Elisha Smith-Leverock

'I WANT MUSCLE'

2011-10-02T10:55:00.006+01:00

My new film 'I Want Muscle' will be premiering at Diane Pernet's ASVOFF 4 festival on the 7th of October.
This years ASVOFF will take Place at Centre Pompidu in Paris. Check out the schedule for the festival here.
Other films showing are by the likes of Steven Meisel, Ellen Von Unwerth, Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin and many others.

'I want Muscle' is a film that plays with taboos and gender stereotypes. It aims to explore a different kind of female beauty. It provides a glimpse into the world of Kizzy Vaines, a female bodybuilder. She is the only British competitor for the Olympia Fitness title in Las Vegas.

The visual aesthetic and soundtrack of the film are reminiscent of the glamour of the late 70s and early 80s, the golden age of female bodybuilding. It pays homage to the pioneering goddesses of the sport like Lisa Lyon and Rachel Mclish.

I wanted to shoot a muscle worship film but taken out of a fetish context. The idea was to break with traditional ideas of femininity in fashion and play with imagery that is conventionally perceived as glamourous, sexy, soft and feminine to then juxtaposed with displays of pure strength and shots of the grueling pain and discipline that is involved in achieving this type of physique.

'I want Muscle' a film by Elisha Smith-Leverock
featuring Kizzy Vaines
Permiers at ASVOFF4
October 7th - 9th
Centre Pompidou
Paris

This film was made possible with the help of Creature London, KonckKnock Productions and Stamp London.

Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant

2011-03-02T11:40:00.002Z

Fred Butler LFW screening

2011-02-22T23:34:00.004Z

Some snaps from the 'Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant' screening at LFW. In case you missed it, check out the exclusive web-premiere at A Shaded View On Fashion

Craig Lawrence, Fred Butler, Me, Rosy Nicholas

Konstantinos Menelaou, Diane Pernet

Fred Butler, Griffin, Me, Benjamin Esser

Rosy Nicholas

Fred Butler

Piers Atkinson Private View

2011-02-22T23:32:00.001Z

Some snaps from Piers Atkinson's private view on Saturday. Check out his amazing new collection here

Kim Howells, Alain Quilici, Piers Atkinson

Griffin, Zaiba Jabbar

Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant web-premieres on A Shaded View On Fashion

2011-02-22T22:37:00.006Z

Head over to Diane Pernet's site A Shaded View On Fashion to catch the web-premiere of Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant. It's the film for Fred Butler's brand new A/W2011 collection, directed by me and styled by Kim Howells. Diane's site also features interviews with Fred and me.

Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant
Directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock, Stylist Kim Howells, DOP Ben Todd, Hair Ben Jones, Makeup and Nails Yin Lee, Model Lindsey Byard at Next Model Management, Editor Ryan Boucher, Colourist Aubrey Woodiwiss at The Mill, Set Design Helen Macintyre, Music Benjamin Esser, Shot at Hoxton Street Studios, Crown and Shin Piece by Rosy Nicholas for Fred Butler, Special thanks to Hannah Wood for Corset Construction, ADDITIONAL THANKS to Dave Hutton, Marty Finney, Reuben Esser and Stamp Films

Premiere - come down!

2011-02-15T20:38:00.002Z

CockNBullKid the video

2011-02-01T13:02:00.006Z

CockNBullKid - Hold On To Your Misery directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock

Producer: Tom Knight for Stamp Films, DOP: Steve Annis, Art Directors: Sam & Arthur, Stylist: Rowdy Superstar, Hair: Joyce Iwuoza, Make up: Claudine Blythman, Choreographer: Natricia Bernard, Editor: Ryan Boucher, Grade: Aubrey @ The MIll,

Here are some pictures from behind the scene of the fun shoot. The amazing floral headpieces are by the lovely Fred Butler of course.

