Group Final Project Photo Shoot Rationale Urban Traveler By: Melissa Johnson, Cloe Doherty and Elizabeth Margulis
Styling is a creative and collaborative effort and our group sought to include our own various personal styles into our shoot. My own personal style gravitates towards a romantic classic edge while Cloe is more urban with edgy influences. We all agreed that our final shoot was going to be centered on a contemporary look that had both classic and urban influences. Living in Chicago we knew we could easily find a location that would provide us with an interesting backdrop. Starting out we decided that Elizabeth’s Celine bag was going to be the product we intended to sell. The Celine bag is black and white and we found an all-white look in Harpers Bazar magazine that caught our eye. As we gathered new inspiration materials and met with the models our shoot steadily changed but the classic urban theme remained the same. On the day of shooting the overall product intent ended up being centered on a Michel Kors handbag instead of the Celine bag. This bag was large enough that it could be used as a tote and it was fitting that our model worked around Union Station as a backdrop. We then tied all of our elements together to conclude that our shoot intent was to sell a tote that would be styled for an urban traveler. This girl was bit mysterious and had a both a feminine but edgy pulled together look while she traveled from city to city with her carryall. The target audience of our final photograph is girls who are between eighteen and twenty five. These girls are on the go and have both work and school that they have to juggle which means they need a great all in one carryall. Brands that these young women are interested in include Marc by Marc Jacobs, Urban Outfitters and Zara. Our customer is someone who makes enough money that she can splurge on staple pieces like leather handbags and shoes. This girl lives in an urban area such as Chicago and has family in the surrounding suburbs she visits frequently. Her hobbies include reading, painting and thrift shopping in Wicker Park. She is an avid fashion lover and is knowledgeable of brands and is not afraid to mix brand names with
vintage items. Overall we want to convey that a Michel Kors tote can be styled both for a weekend getaway with casual clothing or and a work essential piece. Thinking about where we wanted to place our photo we instantly knew the tone had to move towards an editorial look. We wanted to challenge ourselves and go for a professional higher fashion look that spoke to our core customer. But after viewing our photo we realized that it would fit as a contemporary ad in a fashion magazine or an online website such as Shopbop or RevolveClothing. It could also be featured as a commercial outdoor advertisement for the fall or winter season. The photo would feature the designer Michel Kors’s logo and be one of his central ads for the tote he created. When casting our models we really had no preference but essentially wanted someone who could convey our feminine but edgy vibe. We were lucky enough to work with two girls who both had great wardrobes we could pull from. We selected these two girls because they were very different from each other but also we thought would also work well together on film. Tess our first model has short blond hair while Taylor has long straight brown hair. Each girl wore most of their own clothing and both Cloe and I selected their final looks. Cloe worked to prefect Taylor’s look which ended up being a pair of white pants and a black bustier top and pink blazer. I helped Tess pull together her looked which included a white A-line dress, tights, black blazer and combat boots. Selecting one girl was very difficult but in the end we decided that Tess’s look conveyed our core customer the best. Our location turned out to be the most influential part of the shoot but also was the most difficult element to plan and work with. As mentioned before we all agreed that our location would be a contrast to our pulled together feminine look. We initially planned to shoot in an
alley near Cloe’s apartment but transitioned to a more workable space. Chicago’s Union Station was brought up because it was a location we could shoot at presumably for free. Union Station also has a lot of space with a variety of backgrounds including marble walls, staircases and columns and pillars. Arriving to the location we were disappointed with the lighting which was something we had to adjust in the post editing. The train station had very little windows therefore the artificial light gave the final photo a bit of a yellow tone. We worked with the models on posing including sitting on the train benches, walking down the stairs and walking past the entrance lined with columns. Ultimately this location did support some of our original ideas and also worked perfectly for our concluded end piece. We wanted to showcase a young girl and her Michael Kors travel tote in an edgy setting. In terms of prop usage we did not have anything else in the shot other than our model, her clothing and accessories and the handbag. Overall when looking our final shot one element I wish we could have furthered is using more detail of our location. Unfortunately from our final shot one cannot see much of Union Station therefore in the future I would have liked to include the trains or the staircases. In terms of stylistic decisions the pieces we concluded on was a white A-line dress, a pair of black combat boots, black blazer with white trim, gold necklace, and black studded Michael Kors bag. Originally we had our model Tess try on various dresses including a blue high collar dress and another white lace dress. These options were pretty but we ended up going for something simple that didn’t have too much detail. Tess was influential in choosing the way the blazer was posed on her shoulders and we were happy that ended up being the final pose. Styling for us was obviously the most important and we wanted our final look to speak to our young trendy customer without taking away the focus from the Michael Kors handbag. While on set we had to keep the look polished which mean making sure the dress hem was straight and that the
blazer did not bunch in any spots. The rest of the look fit her well and we left the shoulder pads in the dress to give the look definition and shape. The gold necklace we selected brought out the gold studs in the handbag tying the whole look together.
