Follow up to the Biking shoot
Here’s the result from the green screen biking gag I shot the other day for Elastic Creative / Cisco.
Click the image to watch …
Two photos selected for gallery show
Received a nice note that two of our photos have been selected to show at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado for the month of July. I did have an inclination of what they were after as their show theme is consumption – something we’ve been toying with lately in our work. And one of the photos, the lush overhead shot titled THE DAY WE STOPPED, was awarded an Honorable Mention. Woot! The other photo selected was the wonderful chaotic mess titled ABSINTHE. Interestingly both projects have a short art/editorial film we produced in tandem with the photo shoot. ABSINTHE will in fact be playing at the 12th annual Artsfest Film Festival in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at the end of this month.
Here are the two photos and films …
Click here for THE DAY WE STOPPED.
Click here for ABSINTHE.
As for the details … in both instances we used the Nikon D3X for the still capture with strobes and relighted for motion using the Red and daylight balance lighting (HMIs, kinos, etc.). Absinthe was shot overcranked 60fps for 24fps.
Biking on the green
Had an interesting shoot the other week with Elastic Creative where we had to capture an exec bicycling through various streets from different angles and such. Now I’m a big fan of doing things practically, but this was the perfect time for using green screen. It solved a number of issues from having to jack the cost up with either a camera car or process trailer, depending upon the weather gods to smile, maintaining focus and having the proper locations scouted and locked. Not to mention the nightmare of light and shadow control. Plus since they wanted all sorts of angles, we’d need a crane and scout more locations to match. And as we’re dealing with an exec, his time was extremely tight … you don’t want to spend days dragging him around to various locations. You’re luck if he stay for the few hours he can commit to.
So green is good – but creates a new problem: how to have him realistically ride his bicycle. The easy solution was to simply put him up on a bike stand a tilt the image in post. But you lose the perspective shift that happens in a ride by and his weight will not be positioned correctly on the bike. Enter Josh Koral and the good folks at ACME. The same guy who made the outdoor living room in Justin Herman Plaza I shot for Elastic a while back. He made a simple but effective bike rig that gave us great control over the rig to tilt and spin it while he was riding. And there was just enough play in the handle bars to do a little twisting for the turns. The result was awesometown.
And how about that crane shot that was ordered? Well, that’s the beauty of having a tall stage with your own scissor lift – easy high angle shots (as long as they’re static). That’s our Red up there strapped to the top with Joe E. Rivera making sure it doesn’t take a header.
And here’s the final film.
The iPad portfolio … hell yes!
A little bit ago it certainly was hard to dodge all the news about Apple’s forthcoming iPad. And I was tuned in to it fairly heavily as I could see how the media was ready to embrace a new possible outlet for their relevancy while others were spiraling down the drain. (I remember being offered a newspaper job in 1999 that was almost too good to be true, mainly because they wanted me to help usher them into the digital era. I of course saw no future in it past me being the “Quark Guy.” So I jumped ship and got into streaming media … yeah I digress.) So here we are some 10 years later and while there is a place evolving for my old position, this new platform is solving a problem I’m having right now.
As we’ve made our headway into still photography as a medium, we recognize our intrinsic value of actually knowing how to do motion work while a number of photogs are trying to make heads or tails of it. And the agency side is muddying the waters as they figure out who’s going to work for who. In the meantime, if I walk into a portfolio review with just a printed version I’ll only be pitching a portion of our program. Enter the iPad.
Stacey and I were discussing the launch date one night, and weighing the pros and cons. What was it, who will use it, will it stick. As she was a proud newton owner (I could only lust for one), she knew the value of a smartly-designed handheld input device. But initially we didn’t think it was for us – yet. We saw a future with one or two hanging around with perhaps a little extra income. But after a little bit of analysis we hit on our sweet spot. The ability to show both beautifully reproduced still images and video on a smartly designed presentation for portfolio reviews. One cheap enough that we could arguably leave it behind and then have returned to us. I quickly found myself opening weekend at the Apple store picking one up before they became scarce.
