The above film from Charles and Ray Eames

IF, and only if you have the attention-span    take note at about 8.00 or 9.00 minutes in:

“…the device helps make the universal need to do things well…
…more than that, thoughtfully used can help reveal meaning in the flood of images that makes up so much of human life…

We hope that you will fully complete the chain gaining as much fun, as much sense of self, and as clear participation in the stream of human creativity as did Edwin Land and the Team who first made SX70.”

When did we stop talking about “sense of self” and “participating in the stream of human creativity”? When did this kind of language fall away from mainstream society or was it never there, and only ever referenced by wiser, more evolved folks like Charles and Ray Eames? I wish someone older & wiser would weigh in on this. Tip of the iceberg here.

“no single thread wove this invention…
…it reflects a civilized concern…
In the end it links the inventors, the engineers, the workers, the distributors into one chain of craftsmanship. The user is the final link…”

I miss the SX-70 and everything it represents!

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I was shooting stills on a TV commercial production in Africa. Basically I was done with my shots by day two, but the director needed my help getting some B-roll hopefully of a giraffe, or family of giraffes drinking at a water-hole. I was given an Arri III on sticks (no Arri 435 for the lowly photographer) and I had to sit in a hide near the water-hole and wait. Kraft service gave me a full flask of coffee and not much else. Five hours later, still no giraffe but I did roll on some Oryx drinking. Since I had SO much coffee to drink, well, it had to go somewhere. I think that my marking-my-territory every 40 minutes with premium human-processed java had something to do with the giraffe’s no-show. The footage of the Oryx? never used. Just a magazine of expensive 35mm stock, exposed, processed and telecine. The next three days my assistant and I were responsible for the stop-motion rig, but that is a whole other story.

Fast forward ten years, and that same footage can be shot on the Alexa,  RED camera or even a HD-DSLR. Probably could have it set up with a motion-sensor, to roll (record) when the animals arrived. No human-and-java scents to scare off the giraffes either.

I miss Africa this morning!

This machine will render for a few hours. Time to get some breakfast.

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I was scouting a location today and ended up totally in the wrong place, stumbling around with a good amount of cursing the summer heat, mosquitoes and poison ivy. But, the Potomac looked really moody today and I was glad to get this image.

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Anyway…Think of how we have evolved from the Telegram to Twitter! Some interesting background on Telegraphy here: http://bit.ly/bMxLlx

There was a photographer I assisted when I was a teenager who played this VERY long song in his studio all the time: Telegraph Road (yup – old school) – http://bit.ly/cSqh3F

More news soon!
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Posted via email from jonofisher’s posterous

Coral Gables, FL

More info at: The League of American Bicyclists

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Even though I knew every single detail he was teaching (except for the awesome Kessler Crane equipment), and having already incorporated HD DSLR motion picture as a part of my business, I could not help watching a good portion of their live show. And even though I have spent a good five years of my life on the sets of film productions and television commercial productions, it was fun to see Vincent’s students bumbling around in their given roles in their live shoot.

Why was this event so awesome?

•    It was the first of its kind – a full 3-day workshop streamed live on Ustream for free. (You can pay for the recorded and edited version here)
•    It was great to see how Vincent clearly communicated all that goes into shooting motion picture. This is HUGE as I know a few people who have purchased a HD DLSR camera and have this misguided perception that they are all of a sudden filmmakers.
•    It was educational as Vincent went through the limitations of HD DLSR cameras – so important for those folks mistakenly thinking that these cameras can do everything.
•    It was hugely entertaining, especially at one point seeing Chase Jarvis and Vincent Laforet playing the role of Production Assistants, helping their students on the set of their project film.
•    It was refreshing and satisfying for me to see the information about HD DSLR Cinema being distributed so widely and freely. In the long run this will help in convincing old-school film folks stuck in the traditional ways of film making to perhaps start exploring this new technology.
•    It was multi-generational as some of my assistants were watching the whole thing. This means their skills and abilities will be improving and they will perhaps be camera operators on future shoots with me.
•    It was thought provoking. It helped me think about efficiently articulating to my editors and post-peeps who are unfamiliar with the H.264 footage from HD DSLR’s, what to do and how to handle these file formats.

Vincent summed it up in the first hour of the show: Filmmakers are more collaborative than Photographers, or their business model operates in a more collaborative environment than a photographers’ does. I agree for the most part with this and I could pull it apart further, but I will reserve that for future blog posts. I resisted the urge to blog or tweet about this earlier as I want others to purchase the workshop – these guys need to make a profit on this to continue producing these fantastic workshops.

The takeaway? It was awesome and heart-warming to see a large group of people passionate about HD DSLR Cinema, collaborating, sleep deprived and working so hard to make it happen. In my opinion, the viewers felt an unspoken connection or kinship for those who go way above and beyond following our passion for making images.

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