Urban Traveler Timing and Action November 15th 2013, 3pm, Chicago’s Union Station
Both Cloe and I decided to break up what we brought between the two of us and her friend who was our makeup artist. Cloe’s friend worked as a great makeup artist, she brought all of her makeup supplies to my apartment on the day of the shoot. Most of the products she used were to create a dark smoky eye and a red lip. Cloe brought with her the blazer Tess wore and camera that we used to shoot. Before the models arrived we had the makeup laid out and Cloe ironed the black blazer we used. We also used my small grocery cart to bring to Union Station our own jackets and bags and the models personal belongings as well. Shooting at Union station meant we had to condense what we brought with and only take the essentials. Meaning we only had one look for each model and they brought with their own shoes to change into at the shoot. We also had hair brushes, lip stick, foundation and extra clips on hand incase anything needed to be touched up. In conclusion models arrived at 3pm and we finished with their makeup and full looks around 4pm. Then we all walked to union station with the models already in their final looks. We did touchups when we arrived to Union Station around 4:15. Then between 4:15 and 6 we shot with both of our models. The first thirty minutes at Union Station we shot with Elizabeth and then when she left, Cloe and I worked on different posing options. Cloe liked shooting the models sitting while I worked to shoot both of them walking together. Finally around 6pm we ran through the shots on the camera to be sure we were happy with our final options.
Urban Traveler shoot progression Wardrobe/Prop Styling
In terms of wardrobe styling we progressed smoothly and did not stray much from our initial idea. When we saw a photograph in Harpers Bazzar of a model in an all-white look we knew white would be a great color to work with. Our model Tess first tried on a blue high neck dress and then a white flared dress and that helped us to reaffirm that white should be our clothing color. Once we knew we wanted the white dress as the main piece we had Tess try on a few different blazers. One blazer was pink and the other was black and we concluded that black worked more cohesively with the black Michel Kors handbag. Initially we were going to use Elizabeth’s Celine bag but unfortunately we did not have access to the bag the entire shoot. Therefore we brought with the Michel Kors bag and it ended up styling perfectly with Tess’s look.
Fitting
For the fitting Tess brought with her own clothing and already had on a pair of tights and boots we liked. These boots reaffirmed our classic but trendy theme and we wanted to pair the look with tights since it our shot was going to be a fall contemporary advertisement. The next step was choosing a dress and Tess had a blue dress that we felt did not stand out enough against the black blazer we had in mind. Since she had a white dress with her we had her try the white dress with the black blazer and that grabbed our attention the most. The look we thought was relaxed but still had a feminine edge and the gold chain necklace was the last addition. The fitting was around an hour and took place during class time so Cloe and I had a chance to give our own input.
Hair/Makeup/Posture/Pose Testing
It was extremely helpful that Tess attended our model fitting with her hair down and already had on a bit of makeup. Since Tess’s hair just grazed her shoulders we liked that it did not cover up the necklace she had on and was not a distraction to the look. We wanted her hair to stay down and straight and not look too done up. Her makeup needed to be a bit heavier than when we saw her at the fitting up and we ending up going with a dark eye and lips. The different posing options we had her try out included sitting in a chair, standing looking at the camera and looking away from the camera. The final shot she is not looking at the camera but we felt the tone of the photo spoke to our customer well.
Location Scouting:
In terms of location scouting we did not have any other locations that we were really happy with other than union station. At first we considered shooting in an alley near Cloe’s apartment but with weather concerns we had to rule that out. Having been to union station before I knew that it was a great place to shoot because of the high ceilings and marble pillars. We were surprised when we arrived to shoot that we had no issue with security and could freely take pictures wherever we pleased. The only downside is that we did not have any time to prep extra lighting and the inside had minimal lighting that we were not pleased with.
Actual Photo Shoot Progression:
The shoot progression happened very naturally and we found many different location options and posing ideas as we shot. Having two models was very beneficial and we tried to shoot both girls together as much as possible. I was in favor of many of the photos with the girls walking together but they did not turn out as successful as I had hoped. Next we shot with Tess standing near the pillars and had her holding onto the bag and her necklace. We really liked the contrast of the white marble background with her black bag and blazer. Ultimately we decided on the photo of Tess looking down holding the handbag.