A friend of one of the fp girls made the May catalog video (see the previous entry) and it turned out so amazing, we wanted to share a little about his process and inspiration. Here is what Ram had to say about his work on the project.
"Carrie (fp creative director) first sent me a 3-4 minute cut done there with music and everything. I used that footage and grabbed stills from it I liked compositionally and took them into Photoshop to create color boards. The whole idea was to create a dreamy feel for the video. This is something I like to incorporate into a lot of what I do.
My background is illustration, specifically in concept art and matte painting, which is basically just creating images which don't actually exist, but could in a potential fantasy world. The boards showed how far I'd like to push the piece. From there, David Bokser and I requested more footage. I scrubbed through it and found everything I liked and then we started on the final edit. I also knew I wanted it to end with "Free People" written in the clouds. I also spent a good bit of time going through the footage to find frames of the behind the scenes people and even some other interesting shots and treated them with texture and color for the "flicker" shots through the whole piece. I'll post some of the favorites on my website once the video is released.
The choice of music was difficult at first. When Carrie initially brought up the possibility of doing this I had some music in mind that reminded me of the drive down the Pacific Coast Highway (where Big Sur is). I really wanted to use a certain track, but I didn't want that to dictate the mood. I wanted the clothing and the models to be first. When Dave played me the piano track, I was hesitant at first to let go of what I originally wanted but after a few listens and some changes I enjoyed it more and more and felt it was fitting.
I really love Free People. Is that weird for a guy to say? :) I think maybe the cute models have something to do with it. Ha, no really, what I love most about FP is the use of textures, patterns, and color. I am one to always incorporate texture and rich color into what I do. I think the clothing just looks great, it has a vintage flare to it but very modern and stylish. Another quality I really love is how the inspirations for the trend come from around the world. I'd love to do a photoshoot for Free People on location and create a catalog and video.
The creative inspiration question... always a tough one. A while back, Kara (from fp) introduced me to a photographer, Tim Walker, whose work I'd seen before but now that I knew the name I fell in love with the work when I saw an entire gallery of it altogether. His work, alongside a slew of fashion photographers, have been really inspirational. I've actually come up with some photo shoots of my own that I hope to start working on soon. A huge director inspiration for me these days has been Bruno Aveillan. His video for Louis Vuitton is incredible and his cinematography is practically flawless. In the future I'd love to come on set and shoot the videos for Free People as a more narrative piece that incorporates the clothing as the showcase."
The music is by an artist named Michael David Crawford. Ram said "We basically wanted something dreamy and devoid of words so we could focus on the visuals. I do love piano and want desperately to learn to play. :) Originally the piece was going to incorporate an E.E. Cummings poem I really liked, but after the edit and visual effects were done, we were really happy with it and didn't want to detract from what we already had."
Meet our intern Pruitt! She is doing an awesome job helping out with the blog to bring you more nuggets from the FP home office. Check out these videos while Pruitt interviews people on the streets and asks, "Do you know what Free People is?" And check out her shopping trip.
We've updated our youtube page with a few new videos you haven't seen before, so go there to see them all...
FP President, Meg recently bought a puppy from a lovely young girl in Canada named Sherry. Sherry's other passion happens to be Gypsy Vanner horses, and their story is pretty neat, so we thought we'd share. Sherry explained to Meg that Gypsy Vanner horses were used by the gypsy people to pull their caravans. They are one of the rarest horses in North America. There are only 2 breeders in all of Ontario but they are more popular in the states. Check out this youtube video Sherry made for some more info...
Today the Free People design team received the sales samples for the end of summer and fall. This is the first time the designers see their creations as they will look when you see them at the store. This is after a long process of hand made samples, drawings, fittings and revisions. Still ahead there will be meetings with even more revisions and changes to get down to the most amazing pieces for the final line. Hope you like them just as much as our designers do when they hit the stores!
Did you notice our new "video" button? The Caravan of Curiosities is now the place to check out Free People catalog videos. We have all the past videos posted since May, in case you missed any...
Fellow FP girl reccomended this event and I thought it highly appropriate now that we have a store in Austin!
Check out Stitch 2007 on November 10th, and get tickets because they sell out! Indie craft fair and fashion show goin on, so go and support the community. The money raised benefits the Stitch Grant awarded for Indie and Craft Upstarts. Woohoo.
A friend of FP, Julia Pott, made this great film about your first crush. It reminds me of our Old Loves concept from last fall. It was all about clothes inspired by old boyfriends. (That was pre-blogging days, but you might remember the catalog or our video)
I received a reader complaint about the abundance of videos on the blog. I hope you're enjoying them. You'd tell me if you weren't, right?
Check out this video one of our readers suggested in a comment. The haunting beauty of the video reminded her of our Dark Fairy theme. It's beautiful and just a bit creepy... Thanks for sharing Conni!
Check out the trailer for the latest issue of Fly, the magazine of fashion on film. I love the auditions! I wish I could rent Fly DVDs at my neighborhood video store...
