Feature Friday: Mark Seliger

Another Vanity Fair photographer this week! Btw, have you seen Annie Leibovitz's photos of Tiger in this month's issue?

This week I set sights on one of my favorite photographers, Mark Seliger.

I found out about the amazing Mark Seliger while browsing Vanity Fair. I got started on it when a friend of mine YMd me on a spread he did. Looked him up, and loved everything I saw. I know it sometimes sounds silly to say that "each shot tells so much", because that's exactly how it's supposed to be, but it really is. On some of his shots, it's almost like a frame taken off an entire movie.

What I do love the most are his black and white photos. I find them most appealing in the bunch. Not that his colored photographs aren't great, I just have a thing for monochromatic portraits, and his are ultimately stunning.

You'd think it's easy to pull off any of these shots photographers like him can pull of, but it's not. And that's what I like about it. Check out his website (link below) for more of his awesome works.

Mark Seliger

Feature Friday: Annie Leibovitz

First, Happy New Year everyone!!!! I can't believe it's January so soon! So I've conveniently scheduled this post to appear on New Year's, as I'm currently out of town on that day. More photos can be expected. 2009 has been onehelluvayear for a lot of people. One of them is the iconic Annie Leibovitz.

I decide to have her as my first FF of the year is because her photographs are truly inspiring. She is fierce. And every shot demands perfection. Calling her iconic is well earned. Her story of her rise in the industry is something I find very motivating. And her photographs, remarkable. The line "a picture paints a thousand words" is definitely true in her works.

 

Vanity Fair Year in Photos 2006

Disney Dream Portrait Series 

Here is a clip which I think is off a DVD, of Annie shooting for Vogue.

 

This is a clip off a documentary directed by her sister Barbara, about Annie's "Life Through a Lens".

Feature Friday: The Title Sequence

Today being the last feature for my month-long birthday video streak thing, I figured I'd end it with a series of sequences that inspire me. While most people go to the movies to see the movie itself, I go and watch the entire thing from the pre-movie trailers to the very last character of the movie's end credits. While most people start leaving the theater the moment the end credits roll, I stay. One, I believe that watching the end credis would be my way of giving respect to the people behind making the movie. I stay to the very end, especially if I loved what I saw. There's that need to know "who did what". I actually do the same thing for TV series. Part of the fun in watching those series are the title sequences. It's a preview of what the show is about, and what you can expect, and it's one of the reasons why I seem to have that need to view every pilot of every show I fancy. And then I google the show and dig to find out who made them. Is that weird? Maybe that's just me. Below are a series of title sequences that tickled my fancy.

Frank Miller's 300

Aside from the movie itself having my jaw constantly on the floor, and I don't mean that because of the insane amount of abs, the movie's end credits were just an awesome way to cap the entire film. I enjoyed the movie for all the technical geeky video stuff. The colors, the treatment, the effects. I loved it so much I watched the making of the film more than I can count! [end credits by yU+Co]

Watchmen

I didn't enjoy the film as much, but I definitely enjoyed the opening title sequence. I love the whole re-creation of iconic personalities and events. I know the film isn't a period piece, but the title sequence certainly looked a lot like one. It was pretty long though. But hey, I found it to be the highlight of the entire film. Well, minus certain fight scenes, which I also found amazing. Title credits, again, by the amazing people at yU+Co.

Juno

Juno - Title Sequence from Alain Benoit on Vimeo.

This' flick's title sequence was created the long and painful way. But thanks to geeks around the world, a tutorial comes in handy to create your very own Juno title sequence. I loved it because of it's element of youthfulness, and it's uber indie feel. Y'all know how much of a sucker I am for indie stuff. Well, that, and insane visual effects. Definitely not the easiest one in this post. Created by Shadowplay Studio.

Six Feet Under

One word: FANCY. It may not be the most CG heavy title sequence out there, but I find it one of the most clever ones. Not so hard of the visual effects, but it does move you. Well, it moved me. Into saying "WOW! I wanna do that!!!" The camera work (+shots) were awesome. Proof that you don't need some super hi-tech 3d machine to produce something wild. But you do need a wild creative mind. This was created by the iconically amazing Digital Kitchen.

The Kingdom

Love the title sequence. I love it because I know it's something I can pull off. And it's awesome. And when I said "something I can pull off", I don't mean now. Give me a year, or a bit less than a year. I know I can pull something like that off. See? Inspired already!

There are two go-to sites to view more title sequence bliss.

I love these sites because not only do they compile these fabulous clips, and definitely the best out there, they provide interviews and links and more information in general to geeks, and people who are majorly interested on who and how those amazing sequences were made. All with just a click or two of your dandy mouse.

The Art of the Title Sequence | Forget the Film, Watch the Titles

Feature Friday: Chris Milk

The director behind two of my favorite-st MTVs. It is because of him, that I actually liked Kanye West and his MTVs. Dubbed as the Steven Spielberg of music videos, I dedicate my birthday week feature to the great, Chris Milk.

This was one of the MTVs that totally blew me away. What I love about it is the clever use of metaphors. It was mind blowing to attack such a touchy concept and not be shot down, but instead The message comes across clearly, and just in case you didn't get the message, there's the stunning imagery to keep you occupied. What I recently discovered about this MTV is that this is the second MTV for this track. It was also nominated for Video of the Year in 2005, and was listed as the sixth best MTV of 2004. With this alone, you'd know Chris Milk's cred was no random thing. Insane video, this thing is, and it still blows me away.

Another MTV I absolutely loved as this one. What I loved about it was the whole POV thing. All I could think about then was "How'd he do that?!!?" with wide eyes, and jaw on the floor. I think it's pretty cool. I actually found a book that had him share how he did it. It was awesome. And clever. In an almost "Why didn't I think of that?!" kind of way. I know, given that tiny chance, I'd try and pull something like that off.

Kanye West "All Falls Down" [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

This one, found at his vimeo page, was an created for the 42 Second Film Festival in China. What's awesome about this is that in less than a minute, you get the entire story. And even more awesome is that it was shot using a Canon 5d Mk II!!! I'd go all geeky with the equipment, but I'll keep that to myself.

Last Day Dream [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

This just shows how amazing of a story teller Chris Milk is, and why I am a major fan of his work. What he does now, is a vision of the career I am wanting so much right now. Music videos, commercials, photography. Instead of pasting screenshots here, I think it's best you see his awesomeness in the links below. Be very blown away.

Chris Milk | vimeo

Feature Friday: Stop Motion Love

Stop motion has been around for forever. Remember Gumby? How about Bob the Builder? These, and a number of other children's programs make use of stop motion. Today, thanks to the growing fascination with stop motion (and photography), and it's accessibility to the masses (all you need is a point and shoot camera, and a computer), More and more stop motion videos can be found almost everywhere.

This Coldplay MTV is absolutely charming. And quite clever, if you ask me. I love the chalk drawings in relation to the Chris. Plus, the story's just cute! It's just adorable! This Strawberry Swing MTV is created by Shynola. They're a multi-awarded London based group of artists whose works include animation for The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Coldplay | Shynola

I first saw this MTV when a friend of mine sent a link to vimeo. Made out of thousands, if not millions of photographs, there is just nothing little in the making of the Little Bribes MTV. As director/creator Ross Ching put it, he didn't have to go to around the country to get unique shots. All he did was create the interesting shots. And create he surely did.

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Death Cab for Cutie | Ross Ching

Certainly something to think about for people who, like me, have no access to a video camera. Who knows, I may do something like this for the hols?