The Polaroid is not dead!

I was gutted when i heard they were going to stop making Polaroid, i've been trawling through ebay looking for bargain film and haven't had much luck and as i refuse to pay the ridiculous price for Urban Outfitters exclusive film (which doesn't even fit in my polaroid camera!) I was feeling a bit dismal about the whole thing but I have just found the most amazing thing on the Polaroid website (www.polaroid.net).

You can download an application (a bit like the one you can get for the iphone which i think is called polarize but i'm not 100% sure but this version is better) which converts your photo's to Polaroids literally, with the developing time and everything! You can save it at different stages of it processing and i am chuffed i must say, Many an hour is going to be spent on this changing my photos! Obviously it's not as good as the real thing and i am sure many will be appalled that they're making Polaroids digital but I don't care, i used to love scanning my Polaroids into my computer. I Love this find.

Recet findings

I have so much work to do at the moment, so naturally I am doing everything in my power to avoid doing in and instead doing everything else.

Anyway, whilst I was doing 'research' stumbled across

http://igorandandre.blogspot.com/, a beautiful Little blog full of the most wonderful artwork of 'models and fashion folks' by a man called Danny Roberts from California. In his blog, 'Igor and Andre' he includes these amazing 'inspiration' montages and they alone are nice to look at, but his artwork is fabulous. I love his Paris fashion week illustrations,what I would give to be able to paint like that! && He has just done a collection of handbags and clothes for Gwen Steffani's Harajuku Lovers range...Ohh La.

It's been a little while.

I haven't posted in a wee while as I have been busy busy in dissertation proposal hell and having a breakdown trying to work out how to use 'jstore' and 'athens' and other boring article sites.
My dissertation is about how British film makers choose to design the working class during the 1980's and how it effected the working class stereotype. At first i liked the topic but now I am sick to death of it. Niche gut.
Anyway in brighter thoughts Christmas is just around the corner and on my list are these please.

Finger puppets! Loving the mini Karl.

Pass me that old newspaper.

Oh, Galliano you beaut.
This is fabulous. Would someone pass me last weeks newspaper so I can craft myself a hat.
The make up for his SS2010 show is very 1920's. Dark eyes and lips mix really well with the softness of the collections colour palette which works tremendously.

'So, Are we agreed?'

I rediscovered my Love for Wes Anderson's 'The Darjeeling Limited' when I dug it out of my dvd box to watch the other day. In all of Wes Anderson's films he always seems to have an eye for detail and The Darjeeling limited is no different, infact it has the detail but it feels a lot more organic than his other films. The Train used in the film is an art directors dream and nightmare, Wes Anderson wanted it to be a fully working train it was not only expected to work as a setting but also be fully functional for filming purposes. As a result many of the walls folded away, and tricks including sinks on wheels were used to adapt to suit. I think it's all very clever.

Other details make me love that train, every single elephant and pattern painted on the train was painted by a different local craft men which could take hours to do each individual elephant meaning the whole train took weeks to complete.

The film reflects the setting perfect, India is portrayed as a beautiful bright and vibrant place and the film has a colour palette to match.

The Brothers in the film (which are played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman, who weirdly the latter two I have rather a crush on!) carry a rather lot of bagadge on the film. Which was designed by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton (!). They are fabulous, no sign of the distinctive LV logo branded across the bag, instead the bag is covered in a Jungle pattern. I want one for Christmas!

Projects.

We have begun our final productions at university. (Third year..scary stuff). I am working on two films, a major and a minor. I have taken the role of production designer as my major on the film 'Edith'. It is a contemporary piece but i am really excited about the design cause there are lots of period appliances i want to source and also the possibility of renovating a house to suit the piece which will be alot of work but such a great opportunity as I will have full free-ness to design exactly what i want which is quite rare for university pieces, So fingers crossed. I won't give away the story of Edith, you will have to wait till it's completed but it is a lovely sad but endearing story.

As my minor role I will be assisting Harriet with her production design role on the film 'Jane's Life'. Harriet's going to be assisting me on 'Edith' so we will be working closely together. Harriet and myself are also preparing another project that hopefully will get the go ahead under our new design alias 'FromageFraisDesigns' (more to come on this later though..keep an eye out in march!). If we get the go ahead you will be hearing more....Oh la la.

Museums

So on Thursday we went on a 'class trip' to the Leeds Discovery Centre near Clarence dock. It is basically a purpose made store for all the items that can't fit in the Leeds museums. We went down to take a look at some of the period clothes they have there but also had a look inside the store itself. It holds over a million items (!) in there so you can imagine if full of some amazing stuff. The dresses shown to us were beautiful but i was particularly amused by the hundreds of taxidermy animals they had. So spooky but weirdly interesting, especially the ones that hadn't had glass eyes put in so they just had hollow eyes; Scary scary. The store had literally everything, Victorian prams, wheelchairs, stuffed birds (in there 1000's), hats, old shop signs. Everything. I got a chance to look at some of the 'straight shoes' from the early 1800's. They didn't use to have left or right shoes, just straights that they had to swap around every few months to stop them from curving to the shape of their foot. Amazing and they are so tiny. It is really interesting to see how body shapes have changed. The lady in charge of costume was telling us how they struggle when the items go on display to hang them on mannequins and alot of the time have to use children sized mannequins, she said for example that a typical mans suit jacket from the 1870's has to go on display on a modern 12 year old boys mannequin now as a modern sized mans mannequin is far to big.

