Created as part of fashion site/retailer They Roared Vintage’s Roar series, filmmaker Jordan Chesney directed and edited Helmut Roar; a two-part film hommage to photographer Helmut Newton.

If you’re dying to know what happens next, you can immediately satisfy your curiosity with second film Rock:

Phillips’ Spring/Summer film for Daniel Romanin and Nikolina Ergic’s label is also worth your time:

Links

“That’s what I wanted to show in an abstract way in Yellow Darkness. Therefore I integrated the typical catharsis of a hero in to the structure of the film. After the teaserlike introduction the plot starts with the first positive part which correlates to the ‘affection’ phase of the catharsis. At the end of this part her first injury and her first defeat were shown in a symbolic way. Then the second part – in the carthasis titled ‘suffer’ – shows the struggles and fears which she must face during the times she’s injured. In the last part she develops a kind of new or second dark character and loses her innocence and happiness of the first part. In the catharsis it’s a little bit different, because the third phase is more like a clarification. But this difference is also intendend, because in the real world, the whole hero thing isn’t as good as it’s described in fictional storys I think. The whole plot is bounded by the repeating of the scene in the shower, from where she looks back and remembers.”

Click to view slideshow.

Zimmermann meticulously planned out the film beforehand, storyboards providing the blueprint of shots to be captured over the two days filming at the school gym location in Cologne. Well laid plans or no, a cancelled train causing their model actress to arrive late and a Kinoflo Spot crashing to the floor and suffering four smashed tubes (forcing the set to be cleared for half an hour whilst the gas dissipated and glass shards were swept) meant that there were eight additional shots they were unable to shoot. The fallen Kinoflo was compounded the fact that one of the production’s spots was out from the beginning of the shoot, but fortunately DoP Leif Thomas was able to utilise the Red Epic’s good iso range to compensate for the three, instead of five spot lighting set up – the image being further enhance by Thomas’ Davinci grading once Zimmermann locked the Premiere Pro edit.

A fan of the modern fashion film, Maclennan decided to take his own stab at the genre:

“It’s been really interesting to watch the genre of fashion films take off over the last couple years. There’s a lot of variety out there, but I think the fashion films I respond to the most are able to show off the clothes and tell a story at the same time. FreePeople’s Roshambo and Cary Fukunaga’s Sleepwalking in the Rift are two recent Vimeo staff picks I thought were fantastic. I also loved Beyond Mountains, More Mountains by Canada and David Altobelli’s film for 55DSL, Roma.

Of course, it’s also easy to make fun of fashion films because so often you see models posing in pastoral scenes with swooning soundtracks and whispered voice overs and the whole thing feels like it’s taking itself so seriously that it becomes a bit ridiculous. I think Mathew Frost’s Fashion Film is just so funny and brilliant in the way it pokes fun at the whole thing. When you think about it, it’s pretty crazy and indulgent to make a film whose main purpose is to feature clothes! And to be totally honest, I think J’attends features some of the clichéd elements Frost is having fun with, so I think finding the right tone can be really tricky.”

That isn’t to say J’attends is all fluff and no content. In keeping with his appreciation of ‘clothes meet story’, the film explores the idea of desire as told from the woman’s perspective; those early days of mutual attraction when the guy hunts for signs that the time’s right to act on his feelings.

“I thought it would be fun to explore the beats that lead to a first kiss and hear the girl’s thoughts along the way. A few months ago I saw Godard’s Une Femme est Une Femme and I really fell in love with how loose and playful it feels, and of course Anna Karina has so much infectious spirit. I also loved how Godard uses primary colors as well as colored gels to light scenes or faces in his films. Again, Godard and the New Wave are pretty common influences in fashion films and Mathew Frost does his own homage in Une Fille Comme Les Autres.”

Maclennan took Godard’s use of coloured close ups as a jumping off point for a visual motif to represent the female protagonist’s internal and psychological point of view. They also worked as a visual buffer from the playful ‘getting to know you’ narrative portions of the film. Speaking of which, having French / American model Mariah Bonner and French actor Mathieu Forget – who are both accomplished dancers in ballet and hip hop freestyle respectively – take up the lead roles left Maclennan free to create a selection of loose scenes with basic props and directions for the pair to improvise off.

“I knew it would be fun to mix in some Latin music (Tito Puente) and let them dance. I also wanted to explore the idea that early in a relationship there’s always the feeling of play acting / role playing and using constant talk as a buffer — so we built the tin can telephone and had them improvise scenes with that, and around an old piano that was on the roof of our shooting location in Los Angeles. Mariah and Mathieu were great at letting go of any inhibitions and just trying anything — no matter how ridiculous — and as a result you can see they have good chemistry and a natural rapport on screen.”

