sizes in the coming season (Leng, 2013). The styling intention was to celebrate its retro branding and inform the customers of the current brand concept. The commercial aims to capture potential young consumers at the age of 16 to 35. With the assistance of light rock music and the use of monochrome colour, the slow motion of the moving image communicates the Saint Laurent lifestyle of its prospected customers. Narration is, ‘the process of which the plot conveys or withholds story information’ (Bordwell and Thompson, 2004). The narrative of the sound bite begins from the opening moment of the film, which features a model representing a 21 year old girl; mirroring Saint Laurent’s target consumer, who is self-assured, strong-minded, fashion conscious and living an urban lifestyle. The model in the commercial was dancing and posing according to the song ‘Bloody Bandaid’ of Cherry Glazerr singing

by Sophia’s youthful voice that also implements the idea of youth rock. The sound was edited to fit the 30-second advertisement, and the volume was lowered gradually until the sound bite ended. Saint Laurent celebrates natural beauty. The model was styled minimally, wearing tights, a one-piece dress, and smooth, light makeup to create an emotional resonance with current young customers, who would find appeal in the model’s natural look.

A minimal style was also adopted regarding formal elements and the scenic design of the commercial. A pure white background was used with diagonal lighting.

Jour bag. The model’s face didn’t always expose for purpose of providing a vast imaginary sphere to audiences. There are no other décor items in the frame, nor any jewelry on the model, in order to encourage viewers to dedicate their attention to the message, the model and the bag. Additionally, the entire sequence was edited to possess zero saturation, as it has been said that ‘without the facade of colour, a photo’s intrinsic beauty is displayed prominently at the centre stage, to be contemplated by the audiences’ (Beaupre, 2012).

Commercial films are common in the fashion market. Many luxury brands endorse coloured movies which contain complicated Mile-en-scene selections. The ‘Saint Laurent Sac De Jour’ sound bite is different. It has minimal Mile-en-scene. The shot is simply composed by the model, wearing a black dress and transparent, high-heeled boots, while holding the Sac De

The final piece improved largely from the draft edition. The electronic fast-tempo music was replaced. Using the new song, 10 fast-changing frames were cut down to 5, and each remained for more than 4 seconds, so that the sequence would be better remembered and the information would be better delivered.

Shots are in context and are connected: the first frame is shot on the midplane of the model’s body, followed by shots of the lower body, upper body and, finally, full body. Camera distances are ordered from close-up, medium, long shot, back to medium. The filming speed was varied to engage with the sound.

The sound bite ends with a title of ‘Saint Laurent Sac De Jour’ in white Arial font, showing on a black background. It is carried out with a fragmentation effect, produced in Adobe After Effect.

The use of this slogan was to clarify the brand name, as well as the focused narrative intention of the screen.

Frame Duration(seconds) Camera Angles Camera distances Camera Movement

1 9

Close up Hand held and helicopter

2 6

3 4

Straight on

Straigtone

Close up

Medium

4 4

5 4

6 (Title) 3 N/A

Long shot

Medium

N/A N/A

As the duration had to be 30 seconds, the screen was designed to feature the Saint Laurent official site as a banner, showing before the homepage loaded. A number of technical issues were considered and modified along with the communication strategies. The screen was cropped to have a long scale, to fit into the middle of the website page. The sequence was exported into QuickTime format and compressed to high quality. A reasonable definition is of the essence, but the use of maximum quality may cause a slow loading speed. The commercial was designed to start playing as soon as the website is opened. Slow loading would lead audiences to lose interest or become impatient. Nevertheless, the commercial is appropriate for publishing on YouTube or screening in-store, and thus the definition can be adjusted according to the relevant platforms. During the production process, existing films from the rebranded Saint Laurent were referenced to ensure the choice of narrative and other technical considerations were developed to be suitable for the brand.

The sound bite is a tailored banner for the homepage, lasting only 30 seconds, and it will engage viewers to take an interest in the Sac De Jour handbag. The sound bite will help to create publication and boost sale, and then archive its commercial proposals.

