How To Make An Award-Winning Fashion Film
A few years ago, I made an award-winning fashion film for a boutique fashion designer. Over the years, I’ve shared bits and pieces of this production on social media, but never the whole story. In this article, I wanted to rewind the clock to explain how we brought this Bible-inspired fashion film to life.
I’ll explain how we created all the visual effects used in this project and how the final result was screened at many fashion film festivals around the world.
Table of contents:
The Bible-Inspired concept of this fashion film
The concept for this fashion film was based on the origin story as described in the Old Testament.
In short, the story goes like this: God, a spirit hovering over a dark, watery void, creates, in the following order, light, sky, land, universe, living creatures, and humankind over six subsequential days.
My idea for this fashion film was that God would be a woman, and a female voice-over (representing Mirte) would narrate this story. As God finished creating, the voice-over would speak the tagline and complete the creation process by adding the cave-man-inspired fashion to the main character.
The fashion film visual concept
Because the bible describes the Genesis story as God hovering above the world's waters in a black void before turning on the light, it made sense to go for a setting that was as dark as possible.
To capture this concept in a visually exciting way, we were inspired by the dark and surrealistic scenes from the arthouse film 'Under the Skin.' I later discovered that this film also inspired cinematographer Tim Ives to create the black void scenes in the Netflix series 'Stranger Things.'
To display Mirte's fashion item, I was inspired by Elizabeth Swann's floating wedding dress lost at sea in the movie 'Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of The Black Pearl.'
And to suggest the idea that God was almost a Vatican-like statue that had come to life, we decided to use white body paint and a blow dryer to create a beautifully textured bodypaint layer.
the fashion film Look & feel
For the look of the Genesis film, the Cinematographer Aziz and I wanted to go for something raw and dirty and tried finding a set of vintage lenses. Luckily, via a camera rental company in Amsterdam, Aziz got his hands on the same lenses used to film the first Superman film in 1978!
Christopher Reeve, who played the man of steal, stood in front of the exact same lenses as the models in our fashion film project!
Filming the fashion film
We chose to film for two consecutive days to bring this fashion film to life. On the first day, we filmed at Schram film studios in Amsterdam, and on the second, we filmed at Spurd Leeghwaterbad in Purmerend during the night.
In the swimming pool, we had access to different pools, including one with a giant piece of underwater glass so we could film underwater shots without taking the camera in the water.
We moved in with all our gear after the pool was closed to the public. It was pretty surreal to be in a swimming pool at night. The place had something ominous. We rigged several big lights over the pool and used many theatre curtains to black out the background as much as possible.
creating Visual effects on set
Because this fashion film project included many in-camera visual effects, we did a lot of testing in the weeks leading up to the film shoot. Although some visual effects look high-end, they were super simple to create in-camera.
For example, we used a piece of metal and a grinder for the sparks, symbolizing the stars in the galaxy. The rock from the water is a garden stone on a piece of wood that we lifted out of a black pond trough via a Manfrotto extension arm.
To create bubbles in the close-up shot of the hands, we used a small hollow pipe to blow air into the black pond. The particles in the opening shot are sinking make-up glitters in a small glass fish aquarium.
To achieve the effect of the floating jacket, we used two long wooden poles and a few meters of fishing wire to hold the jacket in place underwater and prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the pool.
The smoke in the film comes from incense sticks, and (I kid you not) the sometimes wobbly camera effect is caused by a creme brulee burner next to the lens.
You gotta love movie magic!
The fashion film post-production process
After two smooth days of filming, we wrapped up the film shoot, and I jumped into the editing studio and started cutting the project. To find the right rhythm in the edit and discover what would work and what not, I used the dictaphone app on my iPhone to record myself for a temporary voice-over.
To ensure the copy of the voice-over was as close to perfect as possible, Mocro Mafia screenwriter Ashar Medina helped me create a minimal voice-over of the Bible’s Genesis story.
adding visual effects
The cool thing about filming something against a black backdrop is that you can scale the original shot as much as you like.
This meant that I could make the size of the original frame 20% of the original size, and the film set would suddenly look five times bigger! A super simple and highly effective effect, making the project look like it was filmed on massive film sets—adding lots of production value.
Adding sound and audio effects
Once the edit felt right, it was time to record the real voice-over. I knew only one person could embody a powerful female voice-over: Celine Bernaerts. So, I called Celine and convinced her to jump into the music recording studio with me.
With Celine’s voice-over in the pocket, the project hopped to the next creative force, the music composer, to help create an original score for this fashion film project. For the music, I thought it would be nice to create something inspired by Ryuichi Sakamoto’s soundtrack for the movie ‘The Revenant.’
