Eleanor Cross

The brand that my group was given was Emily Bode. Within our 30-second promotion video, we tried to convey Bodes stylistic aesthetic of nature and how she uses recycled materials to create new garments. Our first idea was to have our promotion video filmed in a studio, with a white backdrop, with a few vintage props included in the background (an old lamp or record player for example), and the model in the foreground wearing vintage, recycled clothing. This idea was very much inspired by how Bode promotes her clothing, with simplistic backgrounds and little colour, so that the attention is drawn to the colourful outfits rather than the shoot setting. We wanted a diverse selection of models, so that the brand could be more inclusive, adapting Bodes original luxury menswear brand, and evolving it to cater to more people as a unisex brand, highlighted by the diversity of the models used within the advertising.
Due to the current unfortunate circumstances, we had to change our whole concept and try to create a video that best connoted Bodes themes of nature, sustainability and re-invigoration. We all decided that the best way to do this was to all gather our own videos of nature, for instance, a video of the sky, the birds or the trees in the wind. It could be anything that we thought best conveyed Bodes aesthetic. We wanted the nature to reflect how she makes her clothes sustainably to help protect nature and the planet. Once everyone sent in their videos, one member of our group edited the videos together for the final product. We chose the camera effect to be VHS, as it visualises Bodes traditional vintage aesthetic and adds a warm tone to the video, to help brighten and colour the clips. We also included bird sounds and calming music in the background to really enhance the theme of nature but also to highlight the core values of the brand, focusing on the sanctity of nature, which is what is aimed to be protected by using sustainable materials.
This project has helped me develop my team-working skills, preparing me for the future. I have learned how to listen to people and work as a collaborative with other people, to create an outcome together. Its also helped me understand the importance of each individual member and how everyone has an huge impact on the project, for example, if one member doesn’t turn up to lectures or meetings, the whole group will get set back and it could affect the timing and the design process of the whole project. It helped me understand the importance of attendance and taking part, otherwise, there is no team.

Video link:
https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/3edc81f2-daef-49d0-909e-65f60cfe22ec

While studying the better lives themes and working with other students to produce a project outcome, I have learnt skills that I can use and apply in the future. I enjoyed working with a diverse group of people who are studying a range of courses, as different and individual skills and qualities were combined in order to produce the best outcome possible. This meant that varying levels of expertise in different areas could be included in the project, not only to showcase individual talents, but to create an outcome that demonstrates a combination of everyone’s opinions, ideas and abilities. Working as a team helps you think wider and more outside the box, as it allows different perspectives and ways of thinking and can be used to generate and spark more ideas.

Taking part in this project with other students is useful in gaining experience working as a team for future scenarios in the professional industry, that may involve collaborating with others to create something, for example, a Hollywood film. It is important to note the difference in roles and responsibilities within the group, for instance, your role maybe to do the performers makeup, but you will still be working alongside a director, set designers, costume designers (to name a few) to discuss ideas. Communication with other members of the group is imperative to piece every production link together, as well as to analyse and evaluate determining aesthetic aims success. Getting feedback from other members also helps to edit and perfect your outcomes, which leads to future improvement.

This project has also helped me build my team working skills. This is important because in the future, teamwork is essential for any production and its important to learn how to work with, listen to and be patient with other people. If you have not developed these skills, you may struggle to work as a team, which could cause issues within the group, affecting the overall outcome of the project. Encouragement and active attempts at full involvement and inclusion will enable members to feel comfortable and confident in voicing their opinions, so that everyone can contribute. This therefore means everyone’s ideas can be considered and applied to the final outcome.

Throughout the lecture, I learned the importance of the actions we take as humans and the huge impact that they have on the planet. Because of our actions, we have a limited amount of time to help the planet we live on, so we must think of new ways to renew and reuse materials in order to prevent us from using all the Earth’s resources. The story of what is estimated to have happened on the island Rapa Nui (Easter island) in the south Pacific Ocean, is the perfect example of the huge impact of humans have on the climate. When the island was discovered in the 19^th century, it was abandoned, but had six-metre-tall statues dotted across the island, suggesting that humans had occupied there before. Researchers estimate that trees were cut down in order to move those statues, which were used for spiritual and tribal practice, eventually leading to crops dying and therefore, the inhabitants dying out also. This story helps us realise the importance of our actions and that we need to save and renew the earths resources rather than use and abuse them, because if we use them all, we will destroy all nature and humanity.

The fashion industry is very dependent on nature for many things, such as, for the resources of material for products and it is the enabler of fashion. It’s important, especially in the fashion industry, to think carefully about the choices we make. We need to think about how we can produce fashion items out of natural and synthetic materials while at the same time, protect the earth from damage. This got me thinking about how you could used reused and recycled materials to create new garments and still make it ‘fashionable’ and ‘trendy’. I think its important to get the attention of adolescents and young adults in the renewal of clothes and how, by just buying and wearing recycled clothes, a massive impact can be made on the Earth’s environment. Its important for the younger generation to get involved with helping save the planet because its their future that will be affected by climate change and will continue to deteriorate if nothing is done now. Hopefully by getting more young people involved, it will help spread awareness and get more people interested in making a change and improving our future.

We not only have to take responsibility for ourselves, as a humanity, and the impact we have on the climate, but we also must consider who we share the planet with, such as animals and plants. We need to pay attention to the effect global warming has on animals and their habitats and how this affects their ecosystems. For example, the human acts of deforestation and intensive agriculture cause a decline in insect populations, which affects the growth of nature and animal environments/ habitats and threatens the collapse of nature. The earths future is dependent on us and it in our hands to do something about it now while we still can.

References:

Fletcher, K. (2020) ‘Nature’ [Lecture]. Better lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February.

https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=400921  ( accessed:15/04/2020), Arts Moodle.