Job Security from Runner Runner on Vimeo.

Josh Thacker (Director/Creative) and Brian Slater (Editor/Creative) were named the first winners for their short movie “Job Security” above.     I very much look forward to working with them at the end of the contest - their entry - and frankly all of the finalists entries were outstanding.

If you’re interested in participating in the contest or submittind for Chapter 3 of “The Story Beyond the Still Video” contest, those entires are now being accepted through March 22, 2010. For rules and submission instructions, click here.

Here’s what I told the Vimeo community about this first series of entries: (more…)

I just completed an HDDSLR project that involved shooting stills and video at several locations across the U.S.    The shoot was commissioned by Greg Sylvester of VSA Partners a well known agency that has a wide range of corporate and commercial clients.  Our goal was to produce an annual report that would live both in print and digitally on the web as both stills and video segments.  While this was by no means a “small shoot” it still lives in the mid-level sized corporate shoot in my book - this is no means what I would bring to an editorial shoot for example.

VSA HDDSLR Still & Video Shoot - HOVER OVER IMAGES FOR CAPTION/GEAR INFO - Images by Vincent Laforet

Given the level of interest in this new technology - I though that readers might appreciate a slide show of images that show what such a production might entail in terms of gear.   Please note that over the next few weeks I will be going over the gear that I used in this production on this blog in detail - so please hold all of your gear questions for now.

I can image some of the reactions to seeing (or trying to find) a Canon HDDSLR buried under all of this gear.  ”Why in the world would one go through this?” - someone might ask.   Why not get “x” camera.  Well the long and short of it:  the LOOK of these cameras is incredibly unique - the video coming out of these camera looks incredibly close to 35mm motion picture film (see image 13 in the slideshow for a good example of what separates this breed of cameras from the others.)   Pulling off a similar production with a 35mm film of system would be significantly more time consuming and expensive - there is absolutely zero doubt about it.   And don’t forget: the way these cameras perform in low light - also separates them from the competition.  So there absolutely is reason behind all of this madness. I had to mention this because I sometimes catch myself asking the very same question…  and then I see the results on screen and all doubt is removed. (more…)

Interview on A Photo Editor

Rob Haggart recently interviewed my on his site A PhotoEditor. Together we discuss the new breed of HDDSLR Cameras and how the industry is reacting to it.

It was great to be interviewed  by Rob for his site - I check Rob’s blog daily and it was one of the main 2-3 sites that convinced me to start blogging myself a little over a year ago.   When Rob initially started his blog - he remained anonymous and posted some incredibly insightful and frank details about the print industry from a true insider.  Eventually Rob left his position as Director of Photographer at Men’s Journal - and he has continued to post very insightful posts ever since.  I highly recommend you follow his blog.

I just wanted to point you to an excellent post by friend/colleague Stu Maschwitz on his ProLost blog.

Stu knows filmmaking.   Stu knows directing (he collaborated with me on Nocturne and graded the short as well.)   Stu knows special FX.  Stu rules - and he’s a wiz not only at producing films- but also on the post process.  Stu was the senior visual effects supervisor on The Spirit and others for example… and I check his Prolost blog daily.

Stu has also worked on Red Giant’s software’s Magic Bullet Colorista (which is a pretty rockin’ grading suite - especially if you don’t already own Final Cut Studios’ grading software Color)  amongst other things as well and I think his latest blog post is not to be missed by anyone who is interested in grading.  (For still photographers - “grading” is the word video/film folks use to refer to what we call “color correction” or “toning.”

Enjoy the read.   And check out Stu’s book as well.

And since I’m plugging Stu to death - I might as well mention that he’s also one of the judges on the Canon & Vimeo film contest “Beyond The Still.” We’re looking to announce the top 5 finalists within the next 48 hours for the first chapter of the competition… stay tuned for more on that here soon.

Lastly - if you’re looking into getting into grading your video - I’ll point you to one of the best resources to learning Apple FCP’s Color software - here at Ripple Training.  Best $100 you’ll spend in terms of making your video look exponentially better in my opinion…

Also - Bron has a blog that I just became aware of that is worth checking out - I’m a huge fan of their Para Soft lights.

Finally a very interesting post on Stockland Martel’s Blog on an ASMP survey that finds that by 2012 “90% of Internet Content will be motion video.” hmmm… Not sure it’s going to be that high… BUT - it’s definitely going that way for sure.

