We’re here in Seattle setting up gear and working out last minute details.   In case you missed it - I’m doing a 3-day live workshop on HDDSLR Cinema in Seattle that starts Friday - it will be streamed out over the internet for free.   Exciting to say the least!   Below is the schedule (subject to change) as we have it now!  All times are P.S.T.   For more information and to sign up pls go to creativeLIVE. If you can’t make if during these times - the course will be downloadable after the live stream for a relatively small fee.

(more…)

We’ve been quite busy preparing for the 3 day workshop with creativeLIVE that will be streamed out to the web live starting next week on:

Friday, April 30th at 11 a.m. in Seattle, WA.

The workshop is FREE throughout the 3 day stream.

The goal of the workshop is to load up the internet pipes with as much information as possible relating to this “new” breed of HDDSLR cameras.

If you are interested in signing up for the free workshop please CLICK HERE NOW to reserve your spot.

It doesn’t cost you a thing - and helps us better estimate the bandwidth needs.

(If you will be away from an internet connection during that time and would like to have a copy of the workshop - the page will also give you an option to purchase a course download - which creativeLIVE is discounting PRIOR to the workshop.  Also please see below for more information on attending this workshop in person.)

UPDATED: CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SCHEDULE.

The aforementioned schedule will allow you to watch the entire 3 day workshop - or to tune in for the specific section that you may have interest in.   This is an important goal of mine - as I expect that people from many different levels of experience will be tuning in.    So if you’d like to hear about how to best set the Picture Styles in your Canon 5D MKII or your White Balance - we’ll cover that.   If you’re only interested in tuning in to see the new Zeiss CP.2 Cinema style lenses and what they offer - feel free to tune in for just that portion as well.

The workshop will be broken down into 3 main sections: THEORY, GEAR/TECHNICAL, and LIVE SHOOTS (followed by some workflow examples that discuss basic editing, grading, and output.)

In the THEORY Section - we will be giving an overview of the “language of cinema” and discussing when to use certain techniques and more importantly “why” or to what effect.     This is the section where we’ll discuss why you’d want to shoot something with a handheld rig versus a slider or dolly.   And we’ll also discuss how to use that dolly for maximum effect.   We’ll also go over some important foundation blocks - such as the hierarchy of a film crew and discuss each crew member’s responsibilities:  don’t know what a Gaffer is or what a 1st AC does - we’ll discuss that.   For those that haven’t had a chance to go to film school - this should be a welcome introduction into the art of filmmaking. (more…)

As some of you may remember - I made a comment earlier this year that 2010 would see some incredible products being released in the HDDSLR realm.

NAB 2010 kicks off tomorrow - and you should expect some pretty fantastic announcements from a wide variety of companies.   I know of quite a few - but am sworn to secrecy for at least another 12 hours or so.

For those of you who could not make it out to the city of sin for this conference - know that a lot of the buzz here surrounds the HD DSLR and “convergence” worlds.  Very exciting times.  I can’t wait to share a lot of what I know with you very shortly.   Zeiss, RedRock Micro, Lite Panels,  Marshall Electronics, Canon and many many more have some very exciting announcements.

UPDATE:  Click here for an update.

I’m very excited to announce the launch of my new website, a new reel for 2010, and a new series of fine art limited edition prints.

Needless to say - getting all of those elements lined up (from a variety of disciplines) all at once was a huge team effort.

If you haven’t had a chance to see some of my fine art work - you can find it  here. There are many new prints that have been added to the collection in time for this update.

I’ve been very fortunate to see some of my prints hanging at The International Center of Photography, at entrances to large corporations, and printed several feet wide as a center piece in many people’s homes around the globe.   Personally, I find that having one of my prints hanging in someone’s home - especially a large print in someone’s entrance or main room - is one of the biggest honors that I have felt as a photographer.   It means more to me than having it hanging in a museum or than an award for example.  Given the nature of the aerial and tilt-shift work that I have done - the 60X40 prints are by far the most common sizes that are ordered - and I have to say that every single time that we print a 5 foot wide print of one of these images - it’s such a pleasure to study then.   It can feel like playing “Where’s Waldo” with some of the images.

