IN[FOCUS]

(I’m third row – 2nd on the left!!!)

Lest you think that the Invisible Man has gone the way of other Marvel comic characters and sold his soul to go mainstream with his fellow superheroes who have jumped aboard the summer 2011 flopbuster train – forgedaboudit!!!

Like a lieutenant gumba loyal to his mob boss the IM shall remain here in the “trenches” – waiting for the call to charge – but what and where are those trenches you might ask?

The most recent trenchant experience for the IM occurred in NOLA IN[FOCUS] this past January where the IM wandered invisibly up and down the corridors of the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street. Ironically, the “Gateway” theme of the gathering was primarily composed of portals that led next door if not well beyond the wedding day courtyard.

Dan Boswell spoke about the benefits, artistically and financially, of engaging in photography.

Matt Davis spoke about the beneficence of working with non-profits.

Both David Perry and Kevin Shahinian chastised those who questioned the “hows” of artistry and asked the audience to wonder about the “whys” of their professional and personal choices.

Patrick Moreau, of course, spoke to the larger “Why.” He was the most direct in asking, “What is your end game?” “Do you want to film weddings forever?” and he then showcased his corporate work, noting the easy transference of skills.

The Bui Brothers played the high contrast, very down-to-earth note – their whimsical message for marketing and blogging was consistency and regularity – “It don’t have to be pretty, baby – just get it out there!!”

And, to that end, is there anything more daily and consistent and more overlooked in this day and age than the daily newspaper??

And, talk about image – will we ever be able to get over the stodginess of the New York Times??

How often as a child did I grab a section of this paper from my father hoping that maybe this time they would have put some sense into their heads and included a comics section. How ’bout a little color??

Reading this paper was like drinking your parents’ coffee at 10 years of age and pretending to like its stoutness. Cream and sugar?? That’s for babies!!

The times may have changed – but the Times has not – or, has it??

Because, I would submit these overly serious and highbrow boys and girls of the media – very early on – recognized the end game of the printing industry. They were among the first to go web and digital – and perhaps you are saying smugly to yourself – poor old Invisible Man thinking he’s so hip to the NYT – go back to the gumbas of New Jersey my friend – and to those who speak thusly, I say – take a long walk on a short link:

NYTimes Weddings

Look and Marvel at the massive video portraiture portfolio of wedding stories – is this not super cool stuff??

As importantly, can you/we make this a part of your local newspaper – is this not a gateway to cultural legitimacy??

And…it’s all coming to everyman’s iPad/tablet. The New York Times, People Magazine, perhaps even EventDV – a multimedia experience that will merge text, photos and film into a wonderful interactive melange – and that’s the portal to True Fusion baby – it’s not simply dropping stills into a film montage – it’s about creating a wedding day portrait that combines photos, text and film – into multi-dimensional context – 3D context – if it helps you sell it.

T’will be an experience that allows the user greater control and autonomy of reliving the moment – in fact, it will form the wedding as a single chapter in the larger documentation of one’s life, family and community.

Now, that’s a gateway – capital “G” – mark the spot – heck bob – that’s the mouth and head of a huge river in which all event filmmaking superheroes should be baptized. Let the blessings and the bookings begin!

Yours Invisibly,
The IM

The Invisible Man

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We are finishing up the holidays.
We have past the shortest day in hundreds of years with the most recent solstice.
The new year stretches out before us..

In spite of all the flurry and hurry to complete projects and the preparations to be the best father, mother, son, daughter and friend possible in the spirit of the season, surely for all of us there is an underlying calling to assess the year past and to question how you may further and refine your vision and values in the coming season.

I vow:

1. to avoid shots of the make-up artist’s palette.

2. to avoid the slider/reveal from the back aisle.

3. to place my camera in complete service of the scene, action and the central actors in the film.

4. to place my camera in complete service of the scene, action and the central actors in the film.

5. to place my camera in complete service of the scene, action and the central actors in the film.

Above is a YouTube clip that documents a “trick” cyclist’s journey from Edinburgh to Skye. This film has become my touchstone. It may be slightly long, repetitive, but to me it is my lesson – the blueprint of artistic integrity for the year 2011 and beyond.

In it, there is no shortage of technique and/or use of crane, slider, glidecam and time-lapse. But, the work never seems to supersede nor over glorify the virtuosity of the rider. All shots seem to exist in relationship to and in service of the subject. There are contrivances – juxtapositions of the background and the subject, but there is no visual lingering in a way that points to the cleverness of the cinematographer.Rather these shots are just glances – true surprises to the viewer – freshly used adjectives in complex and satisfying sentences. Simply put: The tone and spirit of the artistry and athleticism are perfectly matched.

Ironically, we never spend a lot of time with close ups or even with the face of the protagonist, there are no conspiratorial winks and nods. Interestingly, the absence of facial connection helps to draw us towards the intensity of the rider’s purpose, drive and poise.

There is a verbal introduction, but other than that there is no dialogue – no need to hear from the rider. I never missed it. The music, the framing, the relationship with light – all incredibly thoughtful – clearly precomposed or improvised with brilliance. To me this is a case study of an film homage whose excellence is rooted in its attunement to its subject and environment.

