My last day

Monday 10th May

Following my meeting with Bronwyn and Fiona, a plan of action was decided for my last day. They were happy with my work and only a few adjustments needed to be made. I included credit information – the director/cinematographer and producer if they were available and refined my annotations. I double checked all the information before adding the abstract, working title and additional notes to the final piece – “Final Film Selection and accompanying Curatorial Notes for the Australian Mediatheque” linked to the right >>

And finally a working title I’m not sure about – “What to Wear Post WWII.” I like it because I think it plays on a contemporary interest of fashion in the media. Over the past few years, perhaps as a consequence of television shows like the now franchise Sex and the City, we’ve seen a burst of reality TV shows surrounding fashion – model reality TV shows, designer shows, tips on how to look younger, etc, etc all relating somehow to fashion. The title is a play on one in particular – What Not to Wear.

I’ve found my internship at the NSFA to be a wonderful experience. I feel as though I’ve had an opportunity to research something I’m really interested in whilst still combining my passion of film. I also really valued the copyright exercises. That’s definitely something that is useful to my practical interests in film. Discovering some of the processes of the NSFA was also valuable.

Nearing the end…and not even realising it!

Monday 3rd May

I calculated my hours spent at the NFSA today and realised after today I only have four hours left! Time has flown.

Once letting Fiona know how much time I had remaining, we set to work setting tasks for today, as there isn’t much I can go on with now.

Fiona had borrowed a Dad and Dave episode that she thought would relate to my topic. It was interesting to see how fashion could feature in main stream Australian television but it was produced in 1938, which is a bit early to relate back specifically to my collection. I also thought it was an interesting depiction of rural people in an urban environment and how they adapt to the change.

I also spent some time looking up production files surrounding the NFSA compilation Fashion Daze, a piece I found to encompass a wide variety of fashions from 1910 to 1970 in Australia. Most comfortingly, I discovered that this compilation includes many of the films I have in my own collection. However, looking through this file made me realise how difficult it would be to get the rights to a piece of work of this nature due to its collaborative nature. While it was put together at the NFSA, there are numerous Newsreel items with their own rights, music, commentators, the list goes on… As a side comment, I found some of the marketing and merchandising information to be very interesting. For example, a strategy used by the NFSA to market the product was to disperse post cards with marketing information on it. I thought releasing it prior to Mother’s Day, as lets face it women are frequently more interested in fashion then men seemed like a clever move.

I researched a similar file for the Dressed to Kill compilation, double checking I had not missed out any other important newreel items I could include in the collection. Thankfully I seemed to have found everything available in that particular compilation. Other sales and marketing information was included with this compilation, similar to the others.

Today, I also gathered some information about the production companies of the newsreel items:

Production Company Research

Shirley & Adams, Graham & Brian, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Australia: Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1983

Cinesound

• Cinsesound 116 – 119
  • Renamed from Australian Films and Union Theatres
  • “That’s Cricket” – first big film dir. Ken Hall – featured interviews and demonstrations by the Australian Eleven. (February 1931)
  • Stuart Doyle (father of Cinesound), assistant Ken Hall
  • Under Doyles authority, Hall set about making Union Theatre newsreels, renamed Cinesound Review
  • From June 1932 – Doyle allowed Cinesound Production Ltd to begin making regular features and documentaries

• 183
  • Film industry was influenced by the war in the 1940s, bringing on greater interest in the documentary form. “ealing” seen as a virtual replacement
• 174
  • “Cinesound’s disappearance from feature film production was a severe blow to the optimism of postwar Australian producers”
  • Cinesound closed in 1948 – Bondi studio sold 1950
• Cinesound: 1938-1940 156-161
  • General downturn in exhibition
  • Focuses more on the features rather than newsreel production

Fox Movietone

• 106
  • Fox Movietone (Australia) – established in 1929
  • Regular Fox Movietone News didn’t appear until October 1927 in US

Fiona suggested I compare my written pieces with the Australian Screen Online curatorial notes as I should be trying to adapt writing to suit this formula. I realised that although the clip description is quite straight forward and give a very short rundown of narration, there are some more extensive curatorial notes included on occasion. These often include film analysis, production information, thematic content, historical background e.g. political/social background, cinematic history, director and production company.

On Wednesday I am meeting with Fiona and Bronwyn to discuss my work as it stands. The following Monday is my last day 😦

Title?

Wednesday 28th April

After a meeting with Fiona today my tasks for the remainder of my internship are quite clear and simple. Whilst continuing to think of a title, there are few loose ends to tie re copyright. I’m now only on the hunt for one more copyright holder, which I acquired today. It was a cinematographer whose multiple works had been donated to the archives. No-one has to be contacted it is only asked that he be acknowledged in the work.