Today Vimeo released the first entries for the Beyond The Still film competition on their site.

Seeing these first videos coming in is a real pleasure - they are fantastically done!

I know quite a few of you are still busy at work on your entries.

For those of you that haven’t taken the plunge yet:

YOU HAVE FIVE DAYS LEFT TO ENTER

Relatively speaking - that’s an ETERNITY - so if you’re debating whether or not you should enter - go for it!

Relative to what?

Well I found out that the Canon 5D MKII existed on a Friday afternoon a little over a year ago…

By 4 p.m. I was walking out of the Canon HQ with a prototype that I had begged, borrowed and practically stolen from them.

The very next day - at almost precisely 4 p.m. - I called “Action” on the first shot of “Reverie.”

That’s 24 hours notice.

We shot the short over two nights and delivered it the next day fully edited.

72 hours start to finish…

With “Nocturne” - I had 72 hours notice from the time I received the camera - and the time I landed back in Los Angeles from Atlanta - and called “Action” with my two other co-directors Stu Maschwitz and David Nelson.

So as far as I’m concerned :  you guys have a LOT of time to still get into this.

Please go here to find out more.

If for some reason you can’t make it… you have 6 more chapters (and chances) to enter over the next 6 months.

But I don’t know about you - but sitting on my behind has never really ever gotten me anywhere…

Speaking of getting going - here is a quick video clip from this past week - using an awesome toy from the guys at Filmotechnic USA here in California. Shot with the Canon 1D MKIV - this is but one of a few dozen (hundreds!) of shots that day with the crane all over downtown Los Angeles -  more details to come on this shoot in the upcoming weeks!

Filmotechnic Collaboration from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

And a few more pix of the setup: (more…)

I’m very glad to announce the following:

From Canon USA & Vimeo:

“Canon USA and Vimeo are advocates and supporters of artists and artists’ rights. We would like to make it very clear that the creator of any submission in the Story Beyond The Still contest retains ownership of that submission – period. Canon USA does own the copyright in the final, combined video comprised of Vincent’s chapter and all winning chapters, however, each chapter itself is still owned by the user who submitted it (similar to a newspaper – the publisher owns a copyright in each full edition, but the specific articles could be owned by a number of different parties).

There has been some commentary on the contest forums and within message boards that claims that Canon USA and/or Vimeo are engaging in a “rights grab” of sorts with respect to contest submissions, and are taking ownership of users’ submissions. This is simply not true. It is no one’s intention to take ownership over any user’s submission.

Of course, in order to offer its services and operate the contest, both Vimeo and Canon USA need certain rights licensed to them - to accept, store and display video submissions, to use clips/stills to promote the contest, and to let other Vimeo users view and comment on the submissions - and efforts were taken to restrict the scope of the licenses as much as possible, keeping in mind the legal realities of conducting a contest like this one.

We want this to be a contest that celebrates creativity and collaborative film making. It is our goal that this is fun and engaging experience for all that participate.”

As you know - we win some (above) and we lose some (below) - that’s just the way life goes and I think Canon and Vimeo are doing a great thing with this contest  and it’s very important to remain focused on that fact. (more…)

I know a lot of your are waiting to find out a bit more about the rules to this Canon & Vimeo film contest - not to mention the deadlines etc.   For now - let me simply say:  stay tuned.   Once the rules and regulations do come out: you’ll have a few WEEKS to get your short film ready - fair enough?  (For now -consider the Jan 15th date to be the announcement date of future details - NOT your deadline.)

Now back to the more interesting topic of “Contests.”  I think it’s important for you to understand my philosophy on contests in general - for you all to have a better understanding of where I am trying to guide this next journey of ours.

When I was 15 - I entered my first photo contest at the local camera store named “Westside Camera” on 87th and Broadway in New York City … to this day I know people who once worked there (the camera store has since become a franchise…)

The contest rules were simple… (more…)

I think it’s safe to say we’re all adults and that we all know there is more than ONE camera company out there…  Most of your know I use Canon cameras for my HD DSLR filmmaking - and my buddy Chase Jarvis uses another camera company’s cameras…

BUT - this post is not about companies - it’s about finding and rewarding new talent - something that Chase and I have both shown an interest in helping to do.   So go here and take a few moments to vote and help award a lucky filmmaker $25,000 - only good can come of that!   Chase has helped to put together a great film festival of his own - and I want to throw my support his way.

