Rosstein Clothing - Design Presentation

Our demographic for the clothing line ranges from age 13 to age 25. Our commercial specifically targeted college age and older, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't find the clothes on the middle and high school ages as well.

Proposal:

Varian, 24, is an art student at Dixie State University. Varian likes to longboard, and uses that as his method of transportation across Dixie's campus. Varian has a laid-back style. He usually buys his clothing from websites he finds online or through social media. Varian uses Instagram, blog sites, and twitter to display his art. He also uses these social media sites to keep up with friends and check out new trends and anything related to longboarding.

Ivy, 14, is very interested in music. She likes to sing herself, but also spends a lot of time listening to all the different genres and talent out there. Ivy recently moved to St. George, Utah and hasn't met a lot of people yet. She came from a rainy area in the northwest, so she likes to be outside as much as she can to enjoy the pleasant weather. Her taste in clothes is varied, much like her music, but she makes it her own style by cutting them all to her own liking.

Devante, 19, is a football player at Dixie State University. Devante likes to run to stay fit, and prefers to do so on Dixie's beautiful campus. Devante has a lot of friends from the team and his classes. He uses social media sites to keep up with them all. Devante prefers to dress nice, he'll only be seen in sweats while exercising. Devante likes to watch t.v., or stream shows online in his down time, as well as with friends.

Wardrobe:

I was also in charge of wardrobe for this project, but minus a shipment of clothing we couldn't work with the color scheme of our choice, so we fell back on to the idea that the clothing is free-style and it wouldn't have to be limited anyway! To stay true to that idea we asked the models to come dressed according to their own style and then incorporated the clothing into their outfits accordingly.

Varian wore a casual black R Forever shirt with tan corduroy pants and blue and skate shoes. He later added the black Brain Power hoodie to this same outfit.

Picture by: Terrence Jones

Picture by: Terrence Jones

Devante wore the grey Brain Power hoodie with gym shorts and athletic shoes, then later changed into the red Rosstein shirt with some nice blue jeans and the black Rosstein bucket hat.

Picture by: Terrence Jones

Picture by: Terrence Jones

CJ wore the black Rosstein shirt with casual black shorts, black sneakers and a black baseball cap. 

Picture by: Terrence Jones

Ivy cut a maroon Rosstein tee into a cut off shirt and wore it with the black Brain Power joggers and black Converse. She later changed into shorts and the black Rosstein hockey jersey. 

Picture by: Terrence Jones

Picture by: Terrence Jones

Our artifact:

We shot a 0:54 second commercial around the campus of the models modeling the clothes in different activities to give the message the Rosstein is for everybody. I worked on color correction, sound design, and cutting for the video along with Kassi and Terrence. 

Color Correction: I used contrast to offset the logos on the clothing. In the start of the video there were a lot of cool tones since we shot this during the golden hour. I reversed this just a tad bit to play more on the sunlight. This also helped the skin tones to appear more warm from their activities. While shooting inside the building I had to stay true to the lighting we were presented with, but do all I could to make the models not look like the Simpsons. Some of the shots were in a place where the lighting was to bright and it shadowed the models, so the best I could do with the software I was using was find a nice balance without the whites blowing your eyes out! Then last was our shot outside, luckily we had enough lighting from the building to work with here (thank you large windows) that the real focus, the logo on the back of Ivy's shirt, stood out in great contrast to the black of her shirt. As for other corrections, I couldn't do much with saturating the images that were inside the building, but the shots outside took to saturation nicely!

Sound design: Kassi is the one who chose the song, we agreed we wanted to have something that would allow us to intercut messages into the intro of the video while giving us a nice cut for our sequences. The song is OCD- I Got It. I laid the song to the video and cut the sequences to match the rythym, and did a basic cut on the music so that we had better sound to work with. Following this I think it was Terrence who went in and further cut the song together (which he did far more seamlessly than I had LOL!). As for sound effects, this video didn't constitute any.

Cutting: Kassi sorted through the footage and laid down our base sequence, which didn't change much throughout our further editing except to match the music. She got together our best material and trimmed and lengthened the clips as needed to show the best camera work. I only messed with the sequence just a tad bit, and a few lengths and durations of the clips. Terrence inserted in our mission statement and is the one who got our final product to look as put together as it did!

Overall I thought we put a good amount of work into producing this video, and I was very happy with the finished product.

