R27.CREATIVELAB / Blogspot

What would you like the future to hold, more often we hear vague wants, so its nice to hear about very defined goals...


A quick note before we begin - you can hear samples of Elli's music at the end of the article and download desktop images.
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What does the near future hold for you or more importantly what would you like it to hold ... ?
"Songs Spun of Gold" will also be submitted for MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) nominations again but this time not at the last minute and on our own volition instead of at the suggestion of one of the MAC committee members, as occurred with my CD, “Something Still Cool” (which was nominated in the best jazz-vocal-recording category).

A rising star in jazz (who’s befriended me and my music) and I will have become closer, shared more support and help, and her offer to help me spread the word will have begun to materialize.

My management will have submitted me for jazz festivals, which is a lengthy process but one whose bookings I feel ready for, having recently performed locally on a jazz stage with a top-flight trio in a small festival. That performance surpassed my hopes and expectations despite many good excuses for it to not do so (rain keeping much of the potential audience away, a change of location, starting late waiting for equipment for that location and my loosing a temporary crown on a front tooth hours before going on and wearing chewing gum in its place while performing).

A piece I just wrote responses for in Jazz Spotlight (a NY magazine) will be out, a number of new radio interviews will have been heard, links to both sent out and printouts added to the press pack … and so it goes. With any luck, the economy will have improved enough for a few more booking possibilities to open for an unknown who’s starting to catch some industry interest.

Twitter friends and other supporters will have multiplied and their help will be effective in hooking up more (which is always so appreciated).

I would like to have a home base, such as the restaurant across-the-street where I’ll debut on September 29th (“this or something better, please, Universe”). I would like to perform locally at least on an average of once a week and off-and-on at a few better jazz venues in New York City with which it’s helpful and rewarding for a budding jazz vocalist to be associated.

I’d like for my fledgling local version of Starbucks, “Beans and Bulbs” – see @beansandbulbs on Twitter – owned by a neighbor, to open its second and bigger store in its planned chain, where it will also sell my CDs in addition to online, and for that relationship to expand in ways that are mutually beneficial.

I’d like a tour developed and my following growing internationally, nationally and locally. I’d like to be on radio more, be on TV, and to do live presentations, getting out my messages and music more broadly.

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You may also want to read the following articles covering Elli's life:

Elli Fordyce – Still very cool
Elli Fordyce – In the light she dances...
Elli Fordyce – What's your type?
Elli Fordyce – No More Blues
Elli Fordyce – Inspiration
Elli Fordyce – Change
Elli Fordyce – Set in Stone
Elli Fordyce – The Writing's on the Wall
Elli Fordyce – Reflections
Elli Fordyce – Alone

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Free Wallpaper Images

On behalf of Elli - download your desktop wallpaper images by [clicking here]

Google UK's YouTube channel posted a video that highlights some of the most interesting events from Google's history. "From Stanford to Mountain View and around the world, featuring many different products, starting with BackRub (Search) up to Google Wave, StreetView and Chrome."

Toshiba along with Grey London take a chair into space to film a commercial that's, well, out of this world.

Collaborating with The Mill they filmed "the world's highest commercial," shot 98,000 feet above Nevada's Black Rock desert. To capture the footage, two Toshiba hi-def IK-HR1S video cameras and a lightweight chair were suspended from a high altitude helium balloon and floated into space until the chair exploded from extreme atmospheric pressure 98,268 feet



See the making of the Space Chair



Agency: Grey, London
Client: Toshiba
Creative: Andy Amadeo
Creative: Nils Leonard
Producer: James Covill
Production Company: Hungry Man
Director of Photography: Harris
Producer: Matt Jones
Editing Company: The Whitehouse
Editor: Russell Icke
Editor: Ed Enayat
Postproduction: The Mil
Colorist: Seamus O'Kane
Lead 2D Artist: Adam Grint

I can't wait when things like this are the norm, what a strange world it will be when they look back and see people using the mouse...



