AN ART JOURNAL CONTACT VIDEO/FLASH PASTEL PROCESS PASTEL GALLERY ARCHIVES AN ART JOURNAL/BLOG VICTORIA TAYLOR-GORE

Practice Makes Perfect (or almost perfect)

I've taken a break from my more conceptual and surreal short films (see posts below about "The Conversation" series) and have been shooting out on location near where I live for the last few weeks.  My inspiration was the "One Day on Earth" project.  I love that my new skills as a HDSLR enthusiast has enabled me to highlight the hidden beauty and dynamics of where I live in the Texas Panhandle.  I compare it to my own various series in my past fine art work.  Throughout graduate school at UCSB in Santa Barbara, CA I concentrated on a surreal and symbolic body of work.  At one point, I just needed to take a break from it.  So after returning to Texas from Santa Barbara, I decided to do several landscape series at Buffalo Lake and Palo Duro Canyon near Canyon, Texas.  Those landscape series seemed like a huge jump for me, but later when I resumed creating my surreal imagery...the skills I gained in working with with color, light and form of the land strengthened my surrealistic pastels.

Shooting on location also makes me "think on my feet" - practice managing my camera, lenses, and gear together and discover my strengths and weaknesses...experience what tools I'm missing and what I need to improve.  I love working at home in my studio with miniature props (and will definitely continue to do so), but going out on location literally widens my horizons.  As one of my Twitter friends @PolvoPolvo (Glen Ryan from Sydney, Australia) said, "...yeah it's all about learning stuff everytime you shoot."

So here are two of my latest short films - hope you enjoy.  My Vimeo channel is http://vimeo.com/vtg .

Sunset at Cadillac Ranch by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - The Art of Non-Life-Threatening Mistakes by Williamson
Music license purchased from Jamendo.com

Late evening shots - all at and after sunset - at the Cadillac Ranch (world famous outdoor art installation) near Amarillo, Texas.
Information on Cadillac Ranch - http://www.texasoutside.com/amarilloframes/cadillacranchframes.htm

I'm finding that shooting more out on location is improving my skills, so this is another learning exercise...lots of great subject matter here locally. Don't worry...I intend to continue my conceptual art films! I just have to think faster out on location, and it's good practice for me. Now time to get some good on-board video lights for night shots...another lesson learned!

Shot with a Canon 7D and a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens, and my essential Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x. All of this is handheld or supported the camera with a monopod. I used a Singh-Ray Vari ND filter on some of the earlier shots. I pushed it a bit far - some shots had almost no light. Post in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

"Above the Canyon" by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, near Canyon, Texas. This is the first pure landscape short film I have done - used my wonderful Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly. I've lived near Palo Duro Canyon for most of my 50 years...and it never ceases to be a constant source of nourishment and inspiration. It is the second largest canyon in the US - and quite a surprise as it sits in the middle of the High Plains.

I set out to do this video for One Day on Earth (10-10-10), but my shoot was cut short (battery in my car died) and I didn't have much time to do footage in the way One Day on Earth requires. These shots were hasty, and only at the top of the canyon, but seems like I'm all about making something out of practically nothing - lots of post manipulation helped : ) Anyway, this video reflects part of my life for that day.

Video and Editing - Victoria Taylor-Gore
http://www.victoriataylorgore.com

Music - Angels of Hope by Roger Subirana Mata
Purchased music license from Jamendo.com

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens, and a Tokina 16-50mm f2.8 lens. Edited and color grading in post in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. Also used my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x - saves me every time.

Artist demos at my gallery in Santa Fe for Historic Canyon Road Day in Santa Fe on Oct. 16.

If you are in the Santa Fe area on October 16, come by the Alexandra Stevens Gallery during Historic Canyon Road Day.  There will also be artists doing art demonstrations in our gallery and along Canyon Road - live music too!   Hope you can make it!  Details about History Canyon Road Day are posted below the slideshow of some of my recent pastels at the gallery.

