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.
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.
So we finally shot the death scenes (where the band is killed off) and a number of the supporting photos of a bunch of different comedians who were so kind as to stop by. Now a little blood spatter and we’ve a finished visual product. This section will have the longest post process and will turn out pretty kick as with a very stylistic look. Each of the guys is really getting it.
I won’t say when we’ll have the whole project set, but at least we have the goods.
Breathing … One project in the can … need to get cutting on it. Hot -n- Cheesy … how could we resist this little challenge from the folks over at Poptent. We came up with a concept a little out of the box so we’ll see how it flies. We’ll like it for sure. So much that we went cranked it up and notch and double dipped a photo shoot with the same characters and sets. I’ll flip up some of the takes hopefully next week (after Stacey wraps work on another set for another shoot …).
I actually owe a lot of footage from recent work trying to get it into some semblance of finished shape but have been pinned down by recent work. It’s a good problem. Snagged a couple of days doing some corporate … one on the shoulder for 14 hours … it’s a little sore. And poor Ozi’s been feeling the brunt getting tossed around a little. Seems like he’s been holding his own in it though and tomorrow’s a full daddy day to catch up.
Another photo shoot lined up for next week. Then into some serious post!
Another fine day down on Lucifer’s Crewcut. We even wrapped an hour early … now that’s cookin’ with gas! Robert helped pull together some great bits by the band. Plus I got to keep my line as the non-sequitur transition out of the hallway into the closet. I now have the material for the first half of the film. Some tricky stuff coming up, but it will be totally cool and worth it. Here’s a couple of shots … the reverse angle of the Elks lodge and the inside of the closet.
Gary Hartunian signs Spoiled Milk, er or Lucifer
We’ve wrapped the first days of Lucifer’s Crewcut. What a joy it was working with Maria Bamford … nothing like working with real pros to take your project to the next level. We had a half day with her and banged it out with time to spare. I think that also speaks to the quality of the effort our crew put in to rattle this one off. Robert and I were simpatico on working the scenes together to squeeze out the best creative juices from the project.
Robert and Jason work with Maria Bamford on her climatic shot.
Stacey’s team did a wonderful job of pulling together the sets to really give us something to shoot. The last couple of weeks of their work are going to as much of the film as anything else. The whole thing is turning out beautifully. Nicely distressed walls of funny old men in pointy hats … the perfect dressings of water coolers and radiators. The detail of the years worth of pencils hanging from the old rotary phone in the hallway leaving little half moons scrapings on the wall. Great job baby!
And as a bonus, Mark Brecke was there as our set photographer to capture the best moments. It’s nice to have someone like that working with you and adding that extra dimension.
Mark and Jason work to capture the heap of quartet.
Next stop … December when we can reassemble the cast and crew to bang out the remaining days.
The bulk of the Lucifer’s Crewcut webiste has been uploaded and ready to tantalize the masses. Right now there is just the one clip with Jello Biafra talking about his run ins with the ‘cut. Soon we’ll get the stickers and shirts turned on. And let’s not forget some great materials from Arj Barker, Robert Hawkins and Doug Benson.
Our first day of shooting is set for Oct. 8th at our new studio. We’re grabbing Maria Bamford while she’s in town at one of the local clubs. We can shoot out the day with the other shots of the four guys together as they will all be here in SF.
