The digital age has seen a variety of new professions emerge within the world of fashion 2.0. The job of film director is currently amongst the most inevitable ones, in the fast-changing digital landscape. Today's fashion short film directors, have the task of reaching a wide range of individuals online, through content which transmits a fashion house's DNA, and has the potential of going viral. Italian film director Luca Finotti has been one of the most-buzzed about young fashion film creatives since a couple of years, and his portfolio of clients includes Armani, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabbana, Vogue Italia, Adidas and Moschino.
The 28-year-old currently divides his time between New York and Milan. It was in the Big Apple where he landed his first directing gig for Frankie Morello, at the age of 21. I caught up with Finotti in Milan's Navigli area – a hotspot amongst hipsters and creative folk – to discuss his creative process, excessive photoshop in fashion films, plus his next chapter in Hollywood.
Is creating a short film an actual necessity for a fashion brand, or is it a luxury only major brands can indulge in?
In the Eighties and Seventies fashion films were the commercials you would see on TV. The brands would then have to pay for an advertising spot, on top of their production costs. Today, when creating a short film, companies only have the production costs to take care of, while they can diffuse the film all over the internet for free. If they want, they can pay of course, in case they want to advertise at the beginning of a YouTube video for example. But at least they have a choice now. Apart from that, a short film also comes in handy for in-store purposes. Think about it, a brand like Prada for example which has hundreds of store locations, spends a lot of money if they're going to print their campaign for each store. When they invest in setting up in-store monitors however, it will be a high initial investment, but it saves them a lot of money on the long term. They can then also update the content regularly, by simply inserting a USB.
Can a film academy teach you how to become a film director, or does that come with experience?
I'd say it has definitely taught me a lot. It provided me with a basis, as it teaches you how to use your equipment properly. I'm talking about things that you're often not even conscious of when filming. For example, when you film somebody from a certain angle, it will transmit a certain type of emotion to the viewer.
Do you feel there is as much creativity in fashion films as there is in fashion photography?
When you do photography, you don't study cinema. It's more about being great with lighting, and getting that one shot. With videos you're dealing with twenty-four photograms per second - you're creating moving images. So that's not always as easy to understand for everyone. On top of that, today's biggest weapon in fashion photography is post-production/photoshop.
So post-production/photoshop in fashion films, is not applied with the same excess as in fashion photography?
Photoshop applied to one photo, can take two days. In order to photoshop a video, it takes a ton of time. Like I mentioned before, we're talking about 24 photograms per second, and in the case of slow-motion it's 50. So keeping in mind that the average commercial is about one 100 seconds long - which equals 240 photograms - that's a lot of work. You see this in cinema also with sci-fi movies. It may take them three years to produce a film, of which they spent two years on post-production. There's even actresses who put it in their contract that they need to be post-produced on camera. There's a famous actress who demands her eyes are photoshopped more blue on-screen.
Do you benefit from being an Italian abroad?
Definitely. When I just moved to the States, I was trying to speak English with an American accent. A famous Italian designer then told me that I should never lose my Italian accent, 'cause Americans love it. Then, being Italian, I also have a different approach to film making, which is interesting to Americans. If you look at every American blockbuster for example, they all come with the same formula: beginning, protagonist, protagonist and his or her partner, antagonist, a moment in which they switch roles, a moment in which it's unclear to the viewer how the situation will unfold, elimination of the antagonist, and happy ending. In Italy we don't use that steady formula. If you look at the work of Fellini for example, it's more improvised, more unpredictable.
How important is the company budget when creating a short film?
Budget is important for the quality, 'cause it allows you to use better lighting, better props, plus you'll have more time to finalize the project. For film you need several takes, whereas in photography we're talking about several clicks. However, when it comes to budget versus a great idea - a great idea always wins.
What are the main ingredients for a viral video?
For a short film to go viral, I believe the following is required: it should be short, captivating and visually innovative. The most important thing however, is that it intrigues the viewer from the first second. With social media, users have little time to divide their attention equally amongst everything that's coming there way. Think of videos, photos, links and status updates. A viral video needs to grab a viewer's attention through its thumbnail and the first seconds of the film. When the right sound is mixed with fast editing, an interesting cast and a current trend, it will increase the chances of a viewer watching the entire video from start to finish, as oppose to moving on to the next thing.
What's the relationship like between a film director and a designer?
I direct, but I still have a supervisor, which is the designer. My job is to take the idea the designer has been working on for 6 to 8 months to realize their collection, and spread that message amongst everyone. It's the final step basically. I get along well with designers normally, since I'm very curious and don't arrive on set with a diva-attitude. At the same time I'm honest, when I believe some of their ideas won't work on film I'll tell them so. We'll often bond over that type of confrontation.
Would you ever consider trading in the world of fashion, for the world of Hollywood?
Eventually I would like to do cinema, but fashion has taught me the basics of film making. For example, when you look at directing a model versus directing an actor. You can mold a model and let them do what you want. With actors you can ask, but they'll already have their baggage and will therefore do things in their own way. Right now I'm spending more time in LA, to learn more about this world that is Hollywood.