Try it yourself: andreaslutz.com

Thanks again: Prof. Dr. Roland Riempp, Mario Dold, Henni Goetsch, Anna Schoderer, Unit B @ SV, Vatsala Murthy, Tim Sobczak

Credits: Hochschule Offenburg (fh-offenburg.de), Scholz&Volkmer (s-v.de)

Incredible trailer soundtrack: Professor Kliq (professorkliq.com)

Resources: diploma.andreaslutz.com - new ways of interaction

The second of a four-part guest blog series.

Take pause for a moment to think why you do what you do. {don't worry...we'll wait...}

My idol David Jay, a photographer savant with a rare periscopic vision in our industry, got me thinking recently about my true intentions. Why do I take pictures? Why do I want to make a living taking pictures? For me, the answer kept coming back to the same place. The reason I do what I do, day-in-day-out with unbridled passion, is that I need to craft stories. As soon as I could talk, I was telling stories. My camera has become my quill of choice.

I've spent the better part of my life as a literary geek, a creative writing teacher, a sales and marketing executive, and now I am a photographer by trade.  I'm still learning my way around my Nikon D300 like a pubescent teen but, I've been studying characters my whole life.  People I know. People I see people purely. Illuminating them with my camera is both my natural ability and my greatest creative challenge.

This blog is geared toward giving you a method for conjuring personality of your subjects. Your task is recognizing when personality appears and depressing the shutter artfully.  No magic wand here, I just want to share some exercises that have helped me hone in on the essence of the subjects I photograph. For those of you who know me, you won't be surprised at how simple these are...

3 words
Prior to my photo shoots, I ask my clients to come up with 3 adjectives to describe themselves and email them to me at least a day before their scheduled session.  This homework functions in two ways. First, I see how they see themselves. Critical but if you have had decades of literary training you know that not all narrators are reliable (ie; Huck Finn.) Hear them, but place more weight on their gestures, mannerisms, and actions.  Character and personality can be found in the subtleties.  Second, the three words they give me help me to mentally formulate setting, stances and feel of the shoot. A session photographing a playful person is much different than one with a introspective person. Set the scene.

A great exercise in sleuthing your subjects personality for photography is to watch a stranger and figure out their three words.  For decades I studied and taught character development. It's 99.9 in the tiny details. Look for what's true in your client and then press the shutter.  I did the same exercise with a pair of dogs in a shoot last week, Brock & Berdy.  There personalities clearly were unalike and I feel it shows in their images.


At ease
Putting your clients at ease and allowing their personalities to emerge is a hard skill to teach. I am lucky that I am goofy, unassuming, playful and daring. Do what works for you to allow the client's guard to come down. My best recommendation is for you to have a comfortable air in your session as approachable begets approachable. I always share my 3 words with them so they know what to expect of me too. (ie; sporty, creative, energetic)   

Many photographers will disagree with me on this one but I regularly show my clients an image or two from the camera. Kids having grown up in the digital digital often say "Lemme see" during their shoots.  Share the LCD with them. Most of my clients come in with the mentality that they are not photogenic. Dispel that misconception of the bat.  Let them see how you are crafting their session, how good they look, and you are likely to see them relieved. This gets my clients fired up and willing to participate.

Tween shots
Some of my favorite photographs are of the moments when the person in your viewfinder doesn't know your watching, let alone firing away. I call these "tween" shots. Chances are when you tell your client to relax for a minute, tell them you're going to fire off a few tests for exposure, you catch them off guard just being themselves. I've been known to boss my clients by saying "stop right there, that's you, do not move." Then we laugh. Sometimes letting your subject get the practiced smile out of their system can be a warm up for some genuine "tween" shots. Be patient and look for the moment when your clients shed their armor...and keep shooting unbeknownst to them.


Photographers who can take a beautiful photograph are everywhere.  Photographers who can show the essence of their subjects are rarer still.  Telling your subjects story comes from a great awareness about people, the ability to make people feel comfortable being themselves, and knowing when to keep the camera rolling. These three things are a part of virtually every one of my photo shoots. I hope this helps you to gain a better understanding of how to capture personalities in camera.  I appreciate your feedback and as alwayd I love hearing comments :)

Thank you, Rajesh, for the guest spot once again. I am truly honored. I look forward to writing part three of the blog series coming soon: "Photoshop fun. How I edit."

