Here is the long promised audio from Platon’s speech at the Eddie Adams Workshop from a few weeks ago. It’s well worth a listen.
It’s one thing to have a few hours to photograph someone you know, or are being given a chance to get to know. These days, when you’re asked to photograph a celebrity (or even just a CEO) it’s more likely that you’ll find yourself photographing someone for a few seconds or less than 10 minutes – and that you’ll only be allowed to do so, if you agree to play by a long list of pre-determined rules.
Pulling off an original image, navigating all of the politics, let alone capturing a moment, is an art in it of itself. And Platon talks at length about the process with incredible wit and frankness – and demonstrates how he has become a master of doing so.
Enjoy and happy Turkey Day! (If the Turkey’s putting you to sleep – this speech is sure to wake your right back up.)
I’ve had a chance to get a hold of the 5D MKII on several occasions – seven to be specific (2 of those nights were spent shooting the first film, Reverie.) I’ve felt compelled to try to create something with it each time I’ve had the camera in my hands. And I will admit this camera has brought me back the closest to the feeling I had at the age of 15 when I had my first camera and a few rolls of Tri-X to burn through. Simply put – it’s so much fun and pure.
You’ll see some footage shot with Tilt-shift lenses from the air – my first time with video – as well as one of the last shots of the series that was shot with a full motion picture Steadicam rig. All of the footage was shot with several different prototypes of the Canon EOS 5D MKII that I was allowed to borrow at different intervals – cut in Final Cut Studio, and graded in Color. I’m still in the middle of post-productions with almost every one of these shoots – busier shooting than editing to be honest. But I thought I’d share some of this footage as most of your are likely to receive your production 5DMKIIs sometime this week (those that put their names down first of course.) Read the rest of this entry »
Here is am in the grasp of Darth Vader (not the economy!) at ILM - Photo by Stacey Leong/ILM
I just wanted to post a quick update here to clarify a few things – and to tell you what I’m working on for this blog.
First – these past few weeks have been pretty mind blowing. I’ve finally had a chance to relax with family for 48 hours in the sun, after an uninterrupted 8-week-whirlwind tour.
The first thing that I wanted to clear up is: things are going well for me and my business -in fact they’ve probably never been better. That being said, it’s important to be aware that we are indeed going through an unusually tough spot in our global economy. This is not just one of those “normal” cycles – as some who are posting in the comments pages, seem to believe. That’s my opinion anyway – and that was the reason behind my post “The Perfect Storm Has Arrived.” I wrote that article in response to a lot of the things that I’ve been reading in the press, as well as witnessing first hand – a lot of my talented colleagues are facing difficult times – and it’s tough to witness. I’ve also had a chance to speak to some influential (and well informed) people in both Hollywood and Silicon Valley – and everyone is “feeling it.” So I’m quite positive – but cautious as well.
On another front – I’ve had a chance to meet a lot of interesting people over the past few weeks – many of them visionaries in their respective industries. I’ve been invited to speak and visit the campus at Industrial Light & Magic, as well meet some trend-setting people at Dreamworks Animation, Apple, SmugMug, and Disney. Heck I’ve even met the guy who invented Dolby 5.1, as well as filmmaker Stu Maschwitz who is also the author of the indy filmmaker’s “bible” “The DV Rebel’s Guide.” Stu incidentally has a blog for filmmakers that all photographers should take a gander at: ProLost.