My goal in 2011 for all my wedding films: to strive for this quality of artistry in service of the scene, action and central actors.

Reflections and projections? Your goals for 2011?? Naughty or Nice, they are yours to make and share.

And To All A Good Light!

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man

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In his previous missive, the Invisible Man talked about Words, Words, Words as Shots, Shots, Shots – how you need to be a part of an event filmmaking culture which espouses an overarching dialogue that digs deeper and more clearly defines the logic, meaning and style of the stories you create. In one of his favorite lines, The Invisible Man opined that in order for event filmmaking to be taken seriously it must first be worthy of semantics.

So, if it was not clear before with his puffery of ten cent words where a nickel would do, the Invisible Man would like to confess that he attended a high powered boarding school in the northeast. Please don’t damn him for his parents’ efforts to provide him with a good education. What he confirmed at this institution were two things. 1. It is possible to get a good education anywhere and 2. It is possible to avoid a good education anywhere.

For the first three and a half years of his high school experience the Invisible Man was fiercely visible in his attempts to avoid classroom learning. However, after having fulfilled the better part of his adolescent “life-long learnings” both good and bad, by the spring of his senior year the IM as younger ran into what he considered an awful and unforeseen road block. All his vices and good advices had been exhausted, he had no excuse but to study literature.

And, so he fell hard upon William Faulkner, the tall tale telling alcoholic from Mississippi who’s gothic confederate postage stamp of land poured universal truths into a young reader’s heretofore empty glass of intellectual curiosity.

As the invisible younger man raised a metaphorical moonshine toast in the name of this tortured Yoknapatawpha author, he was brought down to earth by a devious and adroit English teacher named Henry Ploegstra, whose gay cheer (obvious even to the younger invisible man at that time) brought wisdom with zest to every 7th period of his day.

Henry Ploegstra – he who became so passionate and mischievous about his subject matter that beads of gleeful and bubbly spittle would often form slushy reservoirs in the corners of his mouth. None of his students had the audacity or even the desire to offer a tissue or note this accumulated deformity of drool in his presence. Rather, collectively, they shared and giggled about it outside of class.

Perhaps the most memorable and illuminating classroom experience of his high school career was an exercise that both obliterated and elevated the author, Mr. William Faulkner, among whose claims to fame were winning the Nobel Prize for long and complex stories involving a dying incestuous southern culture and writing a short story with a sentence that was seven pages long.

Mr. Ploegstra presented a simple exercise, one that points directly to the event filmmaker who has patiently waited for a connection to and the purpose of this post. It was this:

“Take the first page of an author whom you admire…craft a narrative of your own using the exact same grammar as that author. ie, where there is an article – adjective – noun – preposition – noun -replace it with your own article – adjective – noun – preposition – noun…

What The Invisible Man learned and appreciated then about grammar and syntax and their effects on style and content was not only transformative to him…It was immeasurable.

It seems to The Invisible Man – especially now as the event filmmaking world enters a phase in which HDDSLRs reign – that you, as an event filmmaker, can move beyond the broad terms of wide shot, medium shot, close up and extra close up to really get at the bones of good grammar and syntax in the visual sentence/structure. And, frankly, his wonder is that you don’t speak more openly and concretely about sequences in more detailed and elaborate fashions.

If you said: “Pan L/R Extreme low angle 24mm @ f8 shutter 100 iso 200 and low angle 200mm f8 shutter 100 iso 200, followed by 135 mm @ f 3.2 shutter 250 iso 200 and so forth – you would have had the IM at f8. As a photographer, the IM has learned so much by looking at EXIFs. The critical information from a photograph that exposes the grammar – the underpinnings of photographic structure – the recipe of how a shot is put together.

How great would it be to have that information in FCP or Premiere for HDDSLRs – so that you could really begin to have concrete dialogues about the analysis of technique? Techniques of rock stars – techniques of those aspiring to become rock stars??

Think of a jazz improvisation workshop in which the discussion of chords – their relationship to one another – often serves as the spine of discussion. Should this not be a greater part of your esprit de corps?

The Invisible Man often hears people say, “Wow, I like the 50mm lens for bridal prep…You’ll want a 70-200 2.8 lens for the reach in that dark church…” But, this is more akin to saying what type of tire preference you have for your racing bicycle on dry or wet roads.

Tires are important – they’ll get you there. But, the IM believes you need to look at lenses as the gears of a project. In order to maximize your efficiency and efficacy and speed, it is knowledge of the gear ratios and how to shift seamlessly. It is ultimately of greater importance to know what these gears/lenses do and how they may sync together.

Perhaps the greatest boon and added benefit of the HDSLR experience is that it has offered you the opportunity to think in an exceedingly concrete and detailed visual way with the lenses you have before you. The Invisible Man encourages you to take advantage of this awareness and discuss with your peers how grammar and syntax inform the structure, style, mood, and theme of any artwork.

If nothing else but for giggles, the invisible man invites you to view at your latest work – take any section – and outline it from a visually grammatical perspective. Or, look at the work of someone whom you consider a master – ascertain their use of lens, distance, aperture and shutter speed.

May it prove to be illuminating and cause your mind to embrace both moonshine and drool and the fond memories of those all too rare high school experiments and experiences that went right.

The Invisible Man

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