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:

And a quick little phone video:  img_0715

I will be working with a group of students in and around Dubai to produce a series of short films/spec ads with the latest HDDSLR Cameras and accesories from March 1-6.  I’ll be bringing my entire bag of tricks (as much as I can get on a plane without getting killed with excess baggage charges!) in terms of gear - from RedRock Micro, Marshall Electronics, Viewfactor, Bogen, IDX, Microdolly, PortaJib, Zeiss and on and on…

I will be joining 11 international world class photographers who will be teaching photography and video workshops and delivering seminars during the 6 day event. Joe McNally,  David Hobby (The Strobist), Joey L, Melissa Rodwell, Zack Arias, Bobbi Lane and more more will be sharing their expertise in what promises to be a pretty awesome week.

For more information, visit http://www.gulfphotoplus.com

You can also read David Hobby’s post about the workshops here and learn a bit more about the workshops and what you can expect to experience there.

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.

I’m sorry that it can’t be as open as we’d all love it to be - but we should be happy to have a contest in place nonetheless and not lose sight of the bigger picture:  this is the first step in what I hope can turn into a multi-year process that will become more inclusive regardless of international borders:

A Message from Canon USA and Vimeo Regarding Residency and Age Eligibility (1/28/10)

“Everyone at Canon USA and Vimeo is excited and proud that there is such interest in “The Story Beyond the Still” video contest and we would like the contest to be open and enjoyed by the widest possible audience. This particular contest, however, is open only to legal US Residents who are 18 years or older. There are a variety of legal reasons why this is the case; varying laws internationally related to privacy rights, publicity rights, and contests in general, among them.

There has been some speculation on the contest forums and within message boards that even if you are not a legal US Resident, as long as you enter with a US address or phone number (possibly from a friend or relative living in the US) you would be eligible for the contest. There has also been speculation that if you are under the age of 18 and enter through an adult’s account that you would be eligible. Neither is accurate. When the winning entry is selected, the winner will need to complete an affidavit stating that they are a legal US resident, 18 years of age or older and the creator / owner of the entry. If the individual can not sign such a document, then the entry will be disqualified and another winner will be selected from the pool of eligible entries.

It is no one’s intention to exclude anyone from entering the contest, and based on the strong interest that we’ve seen we are discussing ways that potentially allow us to open this up to an international audience in the future. We hope everyone, regardless of where they live, enjoys watching the outstanding videos that we know will be created by the Vimeo community.”

Please check it out - and see the videos as they come in

(You can enter NOW but have almost a month before we hit the first deadline.)

There is also a forum page for you to ask any questions and to share insights with others.

These the prizes that the winners will be able to choose from (total of 6 winners.)

So here are the rules…

And now let me translate them for you in plain english as best I can:

You can enter as of January 15th (now)  but there is no rush - you have just under a month to enter your submission for Chapter 2 - the first deadline is February 11, 2010  at 11:59.59 p.m. E.S.T…

Here’s how the competition works:

Canon gave me a still image to interpret into a short film.   My short film then ends on the still image below.

This image is your "starting point" for chapter 2 - your interpretation of it need not be exact or literal...

Now it’s YOUR turn to interpret the image above into your own 2-4 minute film- and end on YOUR still image…

On February 25th - the winner of Chapter 2 will be announced - and this starts all over again with that winner’s ending still image… Everyone will then start to submit their submissions for Chapter 3…  and so on an so on.  So you have a total of 6 chances to win in this 7 chapter long series.

The idea is to have 7 unique chapters that are threaded together with these connecting still images.    There is no need to have one continuous narrative through the 7 chapters - that may happen - but it’s not required or necessary.  We’re leaving things pretty open on purpose to see how where this social filmmaking experiment leads us all.   Some of you may choose to follow in this narrative - while others are more than welcome to shift the next chapter in a very different direction or style.

TO BE CLEAR:  while you may choose to continue the narrative of Chapter 1- you DO NOT have to… ALL THAT YOU NEED TO DO TO QUALIFY - is to have your film inspired by the ending still above. You should feel free to take the narrative into a totally different direction.   As long as your entry is inspired by the still above - and ends on another still that you choose - you qualify in my book.

Does this mean that your first shot of your film is shot in a warehouse - in my opinion no.  Does this mean that you have to have the same type of lighting… no.   Let your imagination take you somewhere and don’t feel limited or allow the image above to hinder your creativity in any way.

