Jul/100
First footage of the ballet project
An early edit of our test footage of American Ballet Theatre's principal dancer Michele Wiles.
Shot 6/28/2010 at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center to RED 2k, 3k, 4k formats.
Director: Nicholas LaClair
CO: Michael Cano with Unfolded Films
Gaffer: Katie Vukovich
Sound and moral support: James McCullough
Only a test to get us out of the dark woods of high frame rates with the RED. In the end (because we didn't have enough light to keep the noise down) I decided to retreat to the Aesthetic of Paul Himmel and his wife Lillian Bassman - the pair of fashion photographers who were married for 73 years before his death in 09 and whose work is strikingly similar ... I've been looking at a lot of his work lately, and just added two of his books to my collection: the first is a mid-fifties printing of "Ballet in Action" and the second is a recent retrospective. They're gorgeous and easy to get lost in; I'll have to post a handful of the images soon.
Paul Himmel - Ballet Sylvia “Pas de Deux“
Lillian Bassman
Jul/100
ballet behind the scenes
footage coming shortly ...
meantime:
Filming Michele Wiles at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. Photo by Katie Vukovich.
May/100
Short Film Project
I'm really excited to be working on a short film highlighting the spirit and process of ballet - a treatment idea I've had for some time and is recently taking shape. It will feature a principal ballerina with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) named Michele Wiles. She's simply amazing - one of the best in the world. For more on her see her site and her profile on ABT).
She moves like no other, and I eagerly look forward to capturing that on film. Here are a few clips from another video collaboration of hers: | 1| 2 |.
See what I mean?
I sat down with Michele and her fiancee James last week to discuss our treatment and begin the process of logistics with a hopeful shoot date in the fall. I'll keep you posted. Meantime we're going to kick out a small studio project later this month filming her turning - more of an instructional film on proper technique, which will serve as my camera and lighting test and a chance to see what the RED can do at 120 fps.
I'll keep you posted.
Jul/090
Alessandra Ferri
I only wish I'd discovered ballet earlier so I could see Alessandra Ferri perform before retirement.
My new biggest wish is to photograph her at some point ...
Jul/090
Cruel World
(click for youtube site)
Cruel World pas de deux: Julie Kent and Robert Hill
a beautiful piece that was written for them specifically
Jun/090
The Leaves are Fading
Antony Tudor - "The Leaves are Fading" pas de deux
Music: Dvorak
Click the image for youtube video.
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