Francesca & ROC Boots

This is the second time that I've had the opportunity to work with ROC Boots and it was another fantastic day. As usual Pete did an amazing work with the photography, Leigh and Chisato took care of business with the stylist and make up. This time the mood was kinda 80's or early 90's. You can check out the entire range of shoes here at the ROC Boots site.

Now I leave you with the beautiful Francesca Frame and ROC Boot's Spring / Summer Collection 2013

Mauricio

Stephanie & Escapade Shoes

A couple of weeks ago my friend Pete called me asking if I was keen to make a BTS for Escapade Shoes. I know working with Pete and Leigh is like saying: I'm gonna have fun doing what I love. So it was a no brainer. And indeed, the day, locations and crew were awesome. The colour grading I gave  the video goes very well with the mood we all were looking for. It reminded me of those 60s - 70s videos' vibe, and the retro feeling was perfect for this occasion. Summer is already here so don't forget to check the entire collection here at the Escapade shoes website.

So please enjoy the beautiful Stephanie and Escapade's Spring / Summer Collection 2013

Mauricio

Be indispensable. Be an artist

Today I was about to write about some videos I recently did, but for the last week I couldn't stop thinking about the fascinating point of view of Seth Godin and what it means to be an artist, how they are indispensable and why society needs them.  

From all the books I have read..  Linchpin is the first one that start with a very scary premise, that we're all, at some level brainwashed by the system since we are kids. From school to be more specific. That we were trained to fit in a system that rewards obedience and punishes creativity.  Pretty hard statement right? 

But the thing I love most is the final message: Not anymore. This is an opportunity. Time to be indispensable, to be  an artist in what you do. It doesn't matter if you are a engineer a photographer, or a barista in a coffee shop.., If you use your creativity to bring something to the world that touches someone or changes someone in any way and you do it as a gift.. you become an artist.

I usually write about my work, and I'm pretty much always talking about photography, movies, cameras etc, but I found the messages and ideas of that book so relevant, important and powerful that I felt compelled to share how good I felt after I read it. People say your body reflects what you eat, and the mind is no different, so try to feed it with the best content you can. Keep your mind inspired.

In April I wrote about how amazing and fascinating is the time we are living in now, but I wrote it from my photographer perspective. The truth is that these are amazing and fascinating times for everyone who want to stand out, it doesn't matter your field. It's up to you.

Anyone with half a brain knows there are 2 types of people: people who lead, and people who follow. You don't even have to read a book to agree on that one. Which one do you want to be? 

Mauricio

Double Shadow Pre Production

Planing a film is a very rewarding experience, from the instant you sketch your first rough storyboard, to the script breakdown, it is a very creative experience. Of course the Pre Production for an independent short film is very different from the way Hollywood do things. We probably will choose to skip the permits you need, insurance, and basically rely on favours. So this is my Pre Production list for my first short film, Double Shadow:

Script- Done! I'm always adjusting or tweaking things, but at some point you have to stop and go for it.

Budget - Most of it will go to the actors, stylist / make up artist, wardrobe and food . For crew duties, I'm relying on friends and family.

Location - My intention was to write according to a location I know I can use anytime. But it didn't happen that way for different reasons.., so now I have to adapt the script to the new location.

Casting - I put a couple of ads on different sites for this. I knew that I needed a nice place to do it (use my living room could be a little weird) so I used the gallery for that. I taped the actors reading parts of the script so I could watch later. Next time I will probably leave the casting till the end, once I sort out everything else and I'm basically ready to shoot.

Shot List - To maximise time and resources I first organised the shooting list according to how many actors I have in each scene. For example, Double Shadow has 12 scenes. The male actor is in all of them, the female actress is only in 6. So I'll start with the scenes that involve him, so she can rock up a bit later for hers. The second criteria would be location. For this one I will start with all the outdoors scenes, and then move indoors. Once on location I just keep working under the same concept. If I am shooting in the kitchen, I'll shoot all the scenes happening in the kitchen. That way you reduce the set up time by a lot and you don't have to move lights back and forth.