CockNBullKid Shoot

2011-01-13T17:37:00.002Z

Fred Butler interview

2011-01-13T17:31:00.002Z

Sneak peek of a shoot I just did

2011-01-10T21:47:00.001Z

Sunshowers & W Magazine

2010-11-18T10:25:00.000Z

Sunshowers is being featured in W Magazines Fashion On Film section. Check it out here

Sunday Girl take III

2010-10-22T17:30:00.000+01:00

Here is my latest video. It's the third video I have done for Sunday Girl and it's her first major single release!
The set design was inspired by Jade's (Sunday Girl) love of animals and everything to do with superstition; and although we were surrounded by all these black umbrellas, ladders and broken mirrors no one got hurt and it was a great shoot all round. We were blessed by the sun and I got to work with my favorite DOP Steve Annis again.

The only one this might have repercussions for is poor Andy Littlefair, the art director, he had to break all the mirrors. I wouldn't go near them!!! What's the punishment for breaking mirrors again, seven years bad luck? Ouch!!!

Well, I'm sure the video will bring Jade good luck and we'll see her in the charts soon!!!

Here is the video and some behind the scenes pics.

Sunday Girl - Stop Hey (Promo) - Directors Cut from Elisha Smith-Leverock on Vimeo.

Promo fro Sunday Girl - Stop Hey
Directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock
DOP Steve Annis
Producer Neil cray for Stamp Films
Editor Ryan Boucher
Colorist Aubrey Woodiwiss at The Mill
Art Direction Andrew Littlefair
Styling Michelle Kelly
Make-Up Silver Bramham
Hair Liz Taw

'Unlucky' Andy

Lucky Jade

Tired dog

Happy Clapper

Lovely Jade

Toro Y Moi

2010-10-22T17:05:00.000+01:00

Here's a little clip I directed with my friend Chris Murdoch. It's for Toro Y Moi, a band I absolutely love!
We shot this on the tiniest of budgets and we totally have to thank all the cast for being so amazing and Chaz (Toro Y Moi) for giving us artistic freedom. All he requested was that the video be 'dark' and we were more than happy to oblige.

The inspiration for this video came from all sorts of things like pulp magazines and Cinderella to sploshing and mono-brows. It's a nod to Italo-horror flics form the 70s and 80s. It features an appearance by 60s it-girl Daphne Sherman, wife of the legendary mod tailor Ben Sherman, who stars as a demented ballroom dancing reject/ waitress.

According to Chaz the song was written for his girlfriend asking her to not fall asleep whilst driving. We based the video on the idea of this sleep-deprived girl calling at a roadside diner for a coffee. Next thing you know she's semi-conscious and experiencing some really weird sh**

Have fun watching it

Toro Y Moi - Low Shoulder

Credits:

Director: Elisha Smith-Leverock & Chris Murdoch
DOP: Elisha Smith-Leverock
Editor: Ryan Boucher
Art Department: Jessica Bernard
Hair: Hiroshi Matsushita
Make-up: Freya Danson-Hatcher
Actors: Daphne Sherman, Isamaya Ffrench, Eva Doll

Juicy Bits

2010-09-08T17:30:00.000+01:00

'Nape Of Neck' and other body parts now up on ShowStudio.com

Nape Of Neck directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock for Fred Butler
Styled by Kim Howells

Sunday Girl - Self Control the video... ta da!

2010-07-16T15:01:00.000+01:00

Here we go, the latest Sunday Girl video - directed by me!
Incredible art department job by Andy Littlefair and brilliant camera work by my favorite DOP Steve Annis.
Hope you like! xx

Sunday Girl - Self Control- Promo from Elisha Smith-Leverock on Vimeo.

Directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock

DOP Steve Annis

Produced by Neil Cray for Stamp Films

Art Director Andrew Littlefair

Styling Michelle Kelly

Make-up Silver Bramahan

Hair Liz Taw

Editor Ryan Boucher

Colorist Aubrey Woodiwiss

Taxidermy Dream Girl

2010-07-12T12:07:00.000+01:00

Just spent two consecutive days shooting not one but two videos for the beautiful Jade Williams aka 'SundayGirl'.
Here are some snaps from behind the scenes of the first one for a track called 'Self Control'. The shoot involved a jar of eyeballs and loads of other taxidermy oddities.
The 'Self Control' video should be out soon, meanwhile check out the track on Sunday Girl's Myspace. More to come soon.

