Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 21166 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| RANK AWARD ENTRY: FASHION SHOW | 1967 | 1967-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Black & White Sound: Sound Duration: 4 mins 7 secs Credits: Tyne Tees Television Genre: TV Magazine Subject: Fashions Architecture |
| Summary A Tyne Tees Television news magazine feature, an entry in the 1967 Rank Awards for British Television News Film. The models are filmed in and around buildings by architects Ryder and Yates, Norgas House and the British Gas Engineering Research Station at Killingworth in North Tyneside, combining new modernist architecture with the latest 1960s fashions. |
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Description
A Tyne Tees Television news magazine feature, an entry in the 1967 Rank Awards for British Television News Film. The models are filmed in and around buildings by architects Ryder and Yates, Norgas House and the British Gas Engineering Research Station at Killingworth in North Tyneside, combining new modernist architecture with the latest 1960s fashions.
The opening shot shows the large windows of Norgas House at Killingworth. Office workers can be clearly seen through the windows.
The...
A Tyne Tees Television news magazine feature, an entry in the 1967 Rank Awards for British Television News Film. The models are filmed in and around buildings by architects Ryder and Yates, Norgas House and the British Gas Engineering Research Station at Killingworth in North Tyneside, combining new modernist architecture with the latest 1960s fashions.
The opening shot shows the large windows of Norgas House at Killingworth. Office workers can be clearly seen through the windows.
The camera pans from left to right. In the distance across a lawn a model hangs on to her hat as she poses, because of the windy conditions.
From behind a nearby column a model poses for the camera. her outfit comprises of a pale coloured wide brimmed hat, similarly coloured jacket and shorts, with darker lace tied boots. The model does a brief dance for the camera. The wind is quite strong and blows her clothes and hair. A different angle shot shows the model in close up against the perspective of a row of pillars receding into the distance.
The model seen earlier across a lawn is shown from a closer viewpoint, posing near a tree sapling. She is wearing a pale coloured wide brimmed hat turned up at one side and an overcoat. She removes the overcoat which has a zip fastener to reveal a sleeved dress.
A close up follows of one of the columns which is covered in small tiles. A gloved hand on the texture of a woollen [?] overcoat is revealed. The camera pulls back showing the model with her hand on the column with her back towards the camera. She then poses for the camera showing off the back, front and sides of the coat. The camera pans right to left. A shot of a small white pyramid follows. This is a decorative structure within the vicinity of Norgas House, the neighbouring building seen in the distance is the British Gas Engineering Research Centre, which like the Norgas Building was designed by Newcastle architects Ryder and Yates. The film cuts to another exterior shot of Norgas House. The camera shot travels upwards to reveal the large windows and skyline of the office block.
The film then cuts to a close up of the face of a model lying on her back apparently asleep. She raises herself up and looks out of a window and waves. The camera cuts to a long shot where we see that the model is reclining on a bench type couch in office, presumably within Norgas House. An office desk is just behind her. The model moves from a reclining position to a sitting position, then gets up and poses in front of the office desk. Behind the desk another model, apparently on the phone, sits with her feet on the desk. The other model continues to pose in front of the desk showing off a flower patterned trouser suit. The model seated behind the desk is wearing a pale coloured costume. She takes her feet off the desk and puts the phone down. She swivels round on the seat. A change of camera angle as she now faces the camera. She gets up from the chair to reveal that she is modelling pale coloured shorts with a pale coloured sleeved top. The model then makes a flamboyant gesture towards a nearby table, as if like a magician, she is about to make something appear out of thin air. Suddenly a model appears on the table. She is wearing a sleeveless top in a pale colour with flared pale coloured trousers.
The film cuts to two other models dressed in polka dot outfits wearing straw boater type hats. They play with a reflection of themselves in a large plate glass window. The models then run up a short flight of stairs and enter a clear glass lined corridor. They then each play with skipping ropes.