I came across this beautiful video trailer for the film "1960's Butterfly Girl" by designer/artist Susan Cianciolo. I wish the entire 10 minute film was on youtube, but now at least I know to keep my eye out for a live screening. Looks amazing, right? Have any of you seen this in it's entirety?
Check out this rather beautiful video of floating fabrics above Copenhagen's harbor. Produced by Danish textile company, Kvadrat, I found it on Lena Corwin's blog. I love the contrast of the organically flowing fabrics with the industrial surroundings...
So we received this anonymous comment on one of the August catalog postings...
"I think you guys should do a write up in the blog on how to tie scarves! There are so many new beautiful scarves in stock now and there put on the models in such a neat way, I would love to know how its done."
What a great idea! Some girls from our creative team made this little video for you, with one of our web stylists showin how it's done. Enjoy!
Found this posted over on notcot.com and it totally made me laugh, so I wanted to share. I'm definitely going to think of this video the next time something goes ridiculously wrong with my computer.
I checked out prada.com and browsed their production videos. It looks like a bunch of fashion scientists working in a lab! They all wear white coats and work like robots. I like the way they put the videos together and the text running along the bottom. It's worth checking out, Prada fan or not...
We get a million girls asking how we cast our models. Well here it is, from our team that holds the castings...
about every 2 or 3 months, we at free people host a model casting to check out new faces for our upcoming web and catalog shoots. we start by contacting modeling agencies - usually based in new york - and ask them to send girls to our showroom.
then, for anywhere from 4 to 6 hours on a given day, we'll sit and meet with whoever visits.
the girls (and once in a while, guys) bring their comp cards for us to view...these cards usually show 4 or 5 photos, along with the models' measurements, contact info for the agency who represents them, etc.
and then we'll flip through their portfolios...
it gives us a chance to see their versatility, how they've been styled in the past, what magazines they've appeared in...
and then we'll snap a few pix of our own, which we usually take back to philadelphia and look at with our bosses before deciding who we want to hire!
we get a lot of emails from folks who want to model for us...
we love your enthusiasm to work with free people! but, please know that we use only models from those agencies who we've contacted.
if you're interested in modeling, feel free to contact a local agency; or, look some up in the bigger cities - new york, los angeles, miami - and they can help you get started!
Have you seen this? French musician Camille's video for her song "Ta Douleur". Check out a little blurb from wikipedia...
"This album incorporated an avant-garde concept - a string, or thread ("le fil"), which was a drone that persisted throughout the entire course of the album. All of the songs in this album are based on the exploration of the voice, with only a double bass or double bass and keyboard as accompanying instruments."
Urban Outfitters Inc. has a building called 543 in the Navy Yard that is the center of employee life. This building is shared by the three brands and is also open to the public. 543 houses our restaurant/cafeteria, gym, yoga studio, coffee shop, and magazine shop among other things. Since it is a space the employees visit so often, we thought it would be a great place to set up an art gallery to display the artwork or collections of the employees. Our company is filled with creative people and we want to showcase all of their hidden talents...
So to kick it off, Free People employee Kris Chau set up a show of her art work with her best friend Brielle. You might recognize Chau's style from a few illustrations that have been posted on the blog. Check out the video of Kris and Brielle and the gallery opening, and Kris Chau's website!!
Check out this short film by Nick Knight. Caught on video during a photoshoot he did for Visionaire, it reminds me of the way we make the "behind the scenes" FP videos. Ice Cream, however, doesn't look very behind the scenes at all, just very beautiful.
Two of our Free People designers were just in India vistiting one of our factories. Our friends at the factory prepared a special Holi celebration for them, as they were leaving the country on the day of Holi. This is known as the "festival of colors" celebrating the start of Spring as well as marking ancient religious events. As they dance, they cover each other in colored powders, symbolically letting go of their differences while they wash each other in this color. So check out the video, it looks like the girls had an incredible experience!
On a side note, you'll see a lot more info about India in the next week. Who's ready for the new FP catalog?
"Table the label and wear your own name." It seems Mr. T was supporting DIY fashion way back in the 80's. This video featuring styling advice from the man in chains is a gem... I promise you will laugh out loud.
Refinery 29 currently features Antony (singer of Antony and the Johnsons) in their "hot for" section. Refinery 29 is the BEST New York shopping guide. They map out every great boutique and are on top of every opening of cool new stores. I highly recommend checking out the site before your next shopping romp through NY.
In addition to shopping and fashion, the site features other cultural info, which brings us back to Antony. Their feature reminded me of this amazing video Nick Knight did a while back. ( The above photo is from the film) The video is posted on Nick's fashion broadcasting site SHOWstudio. The video is sooo beautiful and such a simple concept...
Okay, so this is our first go at video on the blog. Try clicking here if it's not working well. (It's skippy, but then other times I open it, it plays perfectly.)This little movie was for a meeting at the home office to inspire and reinforce the idea that there is this certain "Free People girl" that we are constantly thinking about when we design. And even though there is this "girl", she really is a combination of everyone that works to make Free People a reality. A part of that girl lives within all of us...
The film was made in our office and our surrounding environment, the picturesque Navy Yard in Philly.
So if anyone has any tips on posting video, helpful comments would be much appreciated!