Milan

2010-05-27T14:17:00.000+01:00

I have a very basic sense of humor

More Milan..

2010-05-27T14:11:00.000+01:00

A picture of all the directors, which i nicked from the Vogue.it website.

Milan Milan Milan

2010-05-27T13:04:00.000+01:00

Earlier this week Fred Butler and I hoped on an Easyjet flight to the mainland. Our destination- Milan, the ASVOFF Milan launch party.
Since i'm not much of a writer I'm going to leave it to the others to give a detailed account of the event and I'll just post up a few of my personal impressions. (Read all about our trip on fred's blog. Read about the event on Diane's blog and on vouge.it)
My highlights of the trip were finally being able to meet the lovely Diane Pernet and Antoine Asseraf, the currators of this event. It was equally exciting to meet all the other participating directors and see there amazing work.

Airport Fred

Traveling with Fred

Traveling with me

Directors dinner hosted by Massimiliano & Beniamino

The blue skies of Milan

ASVOFF launch

Diane and Antoine

Vogue interview (I'm way more comfortable behind the camera)

Sunshowers on the big screen

Fred and me with Anna Piaggi

Fellow Stamp director Justin Anderson

French directors Leo Siboni and Suzie Q

Diane

I love Diane Pernet

2010-05-20T18:49:00.000+01:00

Cant believe she mentioned me in this interview. Absolute bliss.

Young Directors Award Blog

2010-05-04T11:26:00.000+01:00

If you are a budding director you should check out this blog. It's a great platform for emerging talent. Here's a link to a feature they did on me recently.

ASVOFF soon!!!

2010-04-18T16:18:00.000+01:00

A Shaded View On Fashion Film — Milano
with Vogue Italia, City of Milan, 10 Corso Como and Lancia

May 25 - 30, Palazzo Morando, 6 Via Sant'Andrea, Milano
More info - www.asvoff.com

Featuring the new LIGHT 1-MINUTE series with videos by Elisha Smith-Leverock, Mattias Montero, Justin Anderson, Yoann Lemoine, Andrea Splisgar, Malcolm Pate, Antoine Asseraf & René Habermacher, Alvaro de la Herran, Filep Motwary, and many more...

Trailer music: Benjamin Esser for Elisha Smith-Leverock's "Sunshowers"

Bye Bye

2010-04-09T13:35:00.000+01:00

Waltz Darling @ Yahoo! Video

SUNSHOWER #1 FASHION FILM OF THE SEASON ON B.O.F.!!!

2010-04-02T10:38:00.000+01:00

My latest fashion film 'Sunshowers' has been named #1 fashion film of the season by the influential 'The Business Of Fashion' website. I'm absolutely psyched about this!!!

READ THE ARTICLE & SEE THE FILM HERE

'Sunshowers' was made for Diane Pernet's & Vouge.it's 'One Minute Light Series' and is a response to a simple brief given by Diane Pernet- ‘Light’. As natural light plays a significant part in my work I instantly knew I wanted to celebrate the sun in some form. The pieces featured in the film are made by Fred Butler and Rosy Nicholas for Fred Butler' S/S 2010 collection, styled by Kim Howells.

“Sunshowers” officialy premieres at ASVOFF on May 25 in Milan

Sunshowers
Directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock
DOP Steve Annis
Produced by Mary Fostiropoulos for Stamp Films
Designs by Fred Butler and Rosy Nicholas for Fred Butler
Styling Kim Howells
Make-up Yin Lee
Hair Naoki Komiya
Model Svetlana at Storm
Music Benjamin Esser

I HEART SUNDAY GIRL

2010-03-24T20:14:00.000Z

Here are some stills from Sunday Girl's video debut - which I had the pleasure to direct. Watch out for this lady she's not only talented but also stunningly beautiful. (view the official video here)

FRED BUTLER IN GAGA LAND

2010-03-12T09:30:00.000Z

Too amazing for words!!!