Storyboard - I'm terrible at drawing but this for me is the most important part. Here you decide how you're gonna tell the story and which tools you're gonna use to accomplish that. In my case I just take a few iPhone photos and use them for my storyboard. I write tons of notes for myself too.  Nobody knows better than me the vision I want and the way I want to tell this story, so the storyboard is extremely important to communicate that to the rest of the crew.  

Time the script - I'm doing this right after I finish this post. Here I'll read the script with the same pace I will shoot it. Once I have roughly the times, I'm gonna multiply them by 3 (in case we need 3 takes), add 10 minutes for the time you need between the takes and finally add 20 minutes for the scene set up. Once I have the final overall time I can go straight to the next step which is...

Shooting Schedule - well, this is exactly what it sounds like... a schedule for the whole day. 

And that's it for my PP list. Now, permits and insurance do not have a space in the independent low budget filmmaking world. So basically I'm following the law of shoot first and ask questions after. I'm using my own gear so that's why I haven't mentioned anything about rentals in this list. 

If I've done my homework properly, Saturday 13th would be an nice day for me. However, from my photography experience I know unexpected things can happen but that's ok, I'm actually keen to embrace any potential hurdles and see if I can work around them, and learn from them. I'm friggin' exited!

Mauricio

- October 12th Update - We had to reschedule the shooting due a family emergency of one member of the crew. Good news is everybody is ok, so the shooting day now is probably early November :)

Strategy to success: Random thoughts

Trying to design a strategy to success, no matter what field you work in, is more tricky now than it has ever been in the past. Everything is changing so fast that the vision you use for your plan can be outdated in just a few months. The more specific you are in your plan the more risky it becomes. You can reach tremendous success but it can also lead you to a massive failure. It's like there is no middle point.

So what if your strategy is not working? Should you try a back up plan? or try to find another job maybe? I don't think so. In order to plan a strategy and execute it all the way to the end, you have to base your plan on things you can control, no matter how fast things are changing outside. For example, I can see photographers chasing the last technology because they think the new camera or gadget is gonna do the work for them. Or maybe they are trying to outwork the competition with better packages or goodies instead of paying attention in what should be the core of a creative work: The content. The uniqueness of your work can elevate your value and put you in a different place, separating your work from others.

Look the old days for example, I miss 35mm film photography so much. The fact that you have only 36 shots available forces you to think about every single shot. Remember, you can't see them in the moment, so you better make each one count. Then, digital cameras flooded the world, and with this new technology came the apocalypse of good content. You can totally see this in the movies also. They are so focused on the special effects that it seems they forgot all the good stories like in the 80's and 90's. Some of Michel Bay films are the perfect example to me. Amazing Fx, amazing cinematography... zero content.

A couple of days ago I was chatting with a friend who is reading "The Alchemist" from Coelho, a book that I read long time ago. It reminded me how important is the pursuit of your personal legend. Like everybody I guess I want my work be different, something that makes me happy and proud. So I'm gonna keep pursuing that dream. After all these years of a constant learning I'm gonna keep my decision to make good content the core of my strategy, and raise the bar as high as I can. Talent and technology can give you the chance, but success is gonna be based on how you apply it in your favour. 

Mauricio

Camera Obscura

A couple of days ago, I was going through a notebook I usually use to put my thoughts and ideas on paper. I use it to write possible photography projects that I think are interesting to explore. I was reading some of the ideas I wrote in August 2011, exactly one year ago. One of those, like a bunch of others, was accumulating dust: The camera obscura.  

Just the name brings back some memories from my very first photography class, around eight years ago. That same class where my teacher showed me how to build a photographic camera with a shoe box, a photographic paper and a tiny hole in the box.

This exact same concept, was used during the Renaissance period as a drawing support for painters, but on a bigger scale of course. They used an entire dark room with a little hole in one of the walls. This is how it works, the light goes through the hole and strikes the opposite inside wall where the image from outside, is projected upside down. A couple of centuries later, they traded the room for a small box with mirrors inside. 

So, a year ago, I tried that concept in my own bedroom. The photo on the top is the result. And if we look at the photo again but upside down, you can see the view I have from my bedroom.