You’ll find two different series of prints there - one that is a premium collection, and another series of limited edition prints - all signed and printed on fine art archival inkjet prints.  The limited edition prints are at a higher price point as only a limited series of prints of these images will ever be produced.

You’ll also find a new reel on both the new site- and below:

04•2010•REEL from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

I’d like to thank Benjamin Nussbaum for putting together a fantastic edit together.   Ben also edited Nocturne a few months ago - and he and his post house Pictures in a Row have been fantastic partners.

I’d also like to thank the fantastic team at LiveBooks for their incredible work - and frankly: their incredible amount of patience.   Trying to create a website while traveling almost constantly - is a huge challenge.  It wasn’t uncommon to have conference calls with me calling from overseas, with the staff in my office in LA, and a group of designers and flash artists at LiveBooks.  Dayle Hendrickson (Designer) Adam Royer (Flash Artist/Designer) and Bert Hall (Production Coordinator) did an incredible job.

Well that’s it for now - go out and check out the new site at http://www.laforetvisuals.com/ and let me know what you think!

I’m teaming up with my friend Chase Jarvis as he works with CreativeLIVE to bring you the world’s first LIVE creative education internet channel.   I’ll be sharing as much information about HDDSLR Cinema as possible from Friday April 30 through Sunday May 2nd - LIVE. My goal is to give the most comprehensive overview of HDDSLR cinema out there today - while making sure that everyone gets something out of this workshop regardless of their background.

Here is the course description:

“In this course, first time filmmakers and photographers making the transition into video will be introduced to many of the core building blocks necessary to make their first short films.

We will discuss a small amount of cinema theory and we will also look into different types of gear that will allow you to pull off more consistent results with HDDSLR Cameras.

We will discuss the use of a variety of lenses, fluid heads, external monitors, follow focus units, JIBs and Sliders . Students will come away from this online workshop with a good understanding of what tools they need for their productions, and when and how to best use them.”

How much for this information ?

It’s FREE.  Yep - just come visit CreativeLIVE’s website during that time period and sit back and watch.  I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to throw questions at me as well.

What’s the catch?  Well there is none.   The way CreativeLIVE pays for all of the technology/staff/effort is to make recordings of these sessions in their entirety - available for a small fee - (the exact fee is going to be announced soon - but expect it to be less than a single hotel night’s stay at a hotel…) to download to whatever device you’d like to watch the content on whatever device you’d like to see it on.  Remember  - if you’re available to be there during the live broadcast - it won’t cost you a penny.   I think that’s a pretty fair deal for everyone.

I think this is a fantastic effort by Chase and CreativeLIVE and really would love to see this movement take off the way I think it can.

As some of you know - I’ve been fortunate enough to get a chance to fly around the world to lecture on some of my work, as well as to lead workshops on HDDSLR video, over the past decade.   While nothing will ever replace the one on one time with students - I always thought there had to be a better way to share information with more than 20-100 people at a time… I think and hope this is it.   You don’t have to pay for airfare, lodging, and the workshop - and I don’t have to fly around the world away from my family - this is a WIN WIN.  And people from around the world can benefit which is fantastic.

I hope you can drop in on the workshop via the web.   I’ll be putting up a more detailed schedule up shortly as well so that you can plan to drop in at the most relevant times (depending on what I’m covering.)

I’m stoked on this one - and I am going to put a lot of work into making this something well worth your time!

Oh - and I almost forgot - I’m NOT ALONE:   David DuChemin, Zack Arias, Scott Bourne, Art Wolfe are also diving head first into this.

• I will be speaking this Friday April 9th at Cypress College in Orange County, Califonia.

For more details go HERE.

• Next week I will be taking part in the “All-In Film” Charity poker meetup in Las Vegas as part of the NAB week in Las Vegas.  I will be joined by Philip Bloom, Rodney Charters, Shane Hurlbut, and Kevin Shahinian at the Poker Tables at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas (people apparently win a pretty nice prize for taking each one of us out!)  I’m sure it will be a great evening with dozens of awesome giveaway prizes (for more info on the event and prizes check here.) Even better a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross for Haitian earthquake relief effort.

•  I will also be speaking at The 2010 NAB show for Canon and others next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas.   Come and say hi at the Canon booth.