Press release from the Alexandra Stevens Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico:

Historic Canyon Road Day will once again be the third Saturday in October, Oct 16, 10am - 4pm. This years festival will have some special activities that we haven’t seen in years past. As you may remember, this is the day that artists are invited to paint and speak to art lovers along Canyon Road. Whether on the street, in the courtyards or in the galleries, art lovers love watching the process, learning about the creation of art and meeting the artists.
 
The Historic Canyon Road Festival, sponsored by the Santa Fean Magazine is part of the Santa Fe Arts Festival,  You can learn more  at www.historiccanyonroad.com and www.santafeatsfestival.com. The festival is dedicated to supporting K-12 School Music Programs for Santa Fe Public Schools.
 
During the day, painters and small groups of student musicians along with their teachers will be performing for the delight of all.

At 2pm, at the parking lot across from our gallery Alexandra Stevens Gallery   820 Canyon Road, Santa Fe a live concert will feature 2 professional bands. This will also include a live radio feed on Radio Free Santa Fe, KBAC 98.I encouraging visitors and locals to participate in the festival and see the art on Canyon.
 
I hope you will join us for  this delightful event that has grown bigger every year. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.

Alexandra Stevens         www.alexandrastevens.com 505-988-1311

"The Conversation Part III" (Final Version) by Victoria Taylor-Gore

"The Conversation Part III" (Final Version) by Victoria Taylor-Gore from Victoria Taylor-Gore on Vimeo.

Video and Editing by Victoria Taylor-Gore

Music - "Silent Tears" by Roger Subirana Mata
Purchased music license from Jamendo.com

This is the third video in a series called "The Conversation":
The first part of this series is here:
"The Conversation" http://vimeo.com/14891218
The second part of this series is here:
"The Conversation Part II" http://vimeo.com/15119881

This short surreal film continues the juxtaposition of miniature toy Marx plastic figures - and a Marx vintage 1950's dollhouse. For added lighting, I used a small portable light table. These are dream sequences, and I used multiple characters to suggest a psychological interplay between the figures. As in the other two videos in the series (to date) there is no literal story, only an implied one. To me the magic is taking something ordinary and transform it with the use of light, design, optics, and strange placement...make these characters into more that plastic toys. What they suggest is subject to interpretation - an active process between the image and the viewer.

At this point, I think there will be a few more videos in the series...not sure if I'll combine these videos into one longer film or not.

Shot with a Canon 7D, Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro lens, Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly, edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, used Digieffects Aged Film effects for old black and white movie texture effect (plus some post manipulation of value in Premiere Pro). And last but not least, my Zacuto Z-Finder Pro-3x which I find essential with macro shots. I also used Neat Video to remove unwanted artifacts in the dark shots, and then added back more uniform film grain effects with Digieffects "Aged Film."

"Men at the Table" - photos by Victoria Taylor-Gore

These are more photographs that I've taken to prepare for another scene in my video "The Conversation Part III" (http://vimeo.com/15499048).  I placed the Marx plastic miniature figures on a small portable light table...and got the idea for the "men at the table" from an old black and white WWII movie.

I love my Canon 7D for it's ability to make both stills and video...I like to take photographs first to plan out shots for my videos...get interesting angles, test light, which lens to use - works well.

A Personal Reflection on the PhotoCine Expo in LA

Image: From  the PhotoCine Expo 2010 presentation "Multimedia Storytelling with Ami Vitale"

 

Well, here is my report of PhotoCine Expo, and it's not a technical report...kind of a human interest approach.  But then that's appropriate for me since I'm so new at the HDSLR game - I'm an artist that has fallen in love with this medium.  There are much better reports of the great gear that was showcased and some more specific reports of PhotoCine presentations on blogs like Planet5D, Cinema5D, Radraven's blog, Dan Chung's blog, and El Skid's blog to name a few.

What impressed me was the openness and good nature of the people I connected with - top professionals in the field, that visit with beginners  and other professionals with open minds and open hearts.  You see, I've been an artist for 30 years now, and the art world at the professional level of the people I met at this conference are not as approachable, nor do many of them welcome new faces with the enthusiasm that I have encountered.

