Show Evaluations

So obviously I want to make sure that my End of Year Show and Exhibition are the most amazing that they can possibly be and land me with a million job offers straight away, and to do this I need to look at other examples to see how they have been done before. This way I can see what worked well or what was a tragic trainwreck, and decide how I want mine to be based on what I liked/didn't like about them.

The shows I've chosen to evaluate are:

- My last End of Year Show

- Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

- America's Next Top Model Cycle 7 Final Runway Show

I decided on these three because they're all to do with the fashion industry and the two fashion shows have a very similar layout to the End of Year Show, in that the catwalk is seen by the audience both from the side and at the front, so the looks need to work from all angles. I chose to use last year's EOYS because I feel it went really well but there are some things that I can do differently this time around to make it better. 
So, without further ado, let's get to evaluating.

Swindon College End of Year Show 2014

Every year at Swindon College, we have an End Of Year Show located in the Steam Museum, which serves as a platform to showcase everything we've learned over the past however many years we've been on the course. Each student creates a look inspired by their given theme and it needs to be the most amazing thing they've made all year because the EOYS is a ~BIG DEAL~. It's a chance for parents/carers, family, friends and people from the industry to see what kind of crazy antics we get up to in the Media Make-up department.
The show itself consists of a catwalk and photoshoot, so the make-up needs to wow the audience from a distance but also put on a good show for the cameras up close. Everyone gets about 7 hours to put together a full look including make-up, bodypaint, props, costume, wigs and prosthetics (most if not all of which will have been made already in the weeks running up to the BIG DAY) on one or two models, depending on their design.

Last year, the theme for HND year 1 was "Alice In Wonderland" and we were split into pairs and given a character to create. I was partnered with one of my really good friends called Gem who, sadly, left the course after the first year, and we were given the character of The Mad Hatter. This was really exciting for us as we both loved his character, and we created a look that we were both really proud of. 

As we were HND, we got to have a much more theatrical catwalk that the BTEC students who went before us. This gave us the chance to choreograph our models and meant that we had extra time for the audience to see our work in action. Firstly, all the models came onstage together and interacted with one another, which I think definitely helped to make our work look more cohesive and all the characters complimented each other so well that it was a really effective opening to our section of the show. Then our models walked down the catwalk individually, stopping to pose and act to the audience. Once all of the models had walked the runway, the announcer ran through the list of names and characters again and this time we accompanied our models down the catwalk while the audience applauded. I think this was a very good idea because it gives the audience the chance to see the MUAs themselves and put a face to the name. It also makes it more obvious who worked on which character, so that they know who to talk to about each piece after the show has finished.

Once all of the years' work had been shown, we were given the opportunity to mingle with the audience, have pictures taken, and network with the industry guests, one of whom worked on the Tim Burton remake of Alice in Wonderland. 

2014 Victoria's Secret London Fashion Show

Now, Martyn, as you will probably agree, Victoria's Secret is one of the most amazing fashion franchises around. Beautiful women, stunning lingerie, what more could anyone ask for? I could literally spend days drooling over the VS Angel wings and the set ups for their shows, as well as all of the mind-blowing Fantasy Bras created over the years by the ridiculously talented VS team. I've chosen to include my all time favourite Victoria's Secret fashion show in my evaluations because I think it's such an incredible example of how successful a show can be, and I have a whole bunch of things I want to take from it and mirror in my own model for the EOYS.

So, last year, the VS show came to London (and I couldn't be there which makes me want to cry forever) and featured the largest number of models to date. The 47 angels showcased Victoria's Secret's newest pieces in the show which was split into 6 stunning parts: Gilded Angels, Dream Girl, Exotic Traveler, University of Pink, Fairy Tale, and the Angel Ball.
 The set of the runway changed with each section to fit with the specific themes, and I think this was a really good way to distance the themes from each other so that there was no confusion as to which part was which. I think a similar thing will happen at the EOYS because the first and second year HNDs get a prop or two to help illustrate the theme and separate our work from the BTECs'.  

