Orange Fashion Shoot

The Class Assignment

Create a fashion brand, use a real studio, and time the music beat with edit. This felt as real as it gets. We were given a budget of $100. Team members sourced 2 models who are MSU students, and we had a limited time filming on set. We had to plan to execute.

Where was this?

This was an advertising project at Michigan State University. We had to pick roles, so that we could move well as a team. I led the vision and directing.

What Feeling Is "Orange"?

I want viewers to feel "orange" as energetic, high status/upper class, and bold.

We used body language and themes to make this happen

• Serious faces = Mature

• Abstract oranges = Energetic

• Heavy color emphasis + abstract/magic in editing = Bold

The key is to show, don't tell.

On-Set Dilemma

What do I do? Do both.

During filming, we did not know how we should transition their clothes from white to orange. So we decided to film both a jump cut (easy and reliable) and a couch spinning transition (hard), just so we had more footage as a safety net.

In the end, you don't know exactly how the editing will go, so having more footage to work with is always better than less.

Camera Failure

The worst thing happened.

Many of the videos from my camera were blurry and grainy. This was because the auto-focus failed. And worse, those shots were a major part of the storyboard! There was no re-filming. How could I salvage this?

Repurpose and lean into it.

I leaned into the grainy look by making a section of the video more lo-fi and stylized. You also probably heard the song muffled in that portion. That is NOT a part of the song. I muffled it to create that feeling.

Break up the sameness.

Doing this enhanced the video by adding visual interest, like an accented wall in a home. I was actually glad that happened, otherwise I would have never attempted to stylize it in that way.

Results

This is one of my favorite videos. You can feel the energy.

I believe, through music, themes, and visuals, we created a high-energy brand that makes people feel excited.

Funny Note: The music's base and beat are important to feel the intensity, and I knew the sound system in our classroom reduces base. To fix that, I intentionally boosted the base in the song so that everyone would hear it properly. That made for an optimal viewing experience.

What I Learned

1. Having roles is important. Up until this point I have not had a contributing team, and I would do most of the work for a project. But this time, I was able to focus on what I am best at (vision, directing), allowing us all to operate at high leverage.

2. Vision boards/visualizing is important. It gives you a form to mimic, which is something our brain is really good at. It's called mirroring.

3. Doing projects benefits everyone. The final product will give you a case study, and is proof that you can solve problems and get results. The models can add this to their portfolio. When people get together to make something, it is a win-win. You just have to see it through.

What to Do Next Time

Looking back at it now, the use of colors/flashes was good, but just a little too flashy/intense. I also must focus on picture clarity so we mitigate trashed footage.

P.S. After writing about the other projects, it is clear many of my "clarity" problems are stemming from my horrible Cannon camera. Time to faze that out!