There are a few other avenues I can explore regarding films or other media to add to the collection. I looked into the National Archives of Australia but they are exhibiting a collection on 1960s/70s rather than the era concerned. I also looked into the Film Australia Collection, looking at the fashion side of the industry but to no avail. I found an article on the web from an old magazine about Dior’s New Look but the information here is mostly what I’ve already obtained from other pieces.

Other than that I spent the day refining my notes further for the collection. I looked over the film abstracts particular to each film and edited them.

I’m beginning to hit a wall in terms of the work because most things are completed and now Fiona and I await a meeting with Bronwyn to discuss any further tasks I need to complete prior to the end of my internship.

Still no title…

Getting there…

Wednesday 21st April

Today was less eventful but reasonably productive all the same. Fiona had a look over my work and seemed happy with it so far. She made some useful suggestions of how I can go about obtaining more information regarding the copyright holders. Film World Pty Ltd or Thought Equity Motion is a production company that contains the rights of many of the Australian newsreels – not just the pieces I have in my collection. Fortunately, the NFSA has an existing partnership with Thought Equity Motion and so there is great hope that the rights can be obtained for most pieces in my collection. A few of the other rights holders are a little trickier as there is less information about them. If the copyright information is not straight forward, the production company is often the best way to start in discovering the copyright holder. By doing research on the production company their may be a way to contact someone with more information about copyright. So I spent part of the day researching Westralian News and Southern Cross Newsreels.

• Southern Cross Newsreels – began following the opening of a new theatre in Perth – Cinesound and Movietone wouldn’t allow their newsreels to be distributed here so Southern Cross Newsreels began to produce Australian newsreels (foreign only newsreels may not have performed well in the theatre) – later changed to Southern Cross Film Pty Ltd.
• Westralian News – first and only independent cinema newsreel in Australia to be issued between the demise of the Herald Newsreel and the closing of Australian Movie Magazine – started in 1947 – ran for only 35 weeks
  

This gives me some starting point and I will be checking what further research I can do should it require more for Fiona to gain copyright.

Fiona also suggested I look for images that the archives may have relating to my collection but unfortunately I could not find any attached to Post WWII Fashion.

I discovered that there is a spring fashion week in Melbourne, which means that the collection may still be able to be launched in conjunction with that! Quite exciting!

I also took another shot at the project abstract. It now reads:

“Following WWII a positive outlook to change spawned a rebirth in lavish and classically feminine fashion in the Western World.  This film collection reflects a time of dramatic change between 1945 and 1950 when the fashion world was redefined following wartime hardships. Advancements in distribution technology saw foreign stylistic trends spread from Paris, the UK and the US to Australian catwalks and local fashion designers. From Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ to Californian-inspired swimwear, this collection demonstrates the foreign influences on post-WWII Australian fashion and more broadly the changing depiction of women in our society.”

– I think its getting there…

Fiona also reminded me to continue thinking of a title for the collection. Hmmmmm…

Post WWII prosperity: the rebirth of lavish and classically feminine fashions

Monday 19th April

What a productive day! Today I tackled the project abstract amongst other things. At the moment it reads…

“Societal attitudes following WWII spawned the rebirth of lavish and classically feminine fashions.  The films in this collection reflect a time of change between 1945 and 1950 when the fashion world was redefined following wartime hardships. Following 1945, fashion reflected the prosperity and positive outlook for change depicted in the Western world. With an increase in distribution, women fashion was transported from the distant lands of Paris to the living rooms of Australian homes. From Christian Dior’s New Look to Californian-inspired swimsuits this film collection demonstrates the foreign influences on post-WWII Australian fashion and the societal shifts in the every-women role.”

I’m not entirely happy with it and I think I’ll readdress this on Wednesday after I’ve had some time to think. I find it more useful to write something, know its not perfect and come back to it later with a fresh outlook to improve.

Today I also extended my research further. I discovered some websites on Christian Dior and made notes on the readings I gathered earlier. There are a few books I managed to borrow from the School of Art library, which were also useful. Please go to the Topic Research link to find out more >

One article is particularly interesting, suggesting Australian fashion saw glimpses of style similar to the “New Look” before it had reached Australia. This is an important statement because some of the films I am viewing certainly suggest this. Whilst Paris was at the forefront of contemporary fashion, Australian designers were also producing new and fresh designs for everyday wear.