The show began with a beautiful light show on a huge digital backdrop behind the runway which then flowed seamlessly into the first section, Gilded Angels. 

The angels came out, one by one, in stunning golden wings and gold feathered armour-like accent pieces over glittering gold and pure white lingerie sets, creating other-worldly goddesses striding into battle on a firey golden runway. Each model had such energy and power in the way she walked and they all interacted with the audience and cameras by waving and winking to the mass of flashing cameras and applauding crowd.

A subtle set change later and the runway was transformed into a powder pink boudior with a quilted backdrop and collumns of white and clear balloons dotted along the catwalk. 

The first musical guest, Taylor Swift, opened the Dream Girl section and performed her song Blank Space while the angels floated down the runway clad in playful babydolls and basques with ribbons, frills, and pom-poms galore. I really loved how all the models (especially Karlie, since they're BFFs) interacted with Taylor while she sang because it really emphasised the carefree, girly theme.

The next section, Exotic Traveller, began with Adriana and Alessandra, quintessential VS angels, wearing this years Fantasy Bras (2014 was the first year to do two fantasy bras) and trailing semi-transparent blue and pink capes which blew out behind them as they walked. 

The runway was styled with thick ribbons of multicoloured material hanging from the ceiling, and endless moroccan style doors as a backdrop. 
Ed Sheeran was the musical guest for this section and he serenaded the angels with his song Thinking Out Loud while they showcased the individual looks inspired by fashion, culture, and textures from all over the globe. They sang along with Ed and some of them reached out to him as they walked and carried the heart of the song with them all the way down the catwalk.

With the runway changed yet again, this time to a multicoloured backdrop and rainbow light patters dancing across the runway, University of Pink began as musical guest Arianna Grande performed a mashup of a few of her hit songs, including Love Me Harder, Bang Bang, and One Less Problem. 

She was backed up by an entourage of dancers who eventually moved back to clear the path for the angels. They wore more sporty, wearable pieces in this section which were each very different but kept the same youthful, edgy, street style feel. Many sported bright leopard print, cropped puffer jackets, fur trims, graffitti print, and chunky chain jewellery, and danced along with Arianna's songs with wild abandon. I didn't love the clothes from this section but the energy was contagious and it really brought the collection together and made it feel really cutesy and playful.

The next section, Fairy Tale, saw a dreamlike black and white runway with a huge pop-out book in front of the dark backdrop, bone-white 3d cutouts of trees with bare branches, and swirling leaves spiralling along the floor. 

It was very Shakespeare meets Brothers Grimm, and musical guest Hozier's performance of his song Take Me To Church added a really beautiful, haunting vibe to it all. All the angels were all lace and crystals and flowers, with fine, veil-like gossamer fabrics, lace up butterfly boots, and iridecent fairy wings. Many of the pieces featured feathers, leaves, or sprigs of flowers and buds. I think you can always tell when a model likes what she's wearing, and it really showed in this section. I hope this comes across in my show too, because my design mixes beautiful with horiffic and I think it contrasts really well and creates an equally stunning and terrifying effect.

For the last section, Angel Ball, the runway was turned into a dramatic chess board, with a checkered floor and geometric kaleidoscope patterns on the backdrop.

 Taylor Swift returned to the runway to perform her song Style, alongside the first angel Karlie (BFFs4lyfe) who opened the section in a floorlength black cape. 

This section was probably my favourite as the wings and the pieces were all so beautifully dark and dramatic that I couldn't keep my eyes off them. There was such an abundance of polka dots, interesting shapes, netting, chokers, stockings, and black sequins and gems, and each piece was so different but so clearly linked with all the others. 

Once Taylor had finished her song, all the models and musicians came onstage as black and white balloons fell from the ceiling.