Mise-en-scene: Edward Scissorhands

The story of Edward Scissorhands is one that speaks directly to the heart, or to mine at least. Among a perfectly manicured, suburban neighborhood is a gothic mansion atop a spooky looking hill. In the neighborhood we meet the gossipy-housewives, concerned with perfection and entertainment. Atop the spooky hill we meet a young boy who has a freaky attire, scissors for hands, and a big heart. The story explores how outward appearances do not say anything for what's inside someone or something, and is done so in the signature way of Tim Burton. That is to say, with his favorite cast, musical score, production design, and a fantastical/gothic theme.

Art Direction

The art director is in charge of the overall look of a film and how it visually communicates to its audience. The art director of Edward Scissorhands is Tom Duffield. What Duffield was able to pull of with this movie is incredible. Of course it goes without saying that it was the work of a lot of people, but the way everything came together for the final look was absolutely stunning.

There's the iconic contrast of the dark gothic mansion on an unkempt hill and the pristine, pastel homes with bright green lawns.

Our next visual treat is when Peg (Dianne Wiest) steps through the gates and is standing amidst a lawn that has seen more upkeep than any below it, and is far more beautiful. The state of the yard comes as a shock set against the colorless, unkempt mansion.

Stepping into the mansion then, stays true to what we'd expect and it's all spider webs and gothic statues. Added to that is the leftover machinery and work of the deceased inventor/father (Vincent Price) that looks reminiscent of voodoo dolls to me- the parts that Edward (Johnny Depp) was thought up from.

Once we head up the stairs where Peg first meets Edward we are treated to a plain wooden attic with a large gaping hole in the ceiling which you can imagine yourself lying under to star gaze at night, or sun bathe under-during the right hours of the day, of course.

Here we see the sad makeshift bed of the abandon boy, complete with a shrine of magazine clippings and news articles that relate to Edwards disconformities. After that we get another stark contrast in the film, and that is Edward's appearance compared to Peg's. Frankenstein meets the Stepford wife. 

All in all an extraordinary visual experience! The context underlying the look of this movie makes it the great film that it is. Excellent work by both Tom Duffield and Tim Burton.

Compose Your Frame

This isn't my own image, but I chose this image because I think it definitely has the tic-tac-toe grid of the rule of thirds. The eye is immediately drawn to the sun shining in the top right hand cross section. The rays of the sun then lead your eyes either down to the right, which serves as an index vector leading your eye out of the frame. Or it leads your eyes down to the left which then meets a motion vector (the road) that takes your eyes either beyond the scene, or can take them up to the graphic vectors of the trees that grab your eyes and lead them up to the lighter part of the image.

Favorite Director

I've always been more of a reader than a movie watcher, but that's not to say that I don't appreciate movies just as much. I'm just certainly more apt to picking up a book than I am to turning on a film. Therefore as far as movies go I could pick a few directors to talk about, but not having seen all of their work, I don't think I should. Instead I'll talk about an up and coming filmmaker named Karim Huu Do, who has directed a series of, in my opinion, prestigious short films.

What first turned me on to Karim Huu Do was his work on the short film Pure for the rap collective Last Night In Paris.

I took instantly to his vision. Most of his work contains a touch of surrealism (which is part of what I love most about him), and every aspect of the filming is very distinct to his own personal, dare I say, vibe. I would describe it as intensely quiet. In some of my favorite films, he uses the music of his subjects strategically to create sort of an intense behind the scenes music video. The filming is exquisite and the artists he works with only make me admire him more. 

He most recently directed the short film Jungle for the rap artist Drake.

Design Presentation: Beats vs. Skullcandy

I am going to compare an ad for Beats by Dre featuring Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar, and an ad for Skullcandy Crusher featuring Kevin Durant and Wale.

I'll start off by just comparing the products themselves.

The Beats by Dre appear to be a luxury item. The design is sleek, I get the idea that slipping these head phones on would be akin to getting into a luxury vehicle with smooth leather seats. The logo uses the law of simplicity in the way that upon first look you identify the "b" for "beats", but then on further inspection identify that the b also represents headphones.

Now for the Crusher by Skullcandy, the design already appears more bulky and less sleek than the Beats. The name is worth mentioning for the context, the "Crusher" makes me fret about the state of my eardrums post listen, whereas the "Studios" brings to mind a elite listening session for whatever I'm about to listen to. Upon looking at the Skullcandy headphones I think more of a head set worn by pilots (and the sounds associated with pilots/planes definitely aren't appealing) than comfortable fitting, good looking listening gear. The headphones, however, aren't horrendous in looks. These headphones play more on the matte side, which can be very appealing and luxurious as well. The logo for the Skullcandy headphones uses the law of closure to depict a skull in a simple/unique form.

Now to move on to the difference in advertising technique.

