Instructions: Hemming Pants
10/27/20: Storyboarding
JOURNEY TO BUY PANTS:
- Goodwill → no pants my size that were hem-worthy, walked around the store for an hour like a helpless child before accepting defeat.
- Buffalo Exchange → walked in, realized that they do not do try ons. Walked out.
- Clothes Minded → only had pants sizes 0, 2 and 6 that would fit but not have the correct length; gave up believing that I was only doing this for the assignment and thrifted two pairs of jeans for personal reasons instead. Checked afterwards to see if they were long enough to hem (they were not).
- Avalon Exchange → found flowy pants. Realized that not only are they long, but the fabric would be very ideal for hemming. Success
This very first storyboard was more of a test run; an indicator to show that I am indeed capable of sewing fabric together. I wasn’t in a position with fantastic sets, and thus I couldn’t record my process with both hands on deck. I will say, however, that if given the option to draft our very first storyboard via drawings, I would have taken up that offer in a heartbeat.
Beginning logistics:
What color thread should we use?
A contrasting color is definitely important, so I tended to look away from the yellows and blues. In the end I chose, both for its contrasting color and vibrancy when shown on camera. Truthfully, I could have used black since I’m hemming on a white background, but I was afraid that the light would cause it to appear gray instead, and become muddled with the rest.
What stitch is best FOR THIS assignment
Well, when it comes to hemming an invisible stitch is obviously the most useful. However, I thought that the running stitch is not only the easiest, but also simple to teach.
What other backgrounds/lighting can we use?
Is the trimming of fabric necessary?
How many frames? And which ones are considered good start/end points?
What perspectives should be use?
Points to work on: Changing the lighting (use an actual tripod or some close alternative to properly showcase the hands), more accurate hemming process, maybe cut down the fabric trimming part, change background, have wider shots.
10/29/20: Video-ing
Storyboard 2 mainly focused on basic refinement: what qualifies as the simplest, most bare bones of a tutorial. As a result, I showcased a one-shot take of the process, and cut it down to a minute. This time, I ensured all the controlled elements: background, lighting, the process as a whole. Thus, the only differing aspect, from this point on, will be the content itself.
Given that it was our first video, I decided to emphasize my decisions for certain areas of jump cuts. I cut the scenes where there were awkward, prolonged pauses, and I made sure to cut when the frames were blurred, out of focus, or in similar angles so that it would appear more seamless. I have an animation background and I enjoy decoding their video and storyboarding processes quite a bit, so I did my best to incorporate said skills into this first video
There are a lot of analogies that I’m thinking of implementing later on — to better represent the actions of confusing areas, such as threading the needle or the actual sewing process. I also wanted to fix the audio, as there were some background sounds; still, I enjoyed the sound of the fabric, and thus I kept it in. It was also a little funny.
Does the thread contrast well? What other distractions are there?
How does audio affect the video as a whole?
What other perspectives can we use to showcase detail?
Are the video cuts seamless or distracting?
Points to work on: Using different shots/close up scenes, ratioing the video so that there’s more of the sewing process, change in audio, discern the inside fabric from the outside so that the folding is more clear, do something about the nails?
10/6/20: Video-ing Pt. 2
Peer Review Feedback:
Overall, the general consensus seems to gear towards having close-ups, filming in a quieter area, slowing down on steps of emphasis and working on transitions.
Response: I’m definitely planning on filming at a quieter time with more close up shots for the sewing and threading motions. Furthermore, I’m planning on changing the ratio of the video so that more of the sewing portion is shown; this way, I can make the scenes slower and longer. Lastly, the pants will be fully hemmed for the final video, and be placed in a fashion so that the start and end will have similar cuts. In all honestly, I’m thinking of using my pair of jeans, rather than my green pants, for the final video — I feel like utilizing the two-toned aspect of jeans will definitely contribute to the ease of understanding. When it came to transitions and cuts, I didn’t want to simply cut to the next scene, so I was looking for shots that had a blur or obstructed the camera briefly in an attempt to make it more seamless. However, I understand and acknowledge my peer’s concern in the ability to follow along with the video as a result.
Now, I would say that I paid more attention to these thoughtful comments. However, I didn’t feel a hint of pride in any particular scene. The close-ups didn’t appear beneficial enough, the point of view didn’t seem zoomed-out to fit the clip properly, and some audio clips were still off. While I found this video to be a necessary stepping stone to progress, I thought that there was so much more potential lying beneath — I simply required more time.