I got to take a look up close at a crinoline skirt, I think it's amusing how fashion over function is the same then as it is now. Doesn't matter how uncomfortable it is as long as it looks good! Topshop recently did a modern take on the crinoline skirt where you can see the built in structure. Just goes to show how fashion goes round in circles.

I'm definitely going to make use of the Discovery Centre, you can book an appointment if you need to look at a particular item (or items) in detail which is handy if you're doing a period piece.

Anyway after going i got the museum bug. (Haha) So me and the boyfriend took a little look around the City museum yesterday. I especially like the history of Leeds room as it had some of the period costumes and items we have been looking at in our production design lectures, it was interesting to see them close up (and also fun to play on the interactive displays). It's free so if you're bored in Leeds town go go.

Stephane TV.

Tonight I am going to watch Michel Gondrys (♥) 'Science of Sleep' because I remembered how good it was. The design is so playful and limitless it is definatley in my top 10 'if i couldve worked on any film i would have worked on...' list. With the art direction being done by Pierre Pell and Stéphane Rozenbaum i love the way they captured the main character's; Stephane (played by Gael García Bernal) slighy blurred reality and his hyper active imagination. The line between awake and asleep is disstorted but wonderful. I love how crafted everything is in the film. It could have easiy had some clever little effects to make it abit different but it doesn't. Everything looks like it is made by hand and that you yourself could make it. The sets are so low tech but great. Stephane's Tv studio is by far my favourite, egg cartons will definatly be making an appearence in a film of mine one day!

I have a film crush on Michel Gondry.

Baby It's cold inside.

Antarctica In London. I love this scene in Dover Street Market. It's a collaboration between designer Peter Jensen and photographer Tim Wilson which sits in the store. I love the army of penguins gathered round the kitch 1970's old style gas fireplace. (Which happens to be identical to the one i would like to source for the film 'Edith' I am working on at the moment- anyone got one free??). I also love how the whole thing looks like it is in a 1900's parlour. It looks straight out of a geography book (kinda-ha). I want to go down to London and see it now now now (plus a bit of a shop wouldn't go a miss). The scene marks his new second collection by Jensen for Dover Street Market, which is full of yummy embellished knits and some amazing faux fur leggings. Perfect for winter, and dressing up and sitting down with the penguins.

Hands.

Hussein Chalayan wasn't a designer i was really familiar with but after coming across this AMAZING dress from his spring 2010 collection i want to know oh so much more please. Look at those hands! I am in awe of the construction. Above left looks so real! I am not entriely sure what or how these where made but i am so impressed. It is such an innovative idea which i have never really seen any where before. Its kind of creepy but so interesting. I want to see hands on clothes more. Except these aren't even on the clothes, these are claiming the dress. It's just totally transformed the dress. I can't wait till i see someone in this. I am going to look into this designer more but i think he i a deffinate auteur on this alone!

I love how he publically dissed Kate Moss's topshop collection. You are not alone in your thoughts Hussein!

So here I am and this is?

So this Blog is a stage for me to admire and share some work from other people i like and to hopefully be admired for myself. (Hopefully!)



I am in my final year of a Ba Course in Film and Moving Image production in which i have specialised in ProductionDesign; Building Sets, Costume, Making and sourcing Props and all the things in between. Being a Blog addict some of the blogs i have read on the internet have inspired me so i thought it was about time i myself started a blog. I'm all new to this but hopefully I'll get it right. It's a space for me to share the things that I like and hopefully show off some of my own work. From architecture, to fashion, film, music and all sorts here it will be. Wonderful.

So first, I came across the amazing Viktor & Rolf collection, spring 2010(above) which is simply amazing.
Cutaway, Literally! Personally it reminds me off the Cutaways seen in the Art Deco architecture movement, like the Chrysler Building on a skirt (especially bottom right with it's stepped detail). All mathematical an geometrical shapes but still so decorative and just fun. My favourite of the above are either of the middle two, top and bottom. The colour pallet reminds me of a 1930's ice cream parlour, the soft pastels work so well with the rough jaunt edges. It's just so, good! Its totally not ready to wear but who cares, I love a gimmik!



In keeping with the art deco/1940's theme i am loving the Film 'Brazil' (1985) Directed by Terry Gilliam and production design by Norman Garwood. We watched part of it in a lecture and i was hooked! I love how it is set in the future but the design is highly influenced by the past. It has a real 'retro-futurism' quality to it, and is almost like a 1940's film noir design. It is also reminiscent of Fritz Lang' Metropolis', 1927 (again another film we looked at for design). The sets are just fabulous, i love design of the Ministry of Information Building and the thought that has gone in to all the every day objects like the television etc is just so good! It is what i imagine people of the 1940's imagined the 1980's to look like.