FMP WEEK 8 || Finishing shoes, photoshoot and editing.

Proposed schedule:

What I actually did: Finished shoes, photographed on model & made presentation sheet.

Behind? No! Totally on track. Finished everything on time.

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Finishing off shoes

Successes

- Using tiny pieces of leather to make up the patten on my shoe couldn't have worked better. I thought it would be far too fiddly, so did not consider it initially. However, it looks so professional and was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Thanks to my prior tests I also knew which pen and paint to use to add details to the pattern. It is totally smudge proof and durable which is something I wasn't sure I would be able to achieve. I also managed to stick them down using my trusty evo-stik, without any messy edges or getting it on the leather.

- The final thing to do was create a piece to fill the gap between the Napoleon heel and the bottom of the shoe. I decided that fimo clay would be best for this as it is easy to mould and bakes to become very hard and does not crack or shrink. I covered both surface in plastic and moulded the clay in the gap. It worked really well and I achieved the perfect shape that was almost seamless. I baked it in the oven and there was no shrinkage. I was then able to spray paint it the same colour as Napoleon, so that it would be even more seamless and would not look out of place. This worked perfectly.

- Though with much trouble, I did eventually manage to stick everything together. I couldn't use the methods I had intended to use in the end, but what I came out with at the end worked perfectly well.

I am so pleased with the final result. The shoe is so much better than I could have hoped. There may only be one, but I think it looks professional and everything is finished to a high standard.

Even better if...

- Not everything went to plan. This part of the making process probably posed the most problems. I had intended to nail through the bottom of the shoe, the fimo, and the resin heel. However, I quickly found that is was impossible to get the nail into the resin. I tried for about half an hour, but for fear of it shattering I decided to give up and rethink my method. I decided to try the evo-stik again as it had worked so well for everything else. Unfortunately, not this time! It didn't stick to either surface at all. At this point I began to panic. I found some superglue and thank goodness, it seemed to work really well.

What I can take away from this is that I should have tested my fixing method beforehand. I did with everything else and trial and error has taught me nearly everything throughout this process. I think if I had stuck to my schedule better and worked a little faster, there would have been more time for testing. It was my lack of foresight that caused the problem here. Though I resolved it in the end, the shoe is a little wonky and the heel is not strong. I fear that it will not be strong enough for standing on. This is a great disappointment as one of my main aims was to create a shoe that was totally functional.

Feedback "The shoe looks amazing. I would definitely wear it! I can't believe how much it looks like an actual shoe. I never thought you would make something so professional looking!" - one of my peers.

"It's a shame that it's a bit wonky and can't be stood on properly. I think it looks great though. I love the pattern and the colours." - A tutor.

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Photo Shoot

Successes

- I was able to use the fashion pathway's white screen and lighting. I took the initiative of going over there at lunch time when there weren't many people around and asking someone if I could use it briefly. I am so glad I was able to use this set-up as it made for far more professional photographs, that look great with the white background. My shoe was really able to stand out and be the focus, especially as Millie, my model, was dressed in white too.

- The shoe fitted my model perfectly. All the testing and measuring throughout the making process and prior to it has really paid off. She also told me it was really comfortable. I can attribute that to my comfort testing earlier in the project and the subsequent adding of cushioning to the sole of the front and heel. Although she wasn't able to stand on the shoe properly it looked perfect on her foot and fitted like a glove so we were able to photograph it on her foot from all angles and in interesting poses.

- I have ended up with some good photographs. I took a very large number so I have lots to choose from and also a wide range of poses and angles.

Even better if...

- I forgot to bring my SLR camera with me and so had to take the pictures on my phone. This wasn't really a problem as my phone camera is high quality, but it would have been even better with a proper camera.

- There were problems posed by only having one shoe. I had to take pictures only from certain angles as I did want to leave too much up to the editing. I thought about Photoshopping it to look like there were two but I felt this was not true to the situation and although my Photoshop skills are pretty good , it may not have looked totally real.

- As the shoe was not strong enough to be properly stood on, I was also limited in the kinds of poses I could do. I wanted some standing, ABBA style posed shots, but this was unfortunately not possible. I am pleased with the results anyway, but it would have been better if I could have done everything I wanted to.

Feedback "The shoe was really comfortable and I think the poses will look good in the final images. You did a wide range of angles and stuff which will be good for Photoshopping and you will have lots to choose from. The white background was great and the outfit you chose is very 70s." - My model.

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Editing & making a presentation sheet

Successes

- I did a wide range of edits. I simply enhanced some of the pictures but I also did some where I edited the shoe onto photographs of Agnetha and Anni-Frid from ABBA. These ones weren't the highest of quality, but I think the effect is quite humorous. I did the best with what I had. The white background really helped with changing the scene of the shoe, as I was easily able to delete the background and be left with just the shoe, ready for superimposing on other backgrounds.

- My final presentation sheet is a mock magazine cover. I used an image of a real ABBA magazine cover (the first ever issue in fact!) and edited it so that the front page image is of my shoe. I think it is really effective and quite humorous. Though the original magazine image is of quite low quality, it sort of adds to it I think, making it seem more of the era! I made up some headlines and tried to make them sound more 2016 than the original ones, making it fit with my theme of a 2016 ABBA.

- I decided to make a little mock magazine to display all my final edited images in. I think this worked quite well, and was a fitting way to display my photographs aside from the final presentation sheet.

Even better if...

- The quality of the images where I added my shoe to pictures of ABBA is pretty low. I was not able to find high resolution images of them as they were all taken in the 70s and 80s. Though I feel this adds to the effect, some of them are too bad for it to simply be a nice effect and it would be nice to have a couple of HQ edits. At least my own photographs are of high quality.

- The little magazine I made was quite last minute. It would have been much better if I had spent more time on it, printing on better paper, and binding it more professionally. The edges are rough and I used glue and selotape to put it all together which looks pretty shabby. It was all a bit of a last minute decision. I should have devoted more time to my method of presenting these photographs.

Feedback "The little magazine is cute even if it is a bit rough. It is a nice way of presenting the photographs and edited images." - A peer from graphics.

"Brilliant! They all look great. Well done, made me laugh. ABBAtastic!" - A tutor.