Sunday was our LAST shoot for LoliGirls before the Fashion Show! It was an exciting, and kind of a sad day. I'm going to miss all the fun shoots! I've really enjoyed filming the LoliGirls...and I'm sure they had lots of fun as well. I'd like to say a special thanks to my dedicated crew who've done an amazing job helping behind the scenes and, most importantly, dealing with me when I'm stressed!

So the day's shoot started at Julia's sister's house in West Hartford. All of the models for the show arrived at noon for Julia's meeting. All the details for the big day were discussed, included what type of loli each girl would model (I will be modeling sailor evidently!). After that Julia took each girl/guy's measurements. Once that was done we were supposed to jet over to Blue Back Square, but Julia informed me that the Fashion Show needed a short commercial to be played during opening ceremonies at CTcon. So we all brainstormed and quickly storyboarded a few ideas. I won't display the commercial here until after the show...I'd like it to be a surprise for the con:)

After that shoot we headed over to Blue Back. It was reaching 3 PM by this point and the air had warmed to a sweltering 85 degrees. The girls huddled under parasols, but I can only imagine how hot they were under all those layers!

I was hoping that filming in Blue Back would get us some good reaction shots from the public. I wanted positive and negative comments to use during a certain point in the interviews when the girls spoke about people taunting them in public. But...everyone was super polite! One group of tweens ran up to the LoliGirls and started asking them about their outfits and complimenting their shoes! All the vox pop interviews we collected were positive and encouraging. Although I was a little disappointed that we didn't get any critical comments, it was refreshing to speak with folks who were supportive of lolitas:)

Yesterday was another hot one! Even though there were thunderheads looming for a good portion of the day, the rain held off and we had a great shoot at a local vintage shop. The shop owner was super nice to open up the shop for us and was very helpful. We used 2 Panasonic (100b and DVC30) miniDV cameras to shoot the girls browsing in the shop and capture audio with a directional shotgun mic.

After we finished up at the Curiosity Shop the whole crew returned to my loft where the girls displayed some clothes from their wardrobes. We shot the girls with the 2 Panasonics and captured audio with a boom. The girls discussed the basic components of the lolita fashion and how one dress could be made into several different looks. After that the girls put on several outfits and put on a mini fashion show, which was very entertaining to say the least! Check out pictures from the Curiosity shoot here and on our flickr page!

The Curiosity Shop was our second shoot of the week, I'm sure you already had a look at the photos from Tuesday's shoot at the tea shop. Tuesday's shoot was one of the most important so far. After we filmed the girls having tea we returned to my loft and where the crew had arranged and interview set-up. All three girls perched on stools and were grilled with questions for several hours. The interview went a lot smoother after the switch to turn on the air conditioning was located! This interview will be used as the main source of information for the documentary.

Hello again! The teaser trailer for LoliGirls is ready! Watch and enjoy:) I took the footage we shot during the Midsummer Night's Dream shoot. Be sure to let your friends know about the project and, if you're feeling generous, help us to keep going with the project!

All of the footage from this past weekend's photo/film shoot has been captured! I've received from photos (that haven't been touched up yet from the photographer) from Saturday's shoot and put a few up. I hope to get Sunday's pix soon and will do my best to put a few up here as well.

I'm really pleased with how the audio came out from the shoot. I was unsure for awhile about how to capture decent audio from the girls while they were being photographed. I ended up putting a wireless mic on each girl (the poof of the dresses helped hide the bulk of the transmitter) and recording the audio direct into the 2 cameras we used for the shoot. I was nervous about how great the quality would be...but it's fantastic. What a relief! You'll have to wait for the doco premier to hear the audio, I will put a little footage up as soon as I get a moment to edit something together. Stay tuned!

Shoot Update: Things are coming along swimmingly for our Midsummer Night's Dream-themed photoshoot set for this weekend. Saturday is supposed to be gorgeous and Sunday (so far) has a teeny tiny chance of rain that I'm going to ignore for the time being. We're going to get a little creative about the shooting order, since one of the girls cannot stay for the entire shoot Sunday, so we'll get some shots in of her Saturday.

LoliGirls Documentary Treatment

LoliGirls: The story behind the frills and bows
 
A documentary that lifts the veil of the underground lolita fashion movement and sub-culture. 

Synopsis:

A real look into the world of lolita fashion as it presently exists in the United States. This fashion phenomenon first emerged from Japan and has slowly made its presence known here in the states. Though the Japanese version of lolita fashion is constantly evolving and becoming ever more creative and brazen, the American lolita is somewhat more demure. 

Here we introduce The Court, a small group of girls who gather together to share their love of this unique and whimsical lifestyle.  Not only did the lolita fashion take hold of these girls’ fancy, but it also managed to completely change their world. This is their story, and why it’s not just about pretty dresses and white lace. 

I'm very sorry to report that one of our lolitas opted to drop out of the documentary. It's too bad, but I understand that life can get complicated really fast, and I'm positive that we can still make a pretty kicka$$ documentary with the 3 lovely ladies of The Court.

That's my main announcement for today! In other news, I met with Linsey, who will co-produce this documentary with me, yesterday. Over some delicious vegetarian food (I love It's Only Natural) we discussed our ideas for the doco and attempted to come up with some sort of a storyline. Of course without filming anything yet it's hard to tell exactly where this documentary might go. For now it looks like it will be mainly informational, with a side story of these 3 lovely lolis who are preparing to put on one of the biggest lolita fashion shows ever seen on this side of the U.S. Of course we also discussed funding (or lack thereof). It would be amazing if we were able to garner some support for this film, especially since it'll be the first of its kind, but we're not going to depend on money and, thus, it's a low/no-budget doco. Funding will limit us in some ways, but forces us to think outside of the box and get creative. I will certainly use this space to describe how creative we get with our filming methods, in case you're at all curious!

Linsey and I are going to start putting together a treatment for this doco and will post it up here as soon as possible! So stay tuned!

Hello and thanks for tuning in!

I intend on using this space to give updates on the progress of the documentary "Lolita Girls" (note: working title!). As far as my research shows (which is Googling and browsing YouTube) there haven't been any documentary made on the state of Lolita fashion/lifestyle here in the U.S.

So I'm hoping to enlighten the public a bit on this poofy, frilly, often over-the-top fashion, and also entertain and educate. I intend to do this by following the lives of 4 local lolitas as they prepare to put on for one of the biggest lolita fashion show in CT ever (they even enlisted me to modeling in the show!).

Expect photoshoots, tea parties, fashion and drama from this production, which is currently in preproduction. My name is Kato and I'm producing this documentary on very, very low budget. I'm hoping to get some interest in the film and perhaps receive some funding so I won't be limited by my dwindling bank account. I'm a freelance videographer (www.katoproductionsllc.com) with a passion for film and fashion, and although I've worked on several short documentaries, this will be my first time producing (...directing and editing!). My awesome friends will assist as camera operators, directors, photographers and composers.

Please feel free to comment with any questions or suggestions! I'd love to hear your ideas and input!