I liked this track as an inspiration for this fashion film because the vibe perfectly emphasizes the epic, cinematic feel and vast empty void I sought. After a few weeks, Thomas delivered one hell of a score, and I could finally lock the montage.
Next, I jumped into the sound design studio with sound designer Tom Jansen, who added many deep and atmospheric sound effects inspired by storms, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, and other mother nature violence.
The post-production finishing touches.
With everything in place, the film only had one last stop before the world could have its eyes upon it—the color grading. For the finishing touch, we asked a color grading studio to jump on board, and luckily, they were more than happy to help.
For the look of the Genesis fashion film, we pulled inspiration from the works of Italian artist Caravaggio. In particular, the use of color in Caravaggio’s painting ‘David with the Head of Goliath’ was how we envisioned the look and feel of this project.
During a color grading session at the studio in Amsterdam, the color graders added the final Caravaggio touch to the project. After two months of hard work, we finally finished and released the film online.
A fashion film festival journey
Because this was a low-budget production, I knew in advance that this project wouldn't involve any marketing budget for the release. This meant that we would only be able to share the final result on the social media outlets of Mirte, me, and the crew members involved, which accumulated to just a few thousand followers.
Fashion Film Festival Journey
Being dependent on the mercy of the ever-changing social media algorithms, I knew the project's momentum would fade quickly online. So, to expand the project's lifespan and use the final result as a marketing tool for myself as much as possible, I submitted the fashion film to many fashion film festivals around the world.
To submit the fashion film to festivals, I used the platform FilmFreeway. This digital portal connects filmmakers with film festivals worldwide and makes submissions easy.
Worldwide fashion film festival screenings
In the following months, emails with those fancy official selection laurels, nominations, and award certifications kept dropping into my mailbox. On top of that, I was given free entry tickets for some festivals and traveled to Berlin, Porto, and London to attend the fashion film festivals, which was a very nice experience!
As a result of the fashion film being selected for fashion film festivals, I could constantly market and reshare the project in a new daylight, including interviews I did with the festivals, behind-the-scenes photos, and other making-of anecdotes, which helped to add extra credibility to myself and the project constantly!
Lessons learned
I think the biggest lesson I have learned from this project is that every now and then, it’s OK to do a low-budget or passion project, as long as you think about how you can leverage the final result in your favor and get it in front of as many people as you can so you can bare the fruits in the long run.
One way to expand the visibility of your project is to take the (fashion) film festival route. Still, with the rise of streaming platforms and online accessibility to almost everything, this approach might slowly fade.
In today’s market, I believe getting as many eyeballs on a project is the best thing you can get due to your efforts. Some might disagree and believe you must keep your projects private to protect them from piracy and, hopefully, find something like a distribution deal while keeping exclusivity to the festivals.
But the whole point of creating films is to get them in front of as many people as possible. So, why should you hide your work if you’re not creating a buzz around your project in a particular market?
A while ago, I wrote a blog article about another different approach that might be interesting for filmmakers to take when creating and marketing ideas.
I hope it contains a nugget of gold for you!
Frequently Asked Questions About Fashion Films (FAQs)
What is a fashion film?
A fashion film is a short video that showcases fashion and style through storytelling, cinematography, and editing.
What is the purpose of a fashion film?
A fashion film aims to promote a fashion brand or designer, showcase new collections, and create a visual narrative that conveys a fashion brand's message and values.
What are the elements of a fashion film?
A fashion film typically includes fashion garments, models, music, narrative, lighting, and cinematography. It also features creative direction and styling.
What are the different types of fashion films?
Different types of fashion films exist, such as brand, editorial, and campaign films. Brand films showcase the brand's values and mission. Editorial films are inspired by editorial photography and showcase the designer's vision. Campaign films promote new collections or products.
Who creates fashion films?
Fashion films are created by fashion brands, designers, filmmakers, and production companies.
How long are fashion films?
Fashion films can vary but are typically between 1 and 10 minutes long.
Where can I watch fashion films?
Fashion films are on various platforms, including the brand's website, social media channels, and fashion film festivals.
What is the impact of fashion films on the fashion industry?
Fashion films have become essential to fashion marketing and have transformed how fashion is presented to audiences. They offer a new way of showcasing fashion garments and creating emotional connections with viewers.
Are fashion films only for high-end fashion brands?
No, fashion films can be created by fashion brands of all levels and budgets. With the rise of social media, even small fashion brands and independent designers can create and share fashion films to promote their brands.