Chase has been a pioneer in the world of photography blogs and has always taken the lead when it comes to sharing with others.  I wish him - and both the $25,000 audience choice winner, and the $100,000 grand prize winner -  the very best of luck!

In a little over a week it’ll be your turn to enter your short film in the Canon / Vimeo contest - details and rules etc. will be announced shortly on Vimeo’s site.

The Cabbie from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

When I was asked to interpret the still image of an abandoned teddy bear at an airport terminal - a thousand different interpretations flooded my mind.

I wanted to create a dynamic film that took the audience on a journey and showed off many of the strengths of this new breed of HD DSLR cameras.   This breed of cameras’ low light capabilities and light weight allow you to do things you’d never thing of trying with traditional cameras.    But almost more importantly:  I had to make sure that we made a film that both photographers brand new to filmmaking  as well as more seasoned filmmakers  felt that they could easily follow.

This project is about bringing EVERYONE into the fold - regardless of their prior experience or their access to “toys.”   We’re looking for a series of ORIGINAL films that spotlight your talent and creativity.

We are not asking anyone to try to make a polished Hollywood film… ideas always win in my book. The quality of execution always plays a role of course - but on this one contest it will take a clear back seat.

The Story Beyond the Still - Behind The Scenes from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Hey - let me be honest here for a moment:  I’ve always been a bit skeptical about the value of promoting oneself on one’s blog.  That probably is why I was more than a year late to both the blogging thing and then yet another year late to Twitter party…

That being said,  when you can harness the power of the web to either: a. share with others or  to b. even better, to help others - then I’m totally sold on the concept.

A few weeks ago someone I had just met called me out of the blue.  While we were far from longtime friends  - what she needed to share with me was clearly pretty heavy.  I’ve been a photojournalist for most of my life and I can tell pretty easily when someone is having a tough time sharing something with me - so I pretty much cut her off to try to ease the difficulty for both of us…

“What’s up?”  I interrupted…

“My ____ found out she has cancer and …”

“Ok - no problem” I interrupted ” How can I help?”

The best thing about the web and/or art - is that it can take on a much bigger meaning than you / your initial intent ever purported to do.  Art can exceed our intent as mere artists - and it can  (or perhaps other people’s interpretations can)  lead to things that we (as artists) never even dared to imagine.

I can say that one of the best parts of being an “artist” is to have a total stranger see something in what you (the artist) created, that you yourself never could have imagined or thought of yourself when you first engaged in the act of making the piece that they are interpreting.  And if that person themselves is not what some would consider to be “an artist” themselves - I’ll admit to finding this entire process even more fascinating… I’m not even sure I’m making any sense but here’s what I do know:

You know what’s better?  When that same piece of “art” (a.k.a.: your photograph) can somehow benefit someone else.

In short: please check out the following link: http://issuu.com/resourcemagonline/docs/onecase

Should you ( or anyone you know)  purchase a print, I can pretty much guarantee it will make a big difference in someone else’s life.

Literally.

So check it out - and share the link -  And help someone else get through a difficult period of their lives.

p.s.:  On a totally separate note:  I am extremely excited to help launch the Canon & Vimeo film contest in less than 48 hours from now.  The intent of this contest was pretty simple:  to find a way to let OTHER people partake in this crazy HD DSLR filmmaking thing.   I hope that you will appreciate the little video that I shot to launch the contest, and that more importantly:  you feel that you can push yourselves to take the contest and the following chapters to new heights.   The purpose of this contest is to help spread the excitement amongst all of YOU.   To make everyone feel like you/they/we  can partake in this technological paradigm shift.

To be clear: I think it’s safe to assume that these relatively new HD DSLRs cameras will likely NOT change Hollywood films overnight - BUT - they might just help make filmmaking more accessible to the future generations of filmmakers.  Hopefully we will find that the next generation of filmmakers will no longer be judged by their access to fancy Hollywood filmmaking toys - but instead that they will be judged by their ideas and vision (uninhibited by technological limitations.)

I’ll definitely admit to being a bit of an idealist, but I think that this new technology can help to level the playing field - and enable the yet  undiscovered talent to spread their wings - based on their creativity - and not their access to fancy toys…

I guess time will tell…

For now - check this out if you’re interested in any of what I’m sayin’.