Conclusion and reflection Since Saint Laurent is my chosen research brand for the module regarding strategic fashion marketing planning. Before I began shooting, I investigated in the brand, the commercial films within the fashion market, and the relative practical and technical elements involved. I became interested in creating a fashion commercial piece after watching Givenchy’s rough-edged commercial, which inspired me to use monochrome colour and mirror effects. Following this, I created a first draft, based on the references of the Givenchy film, and all related works, but became aware that the choice of music was not appropriate for the brand’s position. I also found that there were too many different frames squeezed in 30 seconds. In order to gain feedback, I showed the commercial to many people and gathered their opinions. I reflected on all of the problems with my film and also researched more information about rebranding. I particularly investigated in the first film that Hedi Slimane made for the brand, ‘Saint Laurent Dance’, and tried to produce my own work in line with his style. Finally, I arrived at the current piece of sound bite. In terms of technical information, I researched video and audio effects in the educational videos from Lydia and YouTube, and adopted some of the useful ideas into my work. I also compared both drafts and showed both versions to other people. Most people thought that the second one provided a better understanding of what the film was trying to express, and that the music and editing was a better fit for the brand image. Consequently, the final piece is a large improvement on the first draft, and my technical skills, including shooting and editing, have also improved since last year through the study in this term.

Bibliography Beaupre, C. 2012. Zero Saturation. [online] Available at: http://zerosaturation.wordpress.com [Accessed: 5 Jan 2014].

Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. 2004. Film art: An Introduction. 7th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill.

Cineosphere.co.uk. 2013. Cineosphere: The Five Formal Elements of Film: How to Critically Evaluate Movies. [online] Available at: http:// cineosphere.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-five-formal-elements-of-film-how-to.html [Accessed: 2 Jan 2014].

Courses.iddl.vt.edu. 2013. Shot Composition. [online] Available at: http://courses.iddl.vt.edu/DEDCM001/sa/11sacompostion.html [Accessed: 3 Jan 2014].

Film Program Yale University Classes.yale.edu. 2012. Part 2: Mise-en-scene. [online] Available at: http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/mise-enscene.htm [Accessed: 2 Jan 2014].

Francaviglia, R. V., Rodnitzky, J. L. and Rosenstone, R. A. 2007. Lights, camera, history. College Station: Published for the University of Texas at Arlington by Texas A & M University Press.

Givenchy. 2013. Givenchy Le Rouge Lipstick. [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaCtntePWbU [Accessed: 2 Nov 2013].

Hoffmann, T. A. 2012. The art of black and white photography. Santa Barbara, CA: Rocky Nook.

Leng, J. 2013. Interview on Saint Laurent Rebranding. Interviewed by Daisy Zhang [in person] Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Rd, London SW1X 7XL, 22 Dec 2013.

Milton, M. 2005. 100 ways to take better black and white photographs. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.

Paine, D. P. 1981. Aerial photography and image interpretation for resource management. New York: Wiley.

SAINT LAURENT DANCE PART 2. 2013. [video] New York: Yves Saint Laurent.

SAINT LAURENT DANCE. 2013. [DVD] New York: Yves Saint Laurent.

SAINT LAURENT FALL WINTER 13 CAMPAIGN / PART 1. 2013. [video] LOS ANGELES: Yves Saint Laurent.

Saint Laurent Menswear Autumn/Winter 2013-2014 Paris Fashion Show. 2013. [video] Paris: Yves Saint Laurent.

SAINT LAURENT MUSIC PROJECT / DAFT PUNK. 2013. [video] LOS ANGELES: Yves Saint Laurent.

Slideboom.com. 2013. Formal Elements of Video & Film. [online] Available at: http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/610545 [Accessed: 3 Jan 2014].

Vogue UK. 2013. Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2014 Ready-To-Wear. [online] Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-2014/ ready-to-wear/saint-laurent [Accessed: 2 Jan 2014].

Zhang, M. X. 2014. Zero Saturation. DPT Year 3, [blog] 8 Jan, Available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/dpty3/2014/01/08/zero-saturation/ [Accessed: 8 Jan 2014].

Zhang, M. X. 2014. Let Hedi Slimane’s First Saint Laurent Film Dance Into Your Heart!. DPT Year 3, [blog] 8 Jan, Available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/ dpty3/2014/01/08/let-hedi-slimanes-first-saint-laurent-film-dance-into-your-heart/ [Accessed: 8 Jan 2014].

Zhang, M. X. 2014. Givenchy Le Rouge Lipstick commercial film. DPT Year 3, [blog] 8 Jan, Available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/dpty3/2014/01/08/givenchy-lerouge-lipstick-commercial-film/ [Accessed: 8 Jan 2014].

Zhang, M. X. 2014. Saint Laurent commercial DRAFT. DPT Year 3, [blog] 3 Dec 2014, Available at: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/dpty3/2013/12/03/saint-laurent-commercial-draft/ [Accessed: 5 Jan 2014].