DOING WHAT WE DO BEST...

2010-02-23T13:46:00.000Z

...playing with light. Have a sneak peak at my contribution for this years A Shaded View On Fashion Film, "Sunshowers" at Dazed Digital and read all about it over on the Stamp. blog.
The film was commissioned by Diane Pernet and it features pieces from my favorite designer of all times Miss Fred Butler and the incredible Rosy Nicholas for Fred Butler.
Another familiar name on the styling front, superstar Kim Howells - always a pleasure. I also have to mention Svetlana at Storm the best model ever, without her patience and grace this would have never happened. This girls got anti-freeze in her veins.
Hair by the ever so talented Naoki Komiya and Make-up by the glamorous Yin Lee. She looked stunning and ready for the apré ski champagne lounge on the day. I felt completely underdressed with my nerdy directors faux fur hat.

Making of "Sunshowers"directed by Murat Y. Gokmen

Stamp - my new home

2010-02-15T14:27:00.000Z

ME & THE OTHER BIRDS - Birds Eye View Film Festival

2010-02-01T17:53:00.000Z

Birds Eye View is a great festival that celebrates & supports international female filmmakers.
Last year my fashion short for Fred Butler's Heliocentric Electric collection was part of the program and this year they will be screening my video for Bombay Bicycle Club in their category Music Loves Video.
The event will be hosted by the brilliant Miranda Sawyer. Other directors featured in this category are Dawn Shadforth and Sarah Chatfield, so I'm in the best of company!!!

Save the date ICA Cinema 1, March 6, 3.00pm

BACK WITH A BANG

2010-01-04T15:12:00.000Z

Hello and happy new year!!
it's been too long since I have posted anything but I would really like to share these gems with you.
It's Fred Butlers S/S10 collection "Hibiscus Ridiculous". It has created quite a stir. You can find a feature of Fred on Dazed Digital also here are links to some interviews I have done for Ixashley and Fred Butler Style.

Fred Butler "Hibiscus Ridiculous" S/S 2010
Photographer: Elisha Smith-Leverock
Stylist: Kim Howells
Hair: Aimee Robinson using Phyto
Make Up: Yin Lee @ Premier using MAC pro
Stylist Assistant: Reuben Esser
Hair Assistant: Brady Lea
Models: Ashleigh @ Profile
Petter Anderson @ D1
Body Suits: Sarah Magnay

David Koma

2009-11-13T00:05:00.000Z

Loving David Koma!! Styled by the fab Kim Howells, photographed by Thomas Cooksey.

Patrick Wolf and Fred Butler - the original origami ninja

2009-11-10T11:51:00.000Z

These are some pictures I took of Patrick Wolf wearing a piece by Fred Butler which was made out of a Rankin photograph. Sound complicated? read all about it on Fred's blog. "It's for charity" F.B.

SHOWstudio - Fashion Body at Somerset House

2009-10-13T15:19:00.000+01:00

Another one of my collaborations with Fred Butler can be viewed at Somerset House until the 20th of December.

As part of the SHOWstudio Fashion Revolution exhibition Fred was asked by Nick Knight to contribute a film about the nape of the neck and she approached me to direct it.
Here are some stills, just a little sneak peak. Pop down to the show to see the full length film.
17 September - 20 December 2009
SHOWstudio: Fashion Revolution at Somerset House
Embankment Galleries, Strand, London WC2R 1LA
17 September - 20 December 2010

Director -Elisha Smith- Leverock, DOP - Marcus Domleo, Stylist - Kim Howells, Hair - Cyndia Harvey using Bumble and Bumble , Makeup - Yin Lee at Premier, Models - Callum Turner at Models 1 and Jessica at Union, Producer - Nick Moss for PTE, Camera assistant - Sam Widdows

Heliocentric Electric on Vogue.com

2009-10-13T15:09:00.000+01:00

Lost in the field...with a camera phone

2009-08-19T21:22:00.000+01:00

What i did today

2009-08-18T21:00:00.000+01:00

Go See

2009-08-14T19:25:00.000+01:00

Balloons

2009-08-14T12:31:00.000+01:00

God knows I love balloons and so does Fred Butler. Thanks Fred for this lovely birthday balloon bouquet and for the fab headpiece.
Thanks for all the other lovely birthday wishes and gifts. Also got some fab watercolors, brace yourselves. xxx
p.s. those are Beth Ditos balloons in the background.
(picy by fred B.)

