Dancer
3 min | Fashion Film
A treatment by Steven Phillips
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Contents
Introduction
The Idea
The Ecosystem
Our Approach
The Characters
Casting & Styling
Visuals
The Product
Cinematography
Art department
Audio
The Story
Storyboards
Post Production
Introduction
Hi there, I’m Steven. I’m stepping out from anonymously art directing in-house creative teams for the last 20 years to present some film ideas that I’ve had in mind for months, maybe years now.
This treatment is for a high fashion seasonal collection release film.
While it will still have the production values of an commercial piece, we wont have the budget of a commercial deliverable. To achieve commercial quality on an independent’s budget, we’ll need to establish a clear creative framework.
This treatment steps out the key requirements so a plan of attack can be structured with whomever comes on board.
The Idea
This film is a “Fashion Film” through and through.
No real narrative, so it relies heavily on a well chosen soundtrack, mood, pacing, editing and color grading.
If we’re aiming high, this is a Dior film. Sequins, organza, silk. Avant-garde hair and makeup, bare feet and ballet flats.
Our characters dance their hearts out, hitting abstract poses that Coco Rocha would envy at key moments where strobe lighting flashes for a still frame.
By using slow shutter speeds for these frozen moments we get artistically blurred images that capture the energy of the dancing.
The Mood
Our Approach
There are 3 main spaces we inhabit, all of them are most likely just a big cyclorama backdrop of varying colors in reality, but they appear to the viewer as a dark space, a bright space and a neutral space.
The Dark Space
A steel blue background, matte, like leather or charcoal. Our dancers are fair skinned and wear higher sheen garments to catch the light from some big umbrellas and softboxes.
The Bright Space
An almost blown out white background, it bounces a lot of light back toward the camera. Front ambient light is flagged off to give our darker skinned dancers more of a silhouetted appearance. They wear more sheer clothing, matte, textured pieces. A well placed portrait light source catches their eyes as the bounced light does the rest.
The Neutral Space
Here the space is a warm peachy mid tone, used for a ‘middle eight’ moment in the song. The clothing here is heavily sequinned, sharp direct lighting from behind hits the dresses and throws mirror ball reflections around the room. The dancing here is slower and slinkier, we play with the light and more unusual camera angles.
The Characters
We could use as little as 3 characters with one for each space, or if the budget is big, we would use 8 and have 3 in each of the Dark and Bright rooms, and 2 for the Neutral.
Diversity is key, in skin tone, body type, gender presentation. The dancing isn’t Swan Lake, I’m thinking much more Disco Fever meets 90s Pop, big bold moves, a strut, a shimmy, a glance back over the shoulder as they hit those iconic poses.
The hair is slicked back or tied back, earrings, nose rings, bracelets will make things pop.
Casting & Styling
Here’s a little gathering of the type of faces I have in mind, but this is in no way definitive.
Visuals
Some exploration for framing will need to be done, but this is feeling to me like a 4:3 or 1:1 look… medium format feel, vintage lenses, warm and grainy.
I assume the idea of shooting on 16mm film would be a good conversation to have, as we’ll get the blurred shutter speed effects I’m after, and some of that wonderful variation in exposure and pops of brightness that comes from vintage equipment.
We’ll want the camera to be moving, but not shaking or too hand held. Perhaps a steady cam or similar, so the operator can track and move with the characters without losing too much focus.
The Product
Without knowing who the end client might be, and aiming high, let’s assume this a seasonal release for Dior, or Galliano’s next collection for Margiela with a return to the romance and eccentricity of his Dior era.
Dresses, pretty clothes, with a peachy pink hue to the collection as a whole.
Art Department
The sets could be either basic solid backdrops, but if the clothing is a little less complex and intricate then there’s an option to create some monochrome props to fill the frame.
If we go that direction then think 2001 Space Odyssey, Versailles… vintage old world panelling, ornate furniture, but 100% drenched in the one singular hue and tone. The varying levels of reflectivity and some shadows are how we read the room, not through color or contrast.
Audio
The song will be key here. It’s either an absolute classic that most people know and love - think Wham, Madonna, Sly and the Family Stone, or a custom composed piece that mashes up or remixes something familiar.
It’s a heavily trafficked area though, so a lot of thought will need to be applied here. Spike Jonze and Tarantino always manage to re-animate an under appreciated vintage tune or breathe new life into a oddball song, so that’s the aim here.
Storyboards
Post Production
This one should be mostly an editing task. If it turns out that we try to do it animated then there’ll be a bunch of post work needed to get it to feel suitably vintage.
We can add light leaks, lens flares etc. but with restraint.
It should feel like it was made using vintage gear, but not faulty vintage gear.