I don't remember the reason why I put that project on hold for so long. My intention, as far as I remember ,was to start a series of portraits of people, in their own bedrooms, with the view they see every morning, projected on them. To me it’s a portrait that tells a deeper story.

I decided to now continue that project. I guess I will start with friends, but I would love to do it with people I don't know at all, and see the final result on a print. Volunteers for a portrait are very welcome. 

Peace

Mauricio

The best books I read in a long time

It depends what you like of course. If you are into filmmaking these days keep reading, otherwise skip the post ;) A couple of months ago I bought a bunch of books about filmmaking. Of course before I bought them, I did a little bit of research about them. I must say I wasn’t sure if it they would help coz I read tons of books about photography before and basically it didn’t teach me anything, it was like the writer just copied and paste some notes from a student’s PowerPoint he got on his first class at uni. Anyway, the books on amazon are pretty cheap that I decided I’d give it a try.

The first one I read was ‘The DV Rebels Guide’. I consume this in only a few days!. It goes straight to the point, no BS, and Stu Mashwitz explains everything in such an easy way, that it’s awesome.  And the most important thing is, he teaches and encourages you to make a film with no budget. He shows you what an advantage it is not to be in Hollywood, not to have a big budget, or work for a big studio with great stars. He shows you that minimum budget, no fancy equipment and being your own captain can be your biggest asset. I truly loved this book.

The second book is ‘In the Blink of an eye’, a book about editing, from Walter Munch. This is another amazing book. In the first part Murch tries to find an explanation as to how the cuts work, but he approaches the entire question from a psychological point of view. Murch is an editor, a director, and a screenwriter, who has been honoured repeatedly along his career. Worked on notable films such Apocalypses Now, The English Patient, The Godfather  (part II and III) amongst other master pieces. Really an amazing source of knowledge inside this book. In the second part he writes about how he sees the future of editing. But because this book was written in 1999 this might sound a little bit out of date, but it is still awesome to read his mind and how he pictured at that time the future of editing and the filmmaking process would become in ten years.

And last but no least is ‘Rebel without a crew’ from Robert Rodriguez. This is kind of Rodriguez’ diary in which, basically, he explains how a 23 year old filmmaker with a $7,000 budget made a feature film called “El Mariachi” and created himself a space and name in Hollywood. It is a very inspiring story that forces you to think that sometimes it can pay back to just jump in the pool, make your own  film with the intention to learn as much as u can. After that, who knows, he did pretty well actually.

I learnt a lot from these books, and the funny thing is, the more theory I put in my head, the more pressure I feel, because I am now supposed to have all this knowledge and I’m worried that maybe I won’t be able to apply that knowledge and show it in a final product. It feels like the more I read, the more I postpone things. For example, I keep going back to the drawing board and make adjustments to my projects and that keeps delaying the start.  So now that I finished these books, I think the best thing to do is to not buy any more books until I do a short film first. Otherwise I will be reading forever without jumping in the pool like Rodriguez. Now is the time to action 

Lets put some knowledge in practice

For the last year I've been teaching myself all I can about filmmaking. The last 3 months I've been taking film courses, reading several books about filmmaking, colour grading, editing, etc. So finally I think its time to put some of that knowledge in practice.

I've been dedicating the last few weeks to write my first script and I think it's ready. Of course I know I'm not a writer, and I don't pretend to be one... but for my first short film I want to be involved in the whole process. I want to put myself in the shoes of the writer, the camera man, the editor, the sound guy, etc. Being a one man band for this film will teach me what I should expect in the future from different positions in a larger crew. Tell the story the way I want to tell it, and drive the audience to that particular place I have in mind, will be a real challenge. Now, I did my homework and I can't wait to do this.

So, basically.., I have this week left to polish the details of the story, break down the script, and make a list of everything I need, to execute it. Check what kind of gear I need to shoot each scene, what kind of time I'm gonna need for each scene, find the locations etc. And after I'm done with that list... I will start contacting you guys for favours :) 

But for sure I can say right now that if you have or know anybody who has a nice house here in the northern beaches...  and if you don't mind having a couple of actors, cameras, maybe 1 or 2 helpers and myself shooting for a few hours :) please let me know. No rush.. it's not for this weekend or the next one, just let me know, I promise it will be hell lot of fun! 