I furthered my post WWII oriented viewings, viewing six new films I had booked last week. Many of these look to be relevant, particularly those from the Dressed to Kill NFSA compilation. In this collection, there are multiple short films, all surrounding my time and topic. One of them Spring Fashion Note is actually a short film I already discovered and thought would be great for the collection. This time though, Spring Fashion Note has sound – an added bonus! I’m uncertain as to why the copy I obtained earlier was without sound, but its great to find one with the commentary that is so interesting. I find each of the commentators bring something to the short films or newsreels. Many are persuasive in describing the “must have items.” Others make comments that now seem extremely sexist and inappropriate. These films give a sense of how far we’ve come in achieving equality since those days.

To view the notes on these new films, please click on the link to the right “Post WWII secondary viewing sample” >

Today I finally started compiling the A and B list of films that Fiona is after so that once I’m gone, the work can go from a word document to digitisation for the mediatheque. This document contains the film title, year of publication and time code information, a brief annotation or abstract on each film, any additional notes and my initial findings of copyright information per film. At the moment the copyright information seems reasonably promising, although its difficult for me to tell how hard it is to obtain copyright from these vendors. At the moment, most of the copyright for the films I’m using is held by Film World Pty Ltd. To view these notes, like always please find the link “Compilation of films, commentary and copyright information.” >>

The Collection

Monday 12th April

Again another long day at the archives due to holidays and other commitments. I continued compiling my work in to electronic formats for easier use. I’ve now started using a computer the whole time for efficiency. Its much easier to manipulate my work and the computer keeps track of my progress, which in turn helps with these journal entries.

I met with Fiona who outlined what I need to do now that I have a good idea of what films I want to use. She suggested to compile a list of the films that seem the best for the collection (5 to 7 as in the original proposal) but then she suggested if I have extras to put them onto a b-list in case they turn out to be more appropriate for later use by the archives, or can be added in future to the collection. She also took me through searching on Mavis for copyright information that can also be included with the list. Alongside this I should have the time codes listed. Many of my pieces are with a compiled collection or newsreel so this will come in handy when the archives want to digitize the collection. She also suggested I have a 1 to 2 sentence summary of each of the films – what they are about, similar to the clip descriptions seen on the ASO (Australian Screen Online) website. And to complete my work at the archive I should have a title for the collection and an abstract or precis, similar to a curator’s overall statement, about the collection. The more I discussed my collection with Fiona, the more I’m discovering a direct correlation between women’s fashion of the time and the social implications of the war. Women were definitely reverting back to more traditionally feminine roles and I think this is evident not only the in fashion of the time, but in the films that reveal the fashion. I plan to have the abstract commenting on this idea as well as a more straightforward outline of the collection as fashion newsreel items.

We also discussed more search terms I could look at for the collection and as such I’ve been extending my searches without a lot of results. I’m thinking I’ve expended the collection in terms of 1940s post war fashion.

In terms of external research, I’ve been allowed to go to the ART library at ANU to discover more about fashion during the time from reputable sources. Today I went to the library and found a few good texts:

Dressed to Kill: 100 years of fashion

Some facts:

• “New Look” survived for nearly a decade
• Following the war women became more fashion conscious and Dior took great care in providing reinterpretations of past fashion
• Pleats – aspect of the “New Look”
• One of the most popular outfits from first collection was Bar – a jacket
• 12 February 1947 – Dior introduced his first collection – Corolle line – referring to the way the skirts blossomed out from slender stem-like waists
• Absence of shoulder padding and use of many fabrics
• He was concerned with a “total look,” changing even the way his models walked” – back titled

The Fashion Reader

Some facts:

• “New Look” was arguably the most influential trend from post-war Paris
• Contrasted greatly from war year fashion
• “soft, rounded shoulders, cinched waist, padded hips and full, below-knee skirts”

Fiona also suggested I look at the Queensland Art Gallery as Stephen Jones is curating a hat collection there. Check out the link to find out more >>

At the moment my highest priority is to write the film descriptions and research fashion during the era alongside social history in order to write an abstract relating the social history of the time to women’s fashion. Being just over half way, I think I’m in a reasonably good position thus far. Although, I’m slightly concerned about the copyright side of things, as its supposed to be the most demanding and I haven’t given it much attention yet. I have yet practically applied the lessons I learned with my supervisor earlier on.

Post WWII fashion it is!

Friday 9th April

Today I worked for six hours to make up for Easter Monday. Unfortunately, Fiona was sick but I still got quite a lot done. Although, I definitely reached a point today whereby I’ll need approval to take the next step. After viewing both films from the 1920s (to fulfill a post WWI fashion topic) and late 1940s fashion films (following WWII), I’ve decided to pursue the later of the two eras.