ASVOFF

2009-08-12T15:25:00.000+01:00

Heliocentric Electric - Fred Butler A/W09 directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock will be showing at ASVOFF this year!!!!

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Fred Butler for president!!!!

2009-08-07T11:44:00.000+01:00

Hello, hello, it's time to return a favor and support one of the most, if not THE most supportive person I know...Miss Fred Butler.
Fred Butler Style has entered the Dazed Raw Blog Awards and deserves to win!
Fred has featured my work on her blog on several occasions, we have collaborated together and she has been the most elegant person to ever lend me a hand on a shoot. See how gracious she's holding that reflector! Fred, dix points!!!
So vote, vote, vote FRED FOR PRESIDENT!!!

Everything is coming up Daisy's

2009-07-22T10:11:00.000+01:00

As mentioned in my previous posting, I just directed a little promo for future pop star Daisy Dares You's contagious tune of the same name. Here is the result!
It actually really features a scene with Daisy in the daisies, lush!!

Little Daisy Dares You

2009-07-13T13:19:00.000+01:00

These are some polaroids from a video shoot I did for Daisy Dares You on wednesday. I think she's looking glamorous, like a mini Debbie Harry

I love Helen Macintyre

2009-07-03T00:13:00.000+01:00

Today I went around to Helen's house to prep a project we are working on. Oh how would I love to live with a props designer, especially one of Helen's caliber.
Check out her work here: http://www.helenmacintyre.co.uk/
Here is a picture I took a while ago. Featuring some of Helen's over dimensional props...think the Young Fathers are somewhere in there too...They are so good!!

Summer Flowers

2009-07-03T00:05:00.000+01:00

This patch of wild flowers in the middle of Hackney really made my day.
This patch of wild flowers waiting for Peter Andre's arrival at Palladium...did too.

Glasto - Of course

2009-07-02T23:53:00.000+01:00

Went to Glastonbury the first time this year. It was overwhelming.
I'm definitely not a fan of the camping but you've got to love a good festival.
So you must excuse if I was to busy having a good time. All I have got to offer are some snaps of the wonderful blue sky.

Guy Bourdin

2009-07-02T23:38:00.000+01:00

Back with a slew of new posts!
Went to see Guy Bourdin at the Wapping project with the lovely Fred B.
Incredible previously unseen works, like the above, were on display. Started to develop a shoe fetish after seeing so many amazing pairs of Charles Jourdan's.
Felt inspired after the exhibition and just had to whip out my phone and take this picture of Fred with pale pink roses. Not even remotely a Bourdin but Fred looks great!

Bavaria

2009-06-10T13:09:00.000+01:00

Back from the beautiful bavarian country side. xe

Esser

2009-06-04T20:24:00.000+01:00

Here are some polaroids from my latest shoot with Esser. Styling by Kim Howells, always a pleasure and a privilege.

Sunday

2009-06-04T19:40:00.000+01:00

These are some pictures from a shoot I did on Sunday. Featuring wonderful props by the lovely Alex Cunningham.
Styling: Jakon Brondum
Hair: Amiee Robinson
Make-up: Helen Asher
Model: Ismini for Elite

Bombay Bicycle Club

2009-06-04T18:52:00.000+01:00

The Bombay Bicycle Club video for 'Dust On The Ground' is my latest venture into the world of directing. It is also the first one I have done for PTE. Just signed up to them a couple of months ago, already feels like home.