Mauricio

Tee's from Gravy Cartel back in Stock!

Good news!.., T-shirts from the Gravy Cartel are back in stock! But hurry up because, the bad news is.., these little babies are selling pretty fast! Last time I checked I only had 23 left. So if you are interested please email me, txt me, tweet me, call me..., whatever suits you best. I suggest you don't wait too long. I still have all sizes for Ladies and Gentlemen available.

secure yours at 0415639223

New lingerie range from Mariesa Mae

HOT HOT HOT! that is a good way to describe the new lingerie range from Mariesa Mae. This is a BTS from last April, when photographer Petter Karlstrom was doing the photo shoot, and I was hired to make a video documenting the whole day. It definitely was a very fun monday. Working with Petter is always fun, and Mariesa and the rest of the crew whom I met on that day were awesome. After a long day of shooting inside the Ivy, we wrapped everything and only one thing was in my head.. which song can I use? I went home, uploaded the footage, and went to bed still thinking about it.

Next morning I was having breakfast in front of the computer and started browsing different songs, and before I finished my coffee... bam! I found this track and I knew it, this was the one! I started importing everything into my editing suite, then separating the clips in two categories: one where the models are getting ready, and the second one when they have their make up and hair done. The track gives me a nice building up beat to play with, so I decided to colour grade the first half in cooler tones , and the second half, when the models are in character wearing the outfit, in warmer tones (kinda vintage, old school look). Everything fit surprisingly so smoothly that I couldn't nor wanted to stop. I changed the rhythm a couple of times, following the music and it worked pretty well. I finished the credits around midnight and delivered the video by Wednesday morning.

Hope you guys like it, you can see photos if this new line very soon at: www.mariesamae.com

PS: if you have good speakers.. please crank the volume and watch it full screen 

Crossing the line between Photography and Filmmaking

Back in 2008, I was living in Argentina, graduating after 3 years of studying photography, and this is when the 5D mark II was launched to the market… a camera that can shoot videos? No big deal I thought. Besides, I’m a photographer; I don’t need that feature... It’s been a long road since that day.

That camera created a massive revolution in the filmmaking industry because of its amazing quality of video.  And within four years, a serious war had started between companies, developing new products and gadgets relating to this new generation of HDSLR cameras.  Cinematographer’s students all around the world jumped on these cameras and started to make all sorts of movies. In the old days, you had to go to a film school, pay a big amount of money and rent expensive filmmaking equipment if you wanted to make a movie. That’s not the case anymore.

In 2009 I was already in Sydney when I met Leo, a friend who showed me for the first time what a time lapse was. One day we just went to the top of a hill, put a camera on a tripod and started shooting hundreds of photos. After that, he just put everything on his computer, edited very quickly, put a song of Eddie Vedder in the background and saved it as a movie. Wow! The result blowed my mind, and changed my entire vision. 

After that I noticed in a very clear way, that the line separating photography and filmmaking was getting thinner and thinner every year. Especially in these days, when people just want to access information faster and in the easiest way. People just got lazy in the way they consume information. If you have an article to read, and a video that explains the same thing, you would probably pick the video.

Filmmaking is a fascinating and completely different world. Photography is more like a solo type of profession. You just grab your camera whenever you want and shoot. Filmmaking is all about collaboration. In photography you are always looking for the “Decisive moment” that Cartier-Bresson's taught us. It’s all about that single and unique moment. The filmmaking is all about motion. And composition is only one of many layers. Create a good story, add sound, and edit in the right way and you can drive an entire audience into a magic journey.

I still love photography and always will. I love capturing that single moment, think and decide what to show and what to leave out of the frame. I love the fact that it is a something I can just do by myself… but… I can’t deny I’m really starting to fall for filmmaking. We live in exciting times, we can access everything we need to make a movie and tell a story. Your biggest audience is just one click away, so you don’t need a film festival to judge your movie if you don’t want to. But make no mistake; you still have to study thousands of things to do it properly. I know I will never watch a movie like when I was a kid anymore, now I see only camera movements, lighting, angles, I pay attention to the sound, music, rhythm, dialogs, color grading etc… because I know they are there for one specific reason. It’s just beautiful.