Not only did I get the chance to view all post WWII fashion films I had previously ordered, I also did extensive research on the time period and further searching on Mavis for extra films.

Please click on the Viewing post WWII fashion link to the left to view my notes from today’s post WWII fashion viewing. These preliminary notes show only aspects of the films – namely narrative, cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene and editing that caught my attention. Additionally, I tend to note controversial dialogue that has caught my attention.  I’ve also finished the analysis with an overall ranking of the film and commonly a reason for the ranking e.g. “7/10 – not really long enough.”

After viewing the films I spent time researching post WWII fashion, film and other social aspects of the time. Below are some of my notes relating to the research:

Nigel Cawthorne, The New Look: Dior Revolution, Hamlyn, 1996

Christian Dior: the man who made the world look new By Marie France Pochna

Outlines Dior’s “New Look” à Happy Days chapter

Parade: the story of fashion in Australia – cannot locate (found online)

Fashions of a decade: the 1940s – cannot locate (found online)

Fashion Australia 746.920994 FAS – ART library

Other texts acquired on JSTOR

“Christian Dior (1905-1957) – “New Look”: Post WWII Fashion: McCardell, Christian Dior, and Betsy Johnson

“Fashion and Film: A Symposium,” JSTOR

“‘The Wishful Feeling about Curves’: Fashion, Femininity, and the ‘New Look’ in Australia,” JSTOR

There are a few articles from JSTOR (above) I found today that I will begin reading.

After research, I decided to review some of the best films and re-write notes on them, getting a better idea of what to include and what to leave out of the collection. I found this helped clarify how much I actually had that I could see going into the collection. This reaffirmed my decision on post WWII fashion as there seems to be a number of films I would use. They are both entertaining and make commentary about the time, not just the fashion, which I think gives them greater appeal. Please find these notes at the Reviewing the best of post WWII fashion link.

And then I had some time to refine my search on Mavis. I managed to track down a few more items to view and have since forwarded these on to Fiona, along with an email outlining my progress so far. At this time I’m at a bit of a standstill because I don’t want to pursue this line too far in case its not relevant enough. On the plus side I have eight strong possibilities for the post WWII fashion collection so I feel confident that I have enough viable reasons to make the change.

The last thing I did today was type some of my notes that I’d been writing on to paper. This helped me to refresh my memory on the films I had watched and gave insight into my thought processes. The more I get into electronic format, the more I can add to my online journal 🙂

Post WWI or WWII?

Wednesday 31st March

Today I had a meeting with Fiona, whereby we discussed my progress. At this stage I don’t believe there are enough pieces if I choose to pursue purely post WWI fashion, so I’m thinking of combining post-war fashions together for direct comparison. Alternatively I might just focus on post WWII fashion as there may be enough there. I haven’t found a lot I’m happy with as yet. There is one film so far that really stands out. It shows the fashions of that time period really well. That teamed with Berlei and Eve’s Film Review films may be enough. Most of the pieces I’ve seen outside that range have been good in parts but way too short (30secs – 2mins).

The late 1940s/ post WWII collection looks much more promising. There seems to be a greater diversity in footage with commentary included in most of the films. I think some external research will help me to narrow this field down a bit and decide once and for all, which path I’m going to travel. Some of the comments made within the 1940s collection are also very sexist.  This aids understanding of gender and fashion at the time. The inference that the way a women looks is specifically to please a man is present within many of the pieces. I think this gives the films not only a higher education value than the post WWI films but also a greater entertainment value. Some of the comments are shocking to say the least.

Today, I also did some further research into Dior’s “New Look.” “In 1947, Dior introduced the “New Look”, featuring longer lengths and fuller skirts; a return to classic femininity with a nipped waist. The use of many yards of fabric in garments was now seen as lavish and opulent. Women’s fashion changed to a soft, feminine and romantic image. The accompanying shoe designs would set the stage for the next decade…”

After the rationing of the early 1940s women reverted back to feminine wear and lavishly made outfits – stockings (finally!) and two piece lingerie (as we see from the swimsuit selection too) were popular. The research I’m doing suggests a very important shift in fashion following the war that set the stage for many years to come. It seems that Dior’s first collection was revolutionary, inspiring the world.

