IDENTITY THROUGH FASHION

I decided to create a documentary on identity through fashion, driven by my passion for the intersection of art, fashion, and filmmaking. The premise of my documentary is to explore the influences, shopping habits, and design processes of young fashion enthusiasts, presented in a style directly inspired by a variety of 2000s music videos. My goal is to inspire self-expression and provide insight into the resources and approaches that empower innovative young women in the fashion world. I hope that through this exploration, young people can find unity by encouraging and embracing fashion and diversity. 

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To nurture this idea into a reality, I followed a series of stages. First, I underwent a research phase to deepen and enrich my understanding of the link between fashion and identity and to define my aesthetic vision through a combination of observational and academic research. After this, I planned the blueprints for the production, meticulously documenting shots and ensuring safe ways of working to guide my success and efficiency while considering legal and moral responsibilities. Once preparations were complete, I began an intense but exhilarating shooting phase over a couple of weeks, working with 5 participants. Finally, I edited the footage together, encompassing all that I had learned, transforming my vision into life.

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I chose to use a methodically structured approach to my research phase to ensure that I could begin with an overview of the purpose of each area I would explore and appropriately distribute my efforts in the most energy-efficient way. To do this, I started by studying the brief specifications and brainstorming areas from the general structure completed in my idea generation that I wanted to improve upon. This basic list included endeavours such as understanding the topic I was exploring, studying 2000s music videos, and investigating fashion identity theories, among other research areas. I made subheadings for these tasks I had set for myself and conducted thorough research on each using a variety of sources and research types to ensure the credibility of my information. I generally began by seeking the best resources for the information I aimed to uncover, directed to websites like Google Scholar, where academic papers are published, and Wikipedia. By accessing relevant websites, I was more easily able to find what I was looking for.

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Ultimately, my research enabled me to write a shooting script that incorporated traditional codes and conventions, such as those from poetic and participatory documentary modes, as well as innovative ideas inspired by a wide variety of media types.

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A recurring challenge I came accross during my research was my limited access to resources on specialised websites such as FashionUnited, the Fashion Institude of Technology, and certain archive reports on Google Scholar. This meant that I was restricted to less targeted research, meaning that the sources I could interpret were less relevant.

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In reflection, I am very satisfied with my approach to the research phase and I feel that it allowed me to cover the necessary areas effectively. Organising my work using a layout of subheadings minimised the risk of overlooking essential details and allowed me to plan well ahead of time, making sure I could complete a substantial scope of research in time for the beginning of production. It also helped me to maintain a balance in my efforts towards creative inspiration and academic research, as without planning, I often tend to focus on the aesthetic side of things, lacking the material data and evidential reasoning needed for my technical and theoretical decisions. 

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On the other hand, I feel that my research phase was lacking primary research. I used it minimally with a single short survey, which only provided marginal contributions and had little direct impact on my final outcome. Primary research is very important and could have improved my project in a variety of ways. For example, it provides firsthand, authentic perspectives that could increase the emotional resonance of my work with my audience. It ensures originality and gives deeper insights into my subject which would make my outcome more unique and offer it a fresher more igniting perspective for viewers.

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Reflecting on the success of my approach to conducting five interviews, I feel they went reasonably well, drawing at least one interesting insight from each participant. One of the factors I attribute to their success was the comfortability of the interview environments; I requested them to take place in the participants' own bedrooms. This familiarity eased their nerves and allowed them to quickly relax, encouraging a stream-of-consciousness style of answering rather than producing weak, awkward or rigid responses. 

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One effective technique I employed was informing my participants that we would first go through responding to the questions as a free-flowing conversation, before revisiting their answers and refining them to concise, high-quality insights. This meant when that pressure was taken off during the initial round of questioning, the participants felt more comfortable responding naturally. As a result, I often selected those confident, spontaneous answers for my final use. This method proved to be very successful, and I would definitely use it in future interviews.

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However, I faced an issue when I realised that my mum couldn't drive me to the participants' houses across Norwich with all my heavy equipment. As I drew closer to shooting the interviews, I discovered we wouldn't have the car all week, so I had to adapt my plans to rely on public transport. This alternative turned out to be absolutely exhausting and tiresome, as some participants lived a 15-minute walk from the nearest bus stop. This meant that I had to carry more equipment than I could manage, which led me to ask my friend Oli for help carrying things at the last minute for some interviews. Other times, I struggled on my own, resulting in back pain and muscle aches for the week after. This was a bit of a disaster for my health and wellbeing, however, I did not let it affect the outcome of the interviews. 

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Next time, I would set clearer limits for myself and think of alternative options, like arranging lifts with friends or relatives who drive, rather than relying solely on public transport.

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My editing process wasn't too difficult, as I could compose each of my fashion videos as individual components and didn't need to worry about narrative structure. I was able to draw inspiration from reference music videos and arrange the successful shots with minimal planning. The only drawback of this editing process was how time-consuming and stressful it was, as I was editing almost five music videos within five days.

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After this initial step, it was a straightforward process of selecting the best responses from each interview and layering them as a voiceover. This also didn't require narrative planning since my documentary was more exploratory than conclusive. I didn't struggle with choosing music because my preference for music videos influenced my selection, and I am also a fan of 2000s music, so picking a similar song for the introduction was not a difficult task.

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I gained a variety of new technical editing skills thanks to Ryan, our media technician, who assisted me. I wanted to explore creative and experimental editing techniques inspired by the music videos I watched. For example, I learned how to use keyframing for cropping and positioning shots to create a smooth intro sequence, with shots sliding into the frame and freeze-framing. 

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Another technique I used can be seen in Lisa's fashion video, where I replicated "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado. In this instance, I learned how to crop, position, and resize two shots next to each other to make them appear as two ends of a phone conversation. I really enjoyed pushing my creative boundaries in this way, as I usually keep my editing techniques straightforward and tame. This experience improved my skills in Adobe Premiere Pro and served as a stepping stone, equipping me to attempt more complex editing techniques in the future.

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After completing the first draft of my documentary, I had my tutors Cara and Gianna review it and provide me with feedback. The key things they noticed were that it lacked a conclusion at the end to summarise my key findings and success, as well as minor adjustments with sound levels. In response to this feedback, I recorded a conclusion sequence consisting of a voiceover and B-roll, discussing my key takeaways from the experience. Before showing them my draft, I already felt that it lacked a conclusion and felt incomplete finishing so bluntly, however gaining more opinions backed up these uncertainties and allowed me to gain a better understanding of my documentary's weaknesses.
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Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of my documentary, particularly its aesthetic value and engagement for viewers. However, for future projects, I would like to include a more academic reflection on my subject matter and present a valid, evidenced conclusion at the end. Although my documentary is a fun exploration of the topic in a poetic style, it isn't necessarily as factual and scientific as I may have liked. This could be achieved by making large sociological and psychological factors a more central topic of my documentary.

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In order to improve it as an academic outcome, I would plan to include a variety of professional opinions from individuals who are highly educated in the science of identity or who have achieved notable success in fashion expression. I would like to develop my skills in seeking out professional participants, preferably adults working in real-world industry environments.

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In summary, this project has taken me on a journey filled with lessons about resilience when met with setbacks, the importance of thorough preparation, and the development of technical skills in editing and conducting interviews. My key takeaway from this experience is the importance of having secure contingency plans. My options for participants decreased from nine to five during the course of the project, and transportation issues caused significant stress and fatigue, highlighting the need for a better Plan B.