Mauricio

On the top is a behind the scenes of Ab Aeterno, that I captured through February when the brand was launched

New art work from Gravy Cartel at the Gallery

I want to start this post apologising because I should have posted this information ages ago. In my defence, I have to blame the easter break and my lovely family from Peru who is visiting me this month :)

After a relaxed lunch a couple of weeks ago in Newtown with The Gravy Cartel, I took some photos of their new design on T shirts (hoodies are coming soon) and also on canvas and prints. They are using the classic and beautiful image of Marilyn as the main core of inspiration, so check their website

And that inspiration also reaches the line of light boxes. You can see all prices of the canvas, artwork, clothes, and the light boxes in the Gravy Cartel online shop here. You can also just come over to the Gallery, 95 Sydney Rd, Manly, to see them by yourself, I would be happy to show you all the products.

As always, If you like the designs, the artwork and want to support local artist, help us to spread the word and share this link :)

Island Jade new collection

For the past few weeks the weather had been pretty ugly here in Sydney, so I was very happy when on that particular morning the sun was shining again. The shooting took place in a huge house in Darling Point. After talking to the owner of the brand/designer Meagan Sachr, I knew it would be a very fast pace all day long. There were lots of outfits to shoot and not too much time to do it.

Having that in mind, I immediately knew that I had to discard the possibility of an elaborated type of lighting. The key now was to keep things as simple as possible to allow me to move faster inside the house from one spot to another. This is why I decided to use a single flash or just the available light in almost every situation.

It made it easier to go from the backyard to the balcony, for example. Ali and Dimity, the models, had to change outfits really fast, so that, when I finished shooting one girl, the other one was ready to go.

If I had to do it again, I would definitely do more up front preparation and research before I even put a foot in the house on the shooting day. But this was one of those times, when due to a short deadline, tight schedules, among many other reasons, we couldn't find the proper time needed to run this type of shooting smoothly. At the end though.. Not only, we finished shooting all the outfits on time, also our work really paid off and Meagan and myself were very pleased with the result.

The new collection of Island Jade is already available on their website www.islandjade.com.au, so go now and have a look.

Launching of AB AETERNO in Sydney

For the last 5 weeks I've been working 20 hours a day on a couple of projects including the preparation for the launch of a new brand of Italian designed wood watches.

Actually, at first, I was only hired to do a time lapse. I tried to show the watches, a little bit of the city and of course the sense of time. Good luck trying to shoot that in the rainiest summer ever! I would love to share the time lapse with you guys but there is a big chance that the video might be displayed at the opera house, so let’s wait to see if that happens. Ab Aeterno watches were launched during the Reed Gift Fairs at Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on February 25th

After that time lapse, the owner was so pleased with the result that he asked me to take care of the shootings for the website, and the brochures. I was also filming and documenting the whole process, which involved a lot of people.

A couple of nights ago, I received some amazing news from Marco Tommasoni (owner of the company), saying that they sold out the watches here in Sydney and already have orders from Tasmania, Queensland, and also from New Zealand! So the work is still going on, and the website will be ready soon, so I'll keep you posted! You have to see these watches, they are awesome!... I already have mine! :)

Working with Petter Karlstrom and Johanna Johnson... seriously?

I've always been a very big fan of Petter Karlstrøm since I discovered his work when I moved to Sydney. Assisting him in a shooting for Johanna Johnson in december last year was an amazing and fun experience.

Both Peter and Johanna are awesome people and I can't wait to work with them again at some point this year. For sure the biggest winner on that day, was me, I learnt so much and I can't wait to use it in my practice.

Please have a look at the rest of the images on Petter's website by clicking here and if you like fashion it's a must stop on Johanna's website here. The designs are truly amazing!

It's the Journey.., Not the destination

Thats what the famous quote says, and couldn't be more true!… I know that is a little bit late but for all the people I love and care, friends and family, here ins Sydney, back home or in another country… I wish you the best on this new year!

I'm looking forward to this 2012.., can't wait to see what will bring!

Feliz Anio Nuevo!