The Director's Cut

Sometime last Spring, I decided it would be a fun idea to create an editorial based on some old photos I’d found of Alfred Hitchcock directing in the early 1950s. The idea of a director-actress relationship done stylishly held great appeal, but I knew it would be quite the undertaking. Such a big undertaking, in fact, that I almost didn’t go through with it.

There was the issue of props- where would I even find a vintage film camera? Or movie lights? Then there was the location. I envisioned somewhere that felt like a 1940s sound stage, preferably with a cool rooftop shooting location, but I live in Worcester in the 2010s, so that didn’t seem particularly likely. There was also the wardrobe to deal with, but I had a rough idea about that one. At some point though, I just decided to get it done, and I gave myself three weeks to plan it.

The director’s wardrobe and vintage-style jeans were provided by LaneFortyFive, who we worked with last October for our “Classics” shoot.

I knew I wanted my ingenue to have something more feminine for the shots of shooting scenes (very meta, I know). It had to be something with a vintage feel, but a specific time period felt less important, since who really knew what kind of movie was being made here. I knew just who to ask, and Delight W orthyn ART/wares honored me with some gorgeous hand made dresses.

The vintage camera came care of the Becker College design program who were extremely generous with the loan. I happen to be able to walk to Becker from our apartment, so that made my life pretty easy. Even easier was the location. I’d gotten a tour of the Worcester Sprinkler Factory just a few weeks before and knew it was the perfect spot. Luckily we had good friends to let us in. Getting Claudia and Jesslyn to model, and Paula Roderick-Voisembert on hair and makeup was all just icing on the cake.