Now that we’ve sipped the kool-aid, we are using it as fully as possible. A quick check of email in the morning while trying to assemble Ozi off to school. Sharing a couple of movies with the kiddo while killing some time. Not having to find a power outlet while waiting for class to get out or he takes a romp about a playground. Observing as the industry tries awkwardly to adopt a new platform by incorporating video and motion graphics. And setting up a portfolio presentation that shows we know enough to help guide a traditionally print medium into a rich experience (so it’s not so awkward).
And the sweet part is that the presentation is delicious. It’s a good size compromise for looking at both still and motion work. I did a new pass on our motion work with the Apple TV settings and the results are just nice. Of course, everything always looks best when big — but this is the right tool to address this audience of one. Now someone has to write the perfect portfolio review app that handles images and motion and we’re good to go.
First A’s spots making it out
Here’s the first couple of about 10 we shot in Phoenix just before Spring Training. This one was fast …
And then they got tiny …
A’s commercials in da can
Just returned from a week in Phoenix at the A’s spring training facilities shooting commercials for the 2010 Oakland A’s season. I had a great time working with director DJ O’Niel of Hub Strategy, and brought along Joe Mendoza to light and Aaron Meister to AC. I was thankful that I could bring in these key players as it proved pivotal to handling our super tight schedule. We scouted for a day and a half, picking angles, calling lenses, figuring blocking and light placement. It’s always nice to have a firm game plan going in to battle … especially since we had about two hours to shoot each spot.
The combination of key players worked together very well, including the producers/creative team from Hub and local hire keys as AD and Key Grip. So well that we were able to grab an extra spot one day and finish early every day (except the last day when we were just on time).
I’ll also have to give big ups to the A’s players who were wonderfully humored and let their natural talent come through. We ended up with some pretty funny stuff in the can.
Working with multiple players can always be a challenge as their time is tightly scheduled. Add in such variables as live bulls, firecrackers, tight restrictions on what can go on a baseball diamond and you’ve just opened a whole can of worms. But at the end of each day, and the end of the week, it was smiles all around. I’m looking forward to the next time we get together.
Early on in the process we talked about what camera to shoot on. Hub has an EX3 they’ve been using for the bulk of their work. We knew the schedule was going to be tight so we explored using a DSLR with video (like the 5D Mark II) as a light weight rig that would be easy to move around. Two things made us go in a different direction …
When we explored the scripts closer and crafted the shot list we saw we were after between 3 and 5 shots each spot. And I received a quote for a kitted out Canon 5D Mark II package with the proper accessories to shoot our setups (multiple lenses, focus rings, matte box, etc.) the quote wasn’t significantly less than a Red package (at least one in SF). I had a talk with Joe and Aaron about the different setups and we decided the best too was going to be Red.
I am no fan of carting large camera packages through airports, mainly due to the horror stories that I’ve heard from boxes tossed around spilling out. I usually open them and find both a TSA notice and things mispacked after they pawed through them, most often with something sharp resting against something it shouldn’t. Turns out, however that the price/packaging from our source in Phoenix wasn’t matching up. They were much too expensive/wrong equipment and it was cheaper to fly my package out even with USAir’s excessively stupid baggage fees.
The results are often what matter most, and the camera Red was the right call for this gig. And we kitted out their EX3 with a Pro35 adapter so the Red Prime package would work on both cameras. On set, I wasn’t terribly crazy about how they were matching up. But I’ll reserve my judgement until I’m sitting in the color session and it starts to get pushed around.
drinking still and motion
We are starting to kick out our first bits of work from our Consumption series … and first out the gate is Absinthe. And we’ve melded the photo and motion works to provide a complimentary work for an enriched experience. The photos were captured using a fresh Nikon D3x at 1/250 with an old 50mm 1.2 at f8. And then we retooled the set to work with HMIs and Kinos to do the motion work on Red with the Red Primes 60fps with the lenses wide open.
