c studio design hero: part 3

Hannah Lesser
Martin Margiela
Published in
3 min readMar 31, 2022

I made a playlist of possible songs. At first I was thinking I should use a song from the era he was designing (1990s), but then I was thinking it might be cooler if i use something more modern/electronic but still with a pretty grunge-y sound.

the theme of my video is showing why anonymity was important to Martin Margiela and how this was reflected in his work.

For my audio, I will be using Margiela’s voice from a documentary. I think it’s important that I use his own voice since it is very hard to find.

3.28.2022

My storyboards were not very detailed. I think I am imagining that my video will start as sketchy animation, then move into footage, then finish again with sketchy animation.

3.30.2022

i met with langston today to talk about how i want my video to feel. i think it was really helpful to be able to talk through some of my ideas and things i dont know how to do but want to achieve. He introduced me to parts of aftereffects I was not familiar with, like animation presets, repeater grids, and threshold/mosaic effects.

I think a lot of the effects I want could be achieved with processing/creative coding, but I don’t know how to do this. Langston taught me that there are lots of ways I can “fake” this in after effects.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbR4-yfFYDq/

3.31.2022

for my song i think i’ve decided on “roygbiv” by boards of canada. I wanted a song with about 20 seconds of buildup and then an intense beat switch. This song has both of these.

4.5.2022

When I played my audio in class today, langston said my music might be too happy for what i wanna do, ie in a major key. Also Brett is worried about how long my audio currently is.

4.2.2022

i’ve gathered a lot of footage from this one dailymotion user who uploaded all of the margiela shows from the 1990s/early 2000s bless them.

i’ve also been watching a lot of music videos for inspiration on how i want my video to feel. i discovered ruffmercy, who has a particularly interesting style that i might borrow some elements from.

4.4.2022

i switched my song to a portion of “faith in strangers” by andy scott. i think this song sounds a little more in a minor key and still has a really good beat i can follow along with. i’m looking forwards to pairing this song with the footage. I have not shortened the length of my audio.

I am also discovering that I may be relying less on any animation aspect and more in the manipulation of show footage.

4.10.2022

i had a check in with brett that went mostly okay. i think i am at a point where i just have a lot of ideas in my head that have not come to fruition yet.

4.12.2022

I have spent a lot of time manipulating my videos and following different tutorials to achieve the look I want.

4.14.2022

brett reiterated that i need to add my own spin to the rest of the videos.

some comments from peers:

  • “i love the music i love this i love hannah. i think you can add distress to the type even more. like the place where the the type swirls around the glasses, i think you can add some textures, make the text slightly blurred, red, bunch of different things. I think you could also add in red gradients similar to your book to come back in. Slay.” -ricky
  • “i love the manipulation of video, it pairs well with your poster and booklet depsite not visually looking similar” -michelle

4.16.2022

Making progress. Adding more text.

4.20.2022

coming down to the last days on this project. it’s been an experience. i have learned a lot about aftereffects. i think the way I orient myself within the software has changed drastically.

4.26.2022

final crit today. it went well but i am still not convinced on color treatment. there are other details i’d like to add.

4.28.2022

changed the colorama effect from red and black to just black and white and i think i like this a lot more.

5.3.2022

5.5.2022

final videooo!!!! i am very happy with how this video turned out. i think it was a really important learning experience for me.

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Hannah Lesser
Martin Margiela

design, social and political history at carnegie mellon university