I don't know, maybe I'm jumping to conclusions...maybe it's just the way the people involved in the HDSLR revolution use social media...but to me, it's one of the things I enjoy the most.  Pros that share information freely, encourage each other, and gladly give advice - can't beat that.

I've been using a HDSLR for 6 months, and it's changed my life.  I'm still an artist - just adapting to moving images.  Several of the presenters came from a non-filmmaking backgrounds - usually from the photography side, but of course, the addition of movement has been a challenge to them as it has to me.  Documentary / photojournalists Gail Mooney and Ami Vitale spoke of how they have adjusted to this new medium...struggled in learning principles of film and motion, and they have come out with amazing results.  That gives me hope.

I also want to point out the power of these camera to enable social commentary - the power of a single camera to travel to remote places to tell important stories without the footprint of a big crew - like Gail Mooney taking her epic journey with her daughter (two person crew) to faraway places to find people doing good in the world, and Ami Vitale seeking out social and ecological injustice but with a human approach  - catching on video how these people live their lives.  These camera don't intrude as much...more close contact with people that may otherwise be put off.

Image: From  the PhotoCine Expo 2010 presentation "Vincent Laforet Keynote Presentation"

 

Pulitzer Prize Winning photographer and now filmmaker Vincent Laforet told us about how this HDSLR revolution has changed his career...how he has benefitted by riding this incredible wave, but not without challenges like learning as a photographer one of the major principles of filmmaking - how to tell a story.  I admire how far he has come in transforming his career and how willing he is to share his knowledge with the photographers that are entering this new territory.  I also appreciate how he has taken advantage of his love of aerial photography and applied those skills to his films.

And some speakers emphasized the artistry of HDSLRs...not just the practical side, but how it's starting a new "art form."  I loved how  Shane Hurlbut (ASC - Director of Photography) glowed with enthusiasm about the "democratization" of this new revolution -  how this technology is putting cinema-like results in the hands of people that couldn't approach it before, thus opening up a broader world of creative ideas. And he emphasized how it will create a new style - how this new type of camera will influence film - not the other way around.

When Shane pointed out how they threw a 5DMKII up in the air to simulate the point of view of a infant being tossed up by his father - just flinging the rolling camera up skyward (yes, they caught it!) - somehow that freed my mind of the self imposed restrictions I've experienced with my Canon 7D.  You see, I've been trying so hard to mimic a "film" look when these cameras are capable of creating a NEW look of their own that is BEYOND what film has done in the past.  New territory, not just a cheaper machine with acceptable results (although the economic advantage for a production are a plus as well).

The way the Alex Buono (cinematographer, SNL)  went out one night in NYC, stuck a HDSLR to the top of a taxi cab with an inexpensive suction cup rig and let that great footage roll (part of the Saturday Night Live intro), it just made me realize how free this could be.  And then there's Shane and his crew armed with HDSLRs chasing navy seals through their obstacle courses - sometimes crawling on their bellies with these cameras, I realized that I've been way too uptight and just need to let these cameras take me where they will - what an adventure!

Image: From the PhotoCine Expo 2010 special announcement presentation of the Redrock Micro EVF

 

So many others can give you specs (and they do a much better job with that), but I can tell you, as an artist this conference provided a multitude of inspiration.  I took away what a big tent this is - how it will change the nature of filmmaking by bringing people of so many different backgrounds into the arena.

Well that's it for now - more pics and info to follow soon.  I unloaded most of my pictures on my friend's laptop and have yet to retrieve them...check back for updates and a few more photos this weekend.  I plan to add some more thoughts too...wish I took more notes.  I was so engulfed with listening to the amazing speakers that I forgot to write much down.

For some high res. snapshots I took of PhotoCine Expo and the area around my hotel (Hollywood Renaissance) in LA, go here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987755@N08/sets/72157624926604161/show/ - I'll be adding more photos of the PhotoCine Expo to the set soon and also adding labels to the photographs.