The Beats by Dre ad depicts a collaboration of the well-known rapper Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre himself. Shown in the format of a sort of music video, this ad certainly uses highly credible sources. The idea of this ad proves for function, that with the headphones both Kendrick and Dre were able to pick up on what the sound that they were creating was missing (drums).

The ad for the Skullcandy headphones is a very well put together ad. In comparison to the Beats ad though, it loses its credibility somewhat. The ad uses Kevin Durant, a well known NBA star, to sell the product. In special effects you see what the experience is like for Durant, certainly a good way to pump up before a game. Then the ad ends by Durant passing the Crushers off to the rapper Wale. This adds credibility, but in the face of the collaboration of two musical masterminds, Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre, not enough.

Gestalt Theory: The Law of Pragnanz group presentation

Bette Pauling: 

Simply put, it means “good form”, it demonstrates that humans tend to organize shapes to simple forms. This means figures are seen as their simple elements instead of complicated shapes. 

This means images that are ambiguous and complex, are interpreted as simple shapes by humans. 

Pragnanz:

is symmetrical 
contains the simplest shapes possible
contains the fewest number of shapes 

An example of this is, emoticons.

8)   :] :-O 

We simplify these shapes and it is only with the other elements of Gestalt that we are able to recognize the face that is made from these simple shapes.

Kassi Gillette:

Pragnanz Exhibit/display: Reality is organized or reduced to the simplest form possible.

From this photograph of the artwork exhibit on display we quickly see two triangles and a square in between. When we actually examine it, there are many different shapes, textures, designs that are more complicated than what initially meets the eye. 

Allie Macier:

Using the domain of identity, this logo for Foodmobile cleverly plays on the law of pragnanz to represent itself and its purpose. 

Identity

At first the eye identifies the simplest shape used here, which would be a car. Following that, the eye is able to pick out the individual pieces of food that are grouped together to create the car.

Contrast, Balance, & Harmony

I decided to analyze some of the pictures I took on a recent trip to Northern California for this assignment. It was my first time visiting that part of the state & I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful it was. I often pour over pictures that are taken in places such as the ones I visited, which were Monterey, Henry Cowell State Park, Santa Cruz, Big Sur,  & McWay Falls. So naturally, I attempted to capture with my own camera (which was sadly just an iphone, as I had forgotten the batteries for my Canon) what I thought worked the best aesthetically for me. I didn't realize at the time the kind of work I would be doing in this class, but I'm really glad I have some of my own stuff to assess & learn how to improve on.

Hiking the Redwoods

The first picture I want to assess is one I took while hiking in Henry Cowell State Park. In this photo I was walking across a fallen tree that allowed me to go a little bit of the way across the San Lorenzo River running parallel to the trail. What I now realize caught my eye about this photo is the contrast between the washed out appearance of the gnarled roots below the fallen tree and the intensity of both the red/orange of the inside of the tree and the green lichen growing on and around it. I can also now identify the line of the branch beside the tree that draws the eyes to the vibrant colors there. There is certainly texture in this photo, although I think it could have been better had it not been for my iphone. The texture is there on the bark, on the lichen and even on the shiny rubber portion of my shoe. In the sense of balance I think it may work due to the intricate winding of the roots in the top right hand portion of the photo. I don't think, however, that the harmony is quite right in this particular photo.

Exploring Capitola State Beach

This next photo was taken while exploring Capitola State Beach just before sun down. I was climbing across where the beach became a cliffside, when this rock caught my eye. Many of the rocks had these same fossilized impressions on them, but this one not only had the most I'd seen, but had that one perfect impression of a Seashell in it. The texture in this picture is spot on, and I even think there's an excellent contrast between the soft, warm light and the hard shadows on the underside of the rocks. My one issue is balance. It just seems a little heavy on the right side to me, perhaps I should have went with a different angle or position.

Overlooking a little secluded beach in Santa Cruz

The last photo is a panorama shot I took while exploring Santa Cruz. In this photo, I like how the amber tones of the cliffs complement the vivid blues in the sky. I also think that I was able to capture a lot of texture in this photo. The jagged terrain at the top of the cliffs, the damp smoothness of the sand on the higher portion of the beach, the slick surface of the water receding on the sand, the white water of the waves coming in, an then the sleek surface of the water retreating into the distance. There are a lot of natural lines in this photo that drag your eye along the curve of the coast, and also the diagonal line of the concrete from the overlook that is parallel to the angle of the beach. This photo is balanced by the rising, incoming wave, the presence of the two surfboards, and the surfers standing at a memorial on the right side of the photo, with the farther reaching edge of the cliff on the left. I really think I managed to capture all of the elements in this one panorama. This is the photo that I think really works in the sense of contrast, balance, and harmony.