I’m going to use the next week to have a really good think about the collection. I do like the idea of the older film pieces but at what cost? And if there aren’t enough to satisfy the criteria then what’s the point? Especially when post WWII fashion seemed to be substantially related to the overall prosperity of previously war-torn nations. I’m definitely leaning toward post WWII fashion…

Let the viewing begin…

Monday 29th March

Today I finally started auditioning 🙂 Beginning to view the collection gave me some fantastic insight into post WWI Australian fashion and film. I wrote some basic notes for each film including various inter-titles, subject matter, anything that caught my initial observation. Bronwyn, the Manager of Collections Access also suggested I try searching for films under the nation building rhetoric. That is the different industries associated with fashion such as ‘wool’,  ‘garment,’ etc. According to Bronwyn, a lot of newsreel items were centred around industry between the 1920s and 1960s. I also explored exhibitions running at the Powerhouse Museum as I’m told there is a new fashion curator there who might be shedding some interesting light on garments during this time.

Generally, the films I viewed today were neither long enough or interesting enough. I found that because they were silent, a lot of the social commentary I was expecting just wasn’t evident. After all, there is only so much to be said in an inter-title! In general I’m finding the styles very boyish, as other research has suggested, and covering much more than what we expect today. One particular film covered Melbourne cup race day, showing the dresses to be extremely plain and conservative. Whilst the film seemed to make interesting social commentary through the images, there isn’t enough that relates directly to the theme. Other films seem to have merely fragments of fashion amongst other much more important newsreel features. One piece entitled Fashions for the fairer sex was a very short sequence of about two shots before continuing into unrelated footage.

I was able to view some post WWII fashion pieces too. These I found more exciting. One piece entitled Hubba Hubba Swimsuit Means Goody Goody was particularly interesting due to its social commentary through fashion. The male voice-over commentator insisted on making sexist remarks about the model as she modeled a controversial bathing suit. This leads me to think I may find more post WWII fashion pieces than WWI that are relevant with more entertainment value.

Following the viewings I proceeded to research post WWII fashion on the internet, looking specifically Dior’s “New Look,” a collection from the Paris fashion house that revolutionized not only the way fashion was distributed world-wide but returned to the feminine look prior to WWI. There seems to have been a controversial re-birth of lavish clothing, controversial whilst rationing was still enforced in some countries and provinces. Some States saw this as overly extravagant and an insult to places that were still war-torn. However, it seems that Dior’s fashions surrounded a general hope of prosperity and normality following years of hardship.

I also continued to try new search terms in Mavis, hoping to unearth a hidden gem (or many). I’m finding that defining a generic search term like ‘fashion’ alongside year constraints like 1919 and 1950 help greatly. They leave the search open to a general term but still define it enough to get rid of what I don’t want i.e. recent works that I couldn’t get copyright for anyway.

When film and law collide

Wednesday 24th March

This afternoon I spent time furthering my copyright knowledge and also refining my searches on 1920s fashion.

Fiona and I spent roughly another hour on copyright. Whilst it’s extremely complicated I find it intriguing that until 1969, there wasn’t even a classification for film. It was as if film was not even considered an artistic practice by Australian law. Before this time films were defined as dramatic works or a series of photographs. Defining the film makes a huge difference to who owns copyright. If the film is classified as a series of photographs, then the rights are held with the cinematographer and the rights don’t exist seventy years following his/her death. However, if the film is considered a dramatic piece i.e. anything that has a narrative (editing, inter-titles…anything really!) then copyright could be held by a number of people such as the director or screenwriter. This means not only must you discover who actually owns copyright, there’s always the chance that one copyright holder has not been dead for more than seventy years, in which case copyright still exists. As there is little precedent in copyright law, most of the lawsuits are settled outside court. This makes many claims even more uncertain as there is very little past information that helps define the copyright issues of today.

The rest of the day was spent conducting further searches on post WWI fashion. I had a sample of my search terms posted to the link “searching terms.” >> This should limit the amount of circle work I do in terms of titles. I find that the same prominent titles of the time continue to crop up but every now and then I’ll find something new.

I’ve found some titles that I’m excited to view. Please find the link to the right entitled “1920’s films – list one” to find out more! >>

There’s little I can do now but wait for the films to come in and see if they are what I consider worthy of the collection. At this stage its really difficult for me to know what to expect. I would like the films to have an educational value as well as an entertaining one. I’m hoping to films will somehow gauge what life was like back then through the eyes of fashion. The Eve’s Film Review pieces do this to an extent. One shot in particular shows two models chatting in what looks be a living room with their fashionable outfits on. This could be seen to comment on the way women socialized back then – face to face in a relaxed environment, seemingly private environment. Now, fashion may be transformed to a crowded cafe with women and their Blackberries. Establishing the varying factors surrounding the time frame – i.e. this period followed WWI – will help me define it’s relevance. If it makes some sort of social commentary I feel as though I’ll be on the right track.