Peter Calvillo, a film and television sophomore, is pushing the boundaries of today’s concept of visual art with his work in fashion film.
If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, don’t feel bad. Fashion films have yet to reach mainstream audiences, but they are all the rage in the underground fashion and music industries.
“A fashion film is a combination of music, clothes and film … It brings all the aspects of the visual arts together,” Calvillo said.
Calvillo has produced one fashion film so far, titled “Gravity,” and is currently working on his next piece.
The outfits for “Gravity” were purchased at Buffalo Exchange and the music is from one of his favorite electronic bands, Proxy, but Calvillo plans to begin designing his own clothes and mixing his own music for his upcoming films. He said that his main goal with “Gravity” was to get the hang of producing a fashion film from scratch.
“The first video was mainly just to set up a start of what I wanted to do, and get the feel of how to work everything,” he said.
“Gravity” may have been intended as foundation for Calvillo’s later work, but it certainly isn’t lacking in ingenuity.
“My inspiration for ‘Gravity’ was the way clothes have their own personality when they move through space, and aren’t just lifeless,” Calvillo said.
So what can viewers expect from his next fashion film? Calvillo said his second piece, which is still in the early stages of development, will be more political than his previous work.
“It’s about gun control,” Calvillo said. “I’m going to touch on masculinity and femininity, and the militant aspect of things. It’s about people’s thoughts on how guns define their strength.”
The film is slated for release in early April, Calvillo said.
With assistance from his friend Connie Lee, a pre-pharmacy sophomore, Calvillo will be designing all the clothes for this film himself and producing his own music, making the entire film an in-house effort, the culmination of Calvillo’s talents.
“I have been working on making my own music for a while now; it’s just hard on a college student budget,” Calvillo said. “I’m really inspired by Lady Gaga — she’s fucking awesome — and Nick Knight — he’s the fashion film master. But Grace Jones is who really inspired me for this next film.”
The music for his new film has been inspired by the electronic house group Autoerotique. Calvillo said he is drawn to electronic music because of the rhythm, yet is open to anything that encourages inspiration.
“I’m still trying to define my style, but [fashion films] are what I love doing,” he said. “I want to do music and eventually perform. I’m going to make a big production of myself.”
You can see Calvillo’s work on his YouTube channel at youtube.com/petercalvillo.