The film then cuts to another two models one at the foot of a flight of stairs the other at the top. They are both wearing similar pale coloured outfits, with wide brimmed hats. The model at the bottom of the stairs watches the other come down the stairs. This model who has just walked down stairs is wearing a dressing with a long row of buttons down the front The model at the foot of the stairs poses wearing and overcoat, which has a zip fastener down the front. They walk away from the camera around the side of the open staircase. The camera cuts to double glass doors clearly marked with the word 'Out' on each door. The two models go through these doors and another set beyond to exit the building. The doors close ending the film.
Context
Whereas the 1950s welcomed a new adventurous approach to fashion photography, it was the 1960s which was responsible for a revolutionary change that still inspires fashion photographers today. As a result of the 60s youth cultural revolution - new types of pop music, greater disposable income, increased leisure time, a more liberal attitude to sex before marriage and the more distinctive generation gap between the young and the old - fashion became intensely relevant to young people,...
Whereas the 1950s welcomed a new adventurous approach to fashion photography, it was the 1960s which was responsible for a revolutionary change that still inspires fashion photographers today. As a result of the 60s youth cultural revolution - new types of pop music, greater disposable income, increased leisure time, a more liberal attitude to sex before marriage and the more distinctive generation gap between the young and the old - fashion became intensely relevant to young people, reflected in the hugely eclectic mixture of styles, shapes, materials and colours seen during this transitional moment of British fashion.
One of the most important influences on fashion and fashion photography of the mid-1960s was the NASA Space Program which aimed (and succeeded) to get a man on the moon before the decade was over. The Space Race, as the competition with the Soviet Union became known as, inspired a futuristic aesthetic and a wave of cinema and television shows, most notably Star Trek (from 1966) and later in 1968, the films Barbarella and 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this short film we see a rich tapestry of women’s fashion including space age, Nehru collars associated with the burgeoning hippie movement, colourful psychedelic and op art prints influenced by the popularity of the mind-altering drug LSD and the Twiggy-esque Dolly Bird mini dresses with youthful collars. A new wave of young photographers dominated 1960s fashion photography, the main players being the London trio of David Bailey, Terence ‘Terry’ Donovan and Brian Duffy, who for the first time ever, became just as famous as the celebrities they shot. Likewise, the fashion models became household names, not just the designs they were wearing. Models such as Jean Shrimpton, Twiggy and Veruschka became synonymous with 1960s fashion. ‘Novelty’ was the buzzword for the new style of fashion photography, with magazines prioritising new and exciting images and compositions to keep the young readers interested in this decade which was constantly reinventing itself (“Fashion Photography”). The monochromatic optical illusions of the new Op Art style, heavily associated with Brigit Riley, and the psychedelic aesthetic influenced by LSD use, influenced the approach to photography, as seen in the film where a mirrored effect is used to create an optical illusion. The director of this film has also employed use of the ‘Dutch Angle’ to contribute to this druggy effect, which is so evocative of the era. The Dutch angle is a camera shot where the camera is set at an angle to the frame, akin to tilting one's head to the side. The name Dutch derives from the German word for ‘German‘ (Deutsch) and the German expressionist cinema movement which used the Dutch Angle extensively to portray psychological uneasiness or tension or disorientation. This particular film was commissioned by Tyne Tees Television and was entered into the Rank Awards. The Rank empire dominated British cinema from the 1930s to the 1950s, and slightly less so during the 1960s. During this period, its owner and founder J. Arthur Rank owned a large number of cinemas in Britain and a significant proportion of British studio space, the flagship being the famous Pinewood Studios. Rank made a substantial number of films with directors including Hitchcock, Powell and Pressburger, and the hugely popular Doctor and Carry On Series, all of which began with the iconic trademark man banging a gong (Alexander). The buildings of North Eastern architects Ryder and Yates provide the backdrop for the film, specifically Norgas House and the British Gas Engineering Research Station (ERS) at