Leigh Caraccioli coins herself a hybrid, social-write-tographer. She owns fleur de leigh photography, blogs for the photography community, speaks on social media, and spends all available time frolicking with her family in Dayton, OH.

You may also like to read:
BEHIND THE LENS By Leigh Caraccioli (1/4)
Leigh Caraccioli - A Still Moment...

No thats how to do it, think outside the box, think laterally.... Think Vertically!!!

A little wild, a little rebllious, that would be the stop motion music video for 1970's punk band The Johnny 7 Combo and their song "I Wipe My Nose On You".



"I created an animated handmade poster using a tub of black paint, a tub of white paint, photocopied images of the band, lots of newspaper pages and a flattened cardboard box. The strict rules I imposed on myself also included the use of only natural light and avoiding any fancy computer effects or short cuts. This made me concentrate purely on the stop motion and give the piece a punk spirit an energy that I think suits the song and the band."
Andy Martin

More at andymartin.info

This new Guinness ad from AMV BBDO London introduces a new tag line for the brand- Bring It To Life. Director Johnny Green shot the spot in multiple locations around the world. It depicts a group of strapping men physically bringing life - grass, coral, water - to barren places. Its the end departure of the Guinness tag line, Good Things Come to Those Who Wait, which has been in use for the past decade.



Agency: AMV BBDO, London
Client: Guinness
Executive Creative Director: Paul Brazier
Creative: Paul Brazier
Agency Producer: Yvonne Chalkley
Director: Johnny Green
Producer: Fergus Brown
Production Manager: Francis Mildmay-White
Director of Photography: Wally Pfister
Production Designer: Grant Major
Production Designer: Peter Kirkegaarde
Post House: The Mill
Edit House: The Quarry
Editor: Ted Guard
Additional Editing Work: The Lab Post Production
Sound House: Grand Central
Engineer: Raja Seghal
Engineer: Munzie Thind

Spooky, surreal and strangely wonderful, a great short film.








Director/Screenwriter/Producer/Editor: Tim Bollinger Cinematographer: Daniel Meinl
Sounddesign: Michael Fakesch designingsounds.com
between-film.com

You may also like: Carousel, directed by Adam Berg

Contemporary dance is one thing but then add a little visual magic and this is what you get, love it.

A motion control test film by DuckEye developed from 'Iatrogenesis' created for Rambert Dance Company's 'Season of New Choreography'



Choreography Alexander Whitley
Dancers: Jonathan Goddard, Miguel Altunaga, Eryck, Brahmania, Estela Merlos
Music: Guy Connelly
Directed by Duckeye
Produced by Rokkit
Director of Photography: Simon Paul
Gaffer: Jono Yates
Runner: Leonard Wilkinson

Shot using Canon D5 MKII with a manual 25mm Carl Zeiss lens.

Can't read this ad? Don't worry you pretty little head about it, you're not the target audience.

Pereira O'Dell and the University of Phoenix target recruits with this great print campaign composed entirely in morse code. The ads can be seen in various military publications/websites. It directs you to a microsite that features the decoded versions and also allows visitors to send their own morse code messages to friends.

Go to the Web site

The Victoria & Albert Museum presents Forever. Floating above the pond within the John Madejski Garden, a large videowall installation of endless animations responding to an ever changing soundtrack. The bespoke generative design system at the heart of Forever will spawn unique audio-visual films everyday, forever.

An online installation, generating an endless series of video podcasts is available to coincide with the display.



Our role as designers was to define the parameters in which the work evolved.

In response to the pond, the sculpture continually grows upwards from the water, all movement stems from a central 'spine' which reacts to the music, and it has evolutionary points set over time, causing the work to alter in appearance and intensity over its 2 month lifespan.This evolution will occur naturally as the installation tours to other venues worldwide, the form of the digital installation will alter depending on the venue.