Regular collaborator cinematographer Topher Osborn shot J’attends over the course of a day on a Canon 5D Mark III shoulder rig with Zeiss primes, using plenty of ND filtration for the outdoor scenes. This ‘lean and light’ set up meant that Osborn could follow wherever the improvised action led, yet still capture the desired precise compositions. The coloured close ups where shot against lit sheets after a certain amount of tweaking to hit the correct tones.

As a personal project, Maclennan didn’t have any specific designers on board to dictate or provide the clothes, so he put himself in the capable hands of stylist Maureen Borsodi:

“We worked together to mix and match couture, ready to wear, and vintage looks. For example, Mariah wears a Carven camel coat from their 2011 collection with a tailored green J crew dress. For Mathieu, we combined a vintage Missoni sweater with contemporary shirt and scarf. Since red is a key color in the film I gave Mariah a red umbrella — just like Anna Karina had in Une Femme Est Une Femme. I also worked with a wonderful make up artist who works in London quite a bit — Mia Yang — along with hair stylist Yoko Kagaya to create some 60s-esque looks for Mariah.”

Once he had the film shaped into rough cuts Maclennan began work on the inner monologue voice over script. In keeping with the French themes which had permeated the project thus far, Maclennan had Bonner (who speaks French fluently) record several variations of the voice over (translated from English by his fiancée Mairi, a professor of French up at UC Berkeley), whilst watching a cut of the film with rough subtitles for timing. After a little more finessing, Maclennan’s marriage of fashion, story and insight into the female waiting game was complete.

If that was T W O, then it begs the question, what came before? Well that would be O N E of course:

It’s fashion, so beware of the odd NSFW image or two.

Balslev also promoted the AW12 collection with the strangest dinner party you never went to:

Head over to Turvey’s site for a set of behind the scenes stills from the shoot and check out his 1.4 interview.

Remember when Matthew Frost sent up the fashion film pitch whilst executing its requirements to a T in Une Fille Comme Les Autres? Well now its the turn of the model/actress as Lizzy Caplan perfectly plays at playing the part for Viva Vena!

If you want to make a splash for your new directing partnership, then putting out a film which seamlessly features 80 graduate fashion designs over an 8:30 minute creative narrative is probably one of the best ways to do it. Directors karl&tynan join us to discuss the technical and costume challenges of their perpetual walk cycle film Ouroboros.

I think it’s vital for people to perform a full on ad campaign for themselves. You have to cover all medias, all bases; you have to be seen as many places as possible.

Ouroboros Materials
Production Pack

Showlinks
@karlandtynan
EOS C300

Ouroboros (2012)
Ouroboros, the debut film from directors karl&tynan, showcases designs from each of the 80 2012 Ravensbourne Fashion Graduates.

Is this the end of reality, the beginning of a dream?

As El Vez previously pointed out the director + actress + designer combo of Stephanie Di Giusto, Kate Bosworth and Vanessa Bruno makes for absolutely breathtaking fashion films. Their latest collaboration Moonlight certainly doesn’t disappoint in that regard.

• Beautiful images (both still and moving)
• Looking at clothes so expensive you could purchase a house outright in some countries
• Tea

There are others but you really don’t need me reciting my likes and dislikes in the manner of a personal ad.

Tim Walker has long been one of my favourite photographers. His photographs have always struck me as massive productions as opposed to the lo-fi approach that seems to have become the norm due to guerrilla street photography. His photographs don’t appear as often as say Terry Richardson’s but when they do they are nothing short of spectacular. I would particularly recommend checking out his set based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter as well as the set based on Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes.

This short is an all too rare interview with the man himself:

I have often wondered how one would even start to build the photographs he does and this goes a little way to explaining that. Walker has made a short film called The Lost Explorer with one of my favourite actresses, Julia Davis. Alas, I have yet to see it as it was on a ridiculously limited release despite its award winning status, so the trailer shall have to suffice for now:

Equally alluring is Lula magazine, a quarterly with a limited run which is all about ethereal images. Top tip: If you manage to get hold of a copy keep it in good condition, editions a year or more old regularly go for triple the price and even more on eBay. The last edition featured a spread set in Gifford’s Circus and once again, these images strike me as photographs that have come into being after an extensively thought out period of pre-production.

I like this short because it illustrates the work behind not only a shoot but also the work of the circus performers themselves. Set to a jolly, circus like soundtrack the film encourages me to seriously consider becoming a Ringmaster.

You often find one creative industry cites another as inspiration. How many times have you heard a fashion designer reference a modern or fine artist? Mulberry and a number of other designers have decided to give something back by funding a set of shorts. Skirt was the resulting film for Mulberry and rightfully topped the Vimeo Festival fashion category.

