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Analyzing Fashion Film As a New Genre and New Medium of Representation

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Analyzing Fashion Film As a New Genre and New Medium of Representation DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit Fashion tells a Story - Analyzing Fashion Film as a New Genre and New Medium of Representation verfasst von Verena Grünberger, Bakk.phil. angestrebter akademischer Grad Magistra der Philosophie (Mag.phil.) Wien, 2013 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 343 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Diplomstudium Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreut von: ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Monika Seidl Acknowledgments First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Monika Seidl, who has not only given me the opportunity to write this thesis on a topic I am passionate about, but also contributed a great amount of input. Her patience, guidance, motivation and constructive criticism made it possible to work on this project freely and efficiently. Secondly, I am also endlessly grateful to my best friends who have always been there for me and inspired me with their motivation and ambition. I would like to thank them for their priceless and unconditional friendship. Finally, I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents and brother. Without their financial and emotional support none of this would have been possible and I am forever grateful to them for having me sent on this journey and walking with me. Vienna, February 2013 Table of contents 1 Introduction - The phenomenon of the fashion film ....................................................2 1.1 Theories and approaches for analyzing fashion film …...........................................................3 1.2 Influences on the hybrid genre of fashion film …....................................................................7 2 (Re)presentation and promotion of fashion so far......................................................11 2.1 The fashion show…...............................................................................................................13 2.2 Photography – the traditional and prestigious form of communication…..............................25 2.3 Art and advertising in the fashion film - convergence and undefined boundaries…..............33 2.4 The internet and social media as a platform ….....................................................................42 3 A new genre is born within the field of fashion – towards a definition.....................46 3.1 The medium of film for fashion…...........................................................................................48 3.2 Film forms influencing the phenomenon of fashion film….....................................................55 3.3 Mise-en-scène …..................................................................................................................65 3.3.1 The close-up, framing and editing in fashion film …......................................................68 3.3.2 The forms and functions of sound in fashion film….......................................................79 4 The role of dress and clothing in fashion films..........................................................84 4.1 Who is responsible for dressing the characters in fashion film? ….......................................85 4.2 Clothing and details in fashion film make the characters…...................................................86 4.3 Fashion as the driving force: how clothes unfold into storyline…..........................................97 5 Conclusion: Towards a definition of the genre fashion film ...................................102 6 Bibliography..................................................................................................................107 6.1 Secondary Sources…..........................................................................................................107 6.2 Primary Sources …..............................................................................................................110 Table of figures...............................................................................................................................114 Abstract........................................................................................................................................115 Curriculum Vitae...........................................................................................................................116 1 1 Introduction - The phenomenon of the fashion film At present, the genre of fashion film is beginning to develop and is constantly gaining acceptance as well as importance within the field of fashion after the medium of photography has been utilized as a means of visual communication for fashion for more than a century now. Fashion film can be characterized as an innovative hybrid form with an alliance of art and fashion within the medium of film and is seen as a new genre as well as a global hybrid form (Scorzin 1). The internet can be identified as a reason for the increasing popularity of this new genre and it opens the exclusive field of fashion to a global audience. However, academic discussion as well as scholarly research has remained limited, since the genre is currently in the process of development and influenced by numerous other genres. This also manifests itself in the fact that no unique term or label has been given to this new form and similar expressions such as fashion film, fashion campaign film, digital fashion film or fashion video are used in equal ways. However, in the course of this paper the term fashion film will be used and applied since it appears to constitute the most neutral form. It becomes clear that the definitions and boundaries of fashion film can still be described as indistinct. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to analyze the genre of fashion film focusing on distinctive features and characteristics and to establish a general definition for different types of this form that might appear. To begin with, the most obvious research questions leading the investigation are the following: What are the basic features and characteristics of fashion films? What do most of them have in common and what differentiates them? Which leads to another research question: What subtypes or -categories can be distinguished? For the analysis of a new genre it is also important to ask: When, how and why did this phenomenon start? Which other genres have an impact on fashion films? How can fashion films be placed within the wider field of fashion? Since fashion is the main subject matter of these films the area of interest also expands into the question of how fashion and clothing itself is portrayed in these films? In order to define the genre comprehensively another significant issue is of concern: What is the general content of fashion films and do they follow a common plot or storyline? Based on this range of research questions as well as on the previous information the main hypothesis for this thesis is the following: Fashion films constitute a hybrid genre that fuses aesthetics, ways of representation and forms of expression originating from other fields such as fashion, photography, art, advertising and film. 2 As far as the research method is concerned, it can be stated that it is necessary to make use of a number of tools for analysis, since little to no original research has been conducted before. Thus, a combination of established tools and concepts from cultural studies in general, fashion theory as well as film analysis will be utilized. The analysis will be applied to a wide range of data, consisting of different forms of fashion films, in order to examine the genre comprehensively. Different types of fashion film will be incorporated in the process of establishing the genre definition for fashion films. 1.1 Theories and approaches for analyzing fashion film As already mentioned above the analytical and methodological framework for this paper and the analysis of the phenomenon of the fashion film is premised in cultural studies. As for cultural studies as a discipline it can be stated that the boundaries can not be demarcated as accurately as those of other academic fields of study. Neither definite methodology nor areas of interest for investigation have been clarified completely within this field. However, cultural studies can be defined as the study of contemporary culture and traditionally, larger forms like literature or specific texts or images are studied critically (During 1). For this paper both of these areas are of interest, since it is absolutely essential to investigate unique examples of images and texts in order to define the genre of fashion film as a larger form. The rather vague definition of cultural studies as the study of contemporary culture leaves the possible investigation open to various approaches, which means that cultural images and specifically texts can be analyzed from different perspectives focusing on semiotic, feminist, sociological, aesthetic, psychoanalytic, mythical, symbolic, historical, ethical, Marxist, biographical or rhetorical aspects. The analysis of a cultural product or text can always include one, two or even more of these various approaches (Berger 20). Since the objective here is to dissect the genre of fashion film in its entirety it is indispensable to regard and incorporate as many vantage points as possible. In consideration of this approach it is also worth mentioning that cultural products themselves appear rather complex nowadays as they cross key boundaries and separations; and society has been witnessing the erosion of the dated distinction between high and low culture, also called mass or popular culture.
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