Killingworth in Northumberland, combining new modernist architecture with the latest 1960s fashions. The modernist movement was the most important style and philosophy of architecture and design of the 20th century. Also known as International Modernism or International Style, in Britain, the Modern Movement refers to the designs of the 1930s to the 1960s, influenced by European designers Walter Gropius (the Bauhaus) and Le Corbusier. The philosophy of modernist architecture was ‘form follows function,’ meaning the shape of a building should primarily relate to its intended function or purpose. Therefore modernist buildings such as Norgas House and ERS are characterised by functional design, utilising simple geometric forms, modern materials such as reinforced concrete and steel frames, the use of minimal ornamentation, a tendency towards a neutral or white palette and an open plan and spacious interior (RIBA). The regeneration of the Newcastle and surrounding areas took place during T. Dan Smith’s controversial leadership of Newcastle City Council, with Wilfred Burns as Chief Planning Officer. Smith had a post-war modernist vision of the city; his grand plan for the future to ensure Newcastle became the ‘Brasilia of the North.’ Ryder and Yates were the architectural practice chosen to help realise this vision, with both partners having already worked together on the development of the new town Peterlee, under the leadership of modernist architect Berthold Lubetkin (Carroll, 5). Gordon Ryder, born in Thornaby-on-Tees in 1919, was educated and worked entirely in the north east (Carroll, 1). Peter Yates was born in Wanstead, Essex in 1920 and was a member of the liberating army based in Paris where he tracked down Le Corbusier, a great influence on his own artistic practice. Yates offered the dishevelled Le Corbusier food and supplies and there began a friendship lasting until Le Corbusier’s death in 1965 (Carroll, 2-3). Yates relocated to the North East to work on the Peterlee project, where he met Ryder and the two subsequently set up shop together. The two earned themselves the reputation as rogue architects, their starkly modernist designs appearing radical to provincial planning committees (Carroll, xii). Their first major commission came in 1960 for a Ford car showroom on Scotswood Road in Newcastle, and there followed commissions from Newcastle Corporation, Northern Gas and Northumberland County Council (Carroll, xiii). The striking Norgas House and ERS were commissioned as part of the regeneration of an area of derelict mineshafts at Killingworth, a new town in development 7 miles north of Newcastle city centre (Carroll, 64). Norgas House, completed in 1965, was the practice’s first large project, commissioned by Northern Gas to be their headquarters. Soon followed the ERS commission by British Gas, completed in 1967, which would become their most well-known building (Carroll, 66). These buildings gained Ryder and Yates national status and earned numerous architectural awards. Both buildings have their own identity within the Killingworth landscape: Norgas House is notable for the upstanding fibreglass roof lights shaped in the form of the Minoan horns of Knossos (removed in the 1990s), and the ERS is recognisable by the 6 cylindirical and venturi-shaped sculptural roof towers containing water tanks and extract flues (Carroll, 66, 70). The 1950s had heralded a wave of atomic age structures built to house nuclear power stations (Calder Hall, Windscale) and Harold Wilson's 1960s government pushed for a new technological age of modernity. The ERS embodied this spirit of energy and experimentation, its design resembling 'a scaled-up laboratory bench of funnels and flasks'. (Grindrod, 256, 266). Unfortunately Norgas House was registered for demolition in 2012 and, as of 2016, ERS was de-listed from heritage status and is currently in danger of being demolished. They are remarkably modern and ambitious buildings for their time, providing the perfect setting to compliment the new and exciting fashions on display. Like this new style of building, the fashions of the 1960s imbued the modernist philosophy of simple, clean, no-fuss forms and also took advantage of new materials and technologies. The film Paper Fashion (1967) gives an amusing insight into the 1960s fad for all things paper, from household goods to dresses and underwear! References Alexander, Lou. “The Rank Organisation.” BFI ScreenOnline. http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/448216/index.html Carroll, Rutter. Ryder and Yates: Twentieth Century Architects. London: RIBA, 2009 “Fashion Photography” Visual Arts Cork http://visual-arts-cork.com/photography/fashion.htm#sixties RIBA https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/modernism Grindrod, John. Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain. Old Street Publishing, 2013 |