I like Skirt a lot. It raises so many unanswered questions that it forces you to re-watch multiple times in an attempt to find the answers. Did they know each other previously? Is she a random who came to stay and they fell in love through the medium of stacking things precariously? Who knows? All I know is there are some beautiful moments such as when she’s lying in bed and the wind shifts the curtain in what can only be described as the most perfect of movements. My favourite shot, without doubt however is that of all the household objects hanging from the ceiling. It’s completely nonsensical and without reason. The wind (again) causes normally inanimate objects to move but is juxtaposed with perfect stillness of what would normally be the animate objects. It is lovely!

Painkiller – Mustapha Kseibati

With Paul Andrew Williams, writer and director of London to Brighton as his mentor, you’d expect good things from young up and coming director Mustapha Kseibati. His latest short Painkiller – the story of a convenience store robbery that quickly goes wrong – is not only a showcase of his confident directing style, but also of the writing talent of Selina Lim. Brimming with well considered dialogue, dramatic twists and the odd flash of comedy, Kseibati opts against quick edits and short takes to perfectly highlight Lim’s script and the strong performances from his cast.

Long Distance Information – Douglas Hart

Not content with being the first bassist and founding member of the band The Jesus and Mary Chain and director of almost 30 music videos for the likes of The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, The Horrors and more, Douglas Hart has now expanded his repertoire with his first foray into short film with the black comedy Long Distance Information. Starring Peter Mullan, one of the UK’s most underrated actors, Hart’s semi-autobiographical short explores the relationship between an emotionally distant father and his son.

Skirt – Amanda Boyle

Commissioned by Mulberry, recent winner of the fashion category at the Vimeo Awards 2012 Skirt from director Amanda Boyle, is the odd yet heartwarming tale of a couple sharing an apartment. As time goes by, one impromptu tidying of the other’s belongings soon develops into a bizarre routine of possession stacking and a way for them to baffle, fight, flirt and maybe even fall in love with each other. Largely dialogue free, Boyle’s short has the feel of the art-house about it and could have easily come from the mumblecore school or even from the new wave of Greek cinema we’ve recently witnessed with Dogtooth and Attenburg.

If you liked that, then may I suggest you also take a look at the ways in which Anderson plays with time and gravity in the following beautifully measured frames for Georg Jensen’s new collection from British designer Ilse Crawford.

Rapunzel from Rich Keyworth on Vimeo.

The water shot is a tribute to a scene from a film I saw when I was 9 years old. It had a fundamental artistic impact on me and I believe it is the reason I became a film director. It is the slow motion rocket scene in the opening of the brilliant and timeless film Koyaanisqatsi. The slow “reveal element” in that rocket scene along with Philip Glass’s magic blows my mind to this day.

To achieve the water shot, the crew rigged the camera on 12 feet high scaffolding above Nelson and the pool of water, the idea being to have her fall through three focal planes (out of focus, in focus and out again) as she splashed down at 3,000 frames per second. While the distance wasn’t quite enough to achieve the planned focus shifts it’s still a nicely impressive crescendo to the piece.

EXPERIMENT NO.9 ‘DYNAMIC BLOOMS’ BY TELL NO ONE & NICK KNIGHT

Models launch into the air, dresses busting forth like suddenly ripened flowers in Tell No One’s (Luke White and Remi Weekes) counterpart to Nick Knight’s photography. As El Vez previous observed of the studio, their work comprises films that leave you wondering exactly how they created such hypnotic pieces.

MULBERRY ‘SKIRT’ BY AMANDA BOYLE

Amanda Boyle’s film Skirt for the Film InStyle project could quite simply be summed up as a film about the girl you can’t live with but also can’t live without. But just as anyone who’s experienced a relationship like that will know, it’s a summation that is both correct and woefully lacking as it would be when describing Boyle’s short. Watching Skirt, it’s obvious why Boyle’s a rising talent in hot demand (Cast Offs, Misfits, Skins). This isn’t simply a great fashion film, it’s one of the best relationship shorts, and completely wordless at that, you’re likely to see.

LA PROCHAINE FOIS (THE NEXT TIME) BY A76 PRODUCTIONS

A coy relationship builds between a handsome surfer and a pretty girl, encounters marked by the progression a variety of swim suits and her coy smile – think Groundhog Day re-imagined by the French. It’s a film where directors Duffy Higgins and John Jaxheimer’s agenda of displaying beach outfits for Pret-A-Surf is writ large, but whether it’s their effective use of cyclical modified repetition, perfectly framed split screens or just that pendulum of disappointment and elation she swings on, you find yourself buying into the budding relationship.

STEP, CLAP, GO! BY OPENING CEREMONY

Take 5 parts Bronx based Bad News Step Team, add reissued dresses from the Target GO Collective design programme, get Opening Ceremony’s Bruce Thierry Cheung to mix them together and you wind up with a stompingly great alternative approach to showcasing clothes. I suggest you also take a peak at these great b&w behind the scenes stills too.