While the short has a very simple narrative it does bring the story of the photo out a bit, and it leaves in of the subjectivity enjoyed by the still medium.
A taste of Absinthe … and for the movie click here.
Tasty
Had an extremely prolific week last week with a pair of photo/motion shoots for our consumption series (described in an earlier post). As always you are as strong as the team you pull together.
For both shoots we had the scrumptious fashions of Meli. She pulled together a couple of gauzie numbers and a special bustle to hide a flying harness. The details are always what make the outfit with little red bows dripping down the legs and black leather straps.
On hair and makeup was the freaky stylie Mill and some fantastically big hair. I had to grab a couple specials just to highlight his concoctions. The makeup was superb and flowed with the concepts nicely providing a great punch.
And I am a bit biased, but Stacey rocked three kick ass sets to put our models into an ocean of goodness. She flipped one of the old-money sets from the first shoot to make a decayed decadance for our Absynth drinking damsel. You could put the two next to each other and you’d be hard pressed to see the similar bones.
We topped it off with some lovely motion captures that should cut into something interesting. I’ll hopefully run it through next week and have a little something to show for our efforts. I finally have the edit suite up and running at the studio. It’s painfully easy to work there in the little opportunity I’ve had so far. There is a photo shoot in there Sunday that will give me a some more time in the seat.
Another important detail is that I need to dial in the music to the piece. Something that will compliment it and find the right tone. Again, a chance to dabble in something hehe.
I’ll post up a couple of karma shots when I get home (writing this post while killing time at the tattoo shop). I want to make sure you know everyone who’s responsible for what has become. Especially cats like Joe Mendoza and Jesse Dana who helped hang Hattie through a ceiling from a box truss. It’s nice to have commrads with skills.
Resident Evil campaign
I had the good fortune to team up with Eric Shamlin on another project now that he’s made his move over to JVST from Goodby. As is happening these days, they had a campaign that needed the talents of both a photographer and director/dp. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles for the Nintendo Wii was making it’s push out and due to the concept at the time, they needed someone who could shoot a range of styles and stay true to the vision. The funny / ironic thing was literally the day before, Stacey and I were talking about career paths and shooting Resident Evil came up. So, uh, check.
As the industry goes with combining acquisitions, this was for print campaigns in SF and NYC plastered all over the trains and subways with corresponding web banners with motion.
And as a bonus, they opened it up to worldwide and the UK tossed in a concept.
Each setup for the US was shot both still and motion. In the directing I found myself playing the roll of the zombie to get the proper reaction when there were two ‘normal’ actors in the shot. I’m sure it must have hilarious to be down the hall from us and here me doing repetitive zombie roars (or shouting some non sequitur). And due to the cross shooting, I again chose to go with a gaffer (Charles Griswold from Little Giant) and a photo assistant (Lauren Stocker) to shape lighting and ideas … plus they’re good company on set.
The coming consumption
We are gearing up an awesome shoot for November that is a push into our art series. This first set is a series of consumption. This refers not so much to food as is does to those things that we desire and take in and digest. It will involve a couple of fairly involved sets that Stacey will put together. A floor and a ceiling that are connected by a story. The two places go together but are never seen in the same image. A diptych that confounds the simple observation.
Key players in our little art party include the uber talents of clothing designer Meli Innes-Brown who is hard at work on drafting something gauzy. Her work includes such things as:
On hair and make up is the fantastic fellow who helped us out this past Thursday on another shoot (pics to come soon) Mil u Ranon. He was a true pleasure to work with and I’m glad he’s coming in for this as well. His work that will be similar includes this photo:
And we have the striking Siam on board as our model who is seen both here and there. She will fit perfectly into our visions of the space and understand the delicate balance of the situation and how to behave.
Ah yes, all so cryptic … you’ll just have to wait and see.