What can you add in order to balance instruction with interaction?
What shots should you start and end the video with?
What shots should you focus on zooming in on?
Points to work on: Zoom out more, add transitions, distribute the ratio of steps in a more orderly fashion, hem the entire pant leg
10/8/20: Final
In the end, I’ve determined that these were the key points in effectively teaching the secret art of hemming pants:
- Pull pants inside out
- Draw chalk/hemming line
- Fold
- Pin fabric
- Thread needle
- Hem
- Finish pant leg
- Repeat for other pant leg
- Pull pants back right side up
While the the three main sections of teaching are: pinning folds, threading needles, and the hemming process
I included the jump cut of the ankle shot, as I thought it’d be a fun and dynamic start to the video. However, I broke it off into two sections, the beginning and the end, so that the video in its entirety will appear more cohesive.
I also slightly modified the shots; not that they were poor, but I always felt that they could be better. A better center, a tilted angle, anything that would improve the ability to instruct. Hopefully the pinning and hemming process now appear a little more straightforward.
In addition, I decided to omit the beginning cut with the materials placed on the table. While it was useful, it felt awkwardly static in between the two dynamic poses of the jump cut and the throwing pants onto the table to turn inside out. It was a tough decision, as I was forced to make cuts given the time constraints, and I feel pretty somber about that. Still, I have enough shots where the item is placed under the camera before use, so I dearly hope that’s acceptable.
Now, the transitions. THE TRANSITIONS. This is all that I’ve been waiting for ever since this project was announced. I finally had the opportunity to refine and play with sound, angle, and movement, and I loved that. Granted, not all of them were entirely necessary, but given that hemming is a one-stitch-at-a-time process, it doesn’t hurt to throw in a little entertainment while speeding up the process.
And yes, I did end up filming in a quieter place.
Conclusion: First off, I’d like to clarify that learning how to hem, and learning how to hem with confidence are two VERY different challenges that make all the difference in this project. I could hem, but it’s impressive what a little confidence in one’s ability can do to the level of professionalism in a video.
And for the love of all that is good and fair, I could not for the life of me cut down this video. I feel as if hemming in particular is especially difficult to cut down, as there are so many key parts alongside the length of time it takes to thread a needle, let alone create a single stitch. How does one create such a perfect distribution? I wouldn’t know; I’m anything but perfect, and I’m not confident enough to claim that my video is either.
Overall, I definitely had the most fun with transitions. Maybe it’s my animation background, but I loved to play with stopmotion-like concepts, smears, and pacing to give it more of a cinematic experience. While I was editing the video, I was placed under the constant paranoia that my video would come across as solely entertaining rather than instructional. Nonetheless, creating the transitions and editing the video to collaborate alongside the sound (see: chalk dropping cut, pant folding cut) was practically cathartic. I had so, so much fun with that.
On a side note: my greatest enemy of this project had no association to the assignment at all — it was my horrendously low storage present in my phone, my iPad, AND my Macbook. I felt as if I spent hours upon hours of mindlessly sorting, deleting and clearing of storage that I’m just barely scraping by to accommodate for the sheer number of videos required to string together on iMovie.
Finally, I learned to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. Remember my first comment about hemming and hemming with confidence? I wasn’t confident in the slightest, and so I had asked Elise to be the subject of the bulk of my videos, up until this very point. However, the night before the due date, and my originally planned time to shoot the final video, she was unfortunately unavailable, and I was left to rebound. Rather than stew in panic, I chipped off my newly-painted black nails by hand for an hour (given that I didn’t have nail polish), repainted them in a more natural color during the next hour, and shot the final video by my lonesome for the very first time (special shoutout to Jessica for teaching me proper hemming and helping me out)
It’s fascinating — despite the seemingly simple concept of this assignment, I faced the greatest amount of outside adversities: a last-minute change in subject, the slightly unexpected due date, my black nail polish that made a tragic sacrifice, getting kicked out of the studio when filming still had yet to be finished, the complications of confident hemming and its correlation with video length, and my constantly depleting storage that seems to never get resolved.
Key takeway: going to call my mom and tell her that I can hem pants now :]