This is incredibly exciting - and I can’t wait to see the first entries come in.   Remember that you have a total of 6 chapters to enter - and therefore 6 chances to win.   Good luck!!!!

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…

“Please enter the most original image you can come up with - something we have never seen” yada yada yada..

So off I went - with my film camera and few rolls of film - photographing my first multiple exposures on the roof of my building in Manhattan (on film!)

In other words - I had to wing the exposure and other details without the benefit of an LCD screen.  I fired off a multitude of strobes (a la David Hobby) years before Pocket Wizards or TTL ever existed… it was a big risk…

Luckily - the images came out.  And quite decently.  And I entered them - dropping off my favorite 4 X 6 print from the roll of film that had been processed by Westside Camera.  I can honestly say these were my most “daring” images of my career up to that point.

Every day - on my ride back home from school on the M86 bus - I would take the detour to see if the winner had been posted for all to see on the main window of the camera store.

For 3 weeks - I would get my transfer from the bus - and jog -not walk  - towards that big storefront window - holding my breath the entire way…

Finally - it happened.

The winner was announced.

The winning image was of:

A palm tree at sunset - in Hawaii.

Yes - a silhouette of a palm tree… at sunset…

Need I say more?

Since then - I have had the honor of judging a few dozen prestigious contests - in photography, design and film.

All I can say is:  if you make it within the top 3 - you’ve succeeded.

Whether you’re #1, #3 or #2 - is pretty much completely irrelevant - any judge will tell you.

At that point - it’s utterly subjective.  In fact judges will at times make “deals” - i.e. you gave 1st place in this category - it’s my turn to give first place in this other category…

I digress.

Point being:  The upcoming contest will be about doing our best to find TRUE talent.

Play it safe: and I hope you really nail it cold.

Take chances and maybe have an imperfect camera move or performance - and expect the judges to reward you for pushing the envelope and for “swinging for the fences…”

You can only fail if you try to excel - after all…

You will fail if you stay in your comfort zone.

I will always reward people who take chances and try to do something that’s never done before - not those that execute something absolutely perfectly - that we’ve all seen before.

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.

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’.

© Gizmodo

I have two predictions on what 2010 will bring that I wanted to share with you as we are about to close the book on 2009:

1. 2010 will be coined the “Year of the Tablet” as different hardware and software companies offer a new platform and delivery system for the media.   This will happen only if print publishers get their act together (this would be a minor miracle given their total ineptitude to date) but I’m cautiously optimistic that we may just witness a noticeable revival of the print industry as it finds a way of delivery that is not dependent on decimating forests.

There have been many rumors, slipups of some of the major print powerhouses getting ready to provide content for an unnamed “Apple Tablet” or “iSlate” - I’ve heard rumblings from The New York Times, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Wired, GQ and others that their teams were approached by Apple more than 6 months ago…

Apple is not alone in getting tablets ready… Yet they are in a perfect position to capitalize on the print industry’s weakness right now - and become the GO TO provider for print content as they have done with the music industry (remember how they revitalized the ailing music industry?  When was the last time you purchased a CD?   I predict that they will do the same with print media and that we’ll be saying the same thing about purchasing a newspaper or magazine 3-5 years from now…)

Just this past week - I was making a paper mache volcano with my 5-year-old son that called for us to use newspaper and aluminum foil to make a foundation for the paper mache mix we had… I realized that I could not find a single piece of newspaper in our house.  Not a single sheet of newsprint!   Sure we have hundreds of magazine pages - but a quick unofficial poll around the house filled with six 16-34 year olds made it clear that NO ONE under 50 in our family reads the physical newspaper anymore.  Most read it and increasingly magazines as well - online.   I myself made the difficult move of canceling my New York Times subscription 8 months ago as I never read the print edition anymore - by the time it arrived on my doorstep I had already read the news more than 12-18 hours before on NYTimes.com…. so I canceled my subscription.  (This was tough to do  - I worked at The NYT as a staff photographer for 7 years…)

I still had money to give to support the NYT - but no one to give it to!  This is a fundamental failure of the print industry that a decade ago decided to sell print ads to their clients and THROW IN ONLINE ADVERTISING FOR FREE. A Herculean oversight!  Now they can no longer charge enough for online advertising and cannot sell subscriptions to their online readers -  and as a result the print industry has been DECIMATED in 2009.