2006 ANTM Cycle 7 Final Runway Show

When the 13 finalists have been narrowed down to only two, Tyra Banks arranges a head-to-head showdown via the hardest and most outstanding runway the models will have ever faced. Each cycle brings a new, more daunting catwalk show, and in 2006, cycle 7's final contenders CariDee and Melrose were presented with a right good'un. 

The catwalk was located in Barcelona, in the incredibly beautiful Park Güell. The runway was set up inside of a large, curved stone tunnel with stalactites reaching down from its' ceiling and ghostly lights set into its walls. The audience viewed the show from just outside the side of the tunnel, and held candles to help illuminate the round stone archways through which they watched the show unfold.

Fashion designers Victorio & Lucchino suppied beautiful satin and lace wedding dresses which transformed the models into ghost brides. The make-up reflected this -with paper-white faces, dark eyes and a hint of peach on the cheeks to define and enhance the spectral complection- as did the hair, which was piled up on top of the head in an elegantly messy updo which gave the look of a fear-maddened maiden who had once been beautiful was now bedraggled and forlorn.


 
I genuinely loved the styling in this catwalk show and I could go on and on  about how beautiful and hauntingly fragile it made the models look but I won't because this post is long enough as it is, and that's not really the point of this evaluation after all. 
 

 The way the catwalk was set out was incredible, yes, but it's nothing when it comes to the show itself. Two teeny flowergirls opened the show, giggling and throwing pale rose petals onto the stone floor, then looking around, frightened, as a thick white mist rolled in, and finally running away with screams of fear as the first model approached the runway.

I really think that the way the catwalk was set out helped to make it such an incredible show because the models seemed to fit so perfectly with the gothic, ghostly setting, that you can't help but be completely enthralled by it all, and I know I, personally, couldn't keep my eyes off the gowns and the way that the models swished them around as they walked and span through the mist. By the time all the models had glided down the runway once, I was hooked. I really want to create the same kind of captivating drama in my End of Year Show and make sure that I leave a lasting impression on the audience so that it's all they can think of when the show is finished. 

My favourite part of this runway was definitely how the models interacted with each other. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good catwalk show, but some of them can be quite dull and boring, with the models just walking up and down to show the clothes. I love it when the models put some feeling into their walks and actually move and act, so that the clothes come alive and you can really see how they fall and move with the model's body, and this fashion show is a perfect example of that.  

 In the second walk, the models walked like they had done before but once they reached the end of the runway and passed athother model, the two would stop and stare each other down with vengence and fury in their eyes. 
This, as well as being sick as hell, was a really good way to get the audience looking at the models in detail and taking in all the incredible embroidery and drapery on the dresses. 

 
 I definitely want to have a similar moment in my show, maybe with my model picking a particular member of the audience and staring them down at the end of the runway. I am only using one model for my show and I think this is a good idea seeing as my costume features a trailing skirt and in this show, one of the gowns was ripped as two of the models gave the death-glare as they passed each other and didn't pay enough attention to where they were stepping.

By far the most Becca-pleasing moment of the show was the last walk, where the two finalists walked for their place as America's Next Top Model and met at the end of the runway, paused and then threw their arms up and out into the air as they posed at each other, then the music came to a dramatic crescendo, the runway was thrown into darkness, and then the light came back on to reveal an empty catwalk as the models had vanished. There was a real sense of aggression in the way they posed but the poses themselves were so graceful and really encapsulated the theme of the show that it really struck a chord with me and really made the whole show a staggering success.

From evaluating these three live shows, I know that I want to make my EOYS as dramatic as possible and have lots of time for hte audience to see all the details in my costume, wig and bodypaint. I want to take the lighting change from the ANTM catwalk where it was all suddenly dark and then the lights came back on to reveal that the models had disappeared, but I want to do it in a way that reveals my model, so I think I will have her walk onstage in the dark and then have the lights turn on so that her prosthetic mouth is suddenly revealed to the audience without warning. I think this will add to the scare factor of my piece, as the audience won't know what's coming.