I’ll roll the dice here and say that 2010 will not see the death of the print industry altogether as some are calling for.  In fact,  I’ll predict that if they find a way to monetize their content online (see: on tablets) we might actually see the first positive growth in those markets in years (hey it won’t take much!  Print is on life-support as is!)

If Magazines and Newspaper can find a way to either charge for online subscriptions or to profit from micro payments - there may be hope.   These tablets may JUST be hip enough for the new generation of readers (accustomed to NOT paying for content) that they may just not notice that they are now being asked to pay for something that has been free for too long.  Tablets may be JUST cool enough and the new content exciting enough to justify this pretty radical move - while you might not want to pay $20-$150 a year for you local newspaper online - how about $0.05 an article?  Or $0.01 per photo or video?  Maybe even a Nickel?  Think about it…

The 2010’s  may become known as the decade of the Tablet if things progress the way I hope they do, and all of our colleagues in the print industry may just be part of an incredible revival and REINVENTION of their industry.   You should look to see a new breed of content aggregation and offering as well - forget simple still image slide shows and articles.  Forget banner ads.  Print will quickly become a misnomer as the line between it an television and online content become more and more blurred and in effect irrelevant.

Advertising will also see an INCREDIBLE shakeup in the 2010’s - and that’s something I’m quite excited about.  Forget polished, predictable, packaged ads that have been cleared by 14 layers of creatives, executives, accountants, and lawyers -  EXPECT ads that are VIRAL, and EVOLVE on the internet/blogs/twitter etc.  that will come to redefine advertising as we know it.   I hope.

___________

On a much smaller note in relative terms - but relevant to me and many of this blog’s readers I’m sure:

2. HD DSLR Cameras and cinematography will come of age in 2010.    Surprisingly - don’t look to Canon Inc. to be spearheading this movement just yet.  You should look to many mid-size and smaller companies such as RedRock Micro, Viewfactor, Marshall Electronics, Litepanels and many others that will take the charge in 2010 by releasing incredibly innovative products that could potentially alter the way many of us make films / commercials / shorts.

Some of the innovations will be relatively minor, while others will astound you.  Obviously each company will be making their annoucements at their own pace and at the time of the their choosing.  But if even 1/4 of the things that have been whispered into my ear prove to make it past the prototype stage - I can guarantee you (and I) will all greatly benefit as filmmakers and customers.   If you simply take a step back and look at the timeline of HD DSLR cinematography - you will see that NAB 2010 lands just a little bit past the 18 month mark since the first Canon 5D MKII was announced… which just happens to be a very sweet spot for most companies to go from prototype to the announcement of important products.

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So in the end - to all of the readers of this blog - THANK YOU! To all of the nearly 4,000,000 of you that have visited this blog since it’s inception just a little over a year ago - thank you for the kind words, the few nasty comments (always from anon@anon.com - why is that?)  and in general the overwhelming support and encouragement.   2009 was a year of highs and lows for all of us - that has ended on an exclamation point for me with several fantastic work related projects as well as the announcement of the Canon / Vimeo film contest that I hope you all will be a part of!

If 2010 is just half as exciting as 2009 - I’m game!  My guess is that it will somehow be even MORE exciting!

Wishing you a wonderful 2010!

Happy New Year!

Here is an excerpt of my post:

I’ve always found it interesting to study how a career takes shape. It’s a very interesting mix of things you try to make happen, things that fail to happen, and a convergence of events often completely out of your control that many call luck.

When I was 15, I was naïve enough to send my work over to Cornel Capa at ICP to ask him for his advice on what to do with my career. He sent me a very kind handwritten letter basically telling me to keep at it – and that things would inevitably happen. I cherish the letter to this day.

At the age of 19 I was rejected thirteen consecutive times during my first round of internship applications. I then sent out a half-hearted application to the Reuters News Pictures Photo Desk in Washington DC – to work as an editor – at the behest of my placement counselor late in spring – only to have it turn out to be one of the most important internships of my career.

Many of the other breaks that have happened in my career were more picture-driven. I’ve made maybe a dozen images throughout my 20-year career that I am proud of, of which maybe 3-4 are sports images.

Most of them were a result of a very special secret formula that I have learned by watching many of the very best sports photographers out there…

Please continue to read this article on SportsShooter here.