Ryan Enn Hughes recently shot a technically tricky and fully artful video called “The 360 Project” with dancers from the National Ballet School of Canada and Krump dancers from Northbuck (and if you haven’t yet seen David LaChapelle’s fantastic documentary Rize on Krumping, you must. Go here). It’s not ready for release yet but in the meantime, here’s a time-lapse from the shoot:
360 Project – Timelapse Setup from Ryan Enn Hughes on Vimeo.
If you watched closely you might have seen the 48 still cameras and 4 strobe units (rig from The Big Freeze) used in this project to simultaneously freeze dancers in mid flight- I’m not even going to try and describe the effect this gives but we’ve all seen it here. Interestingly, the arrival of this look on the big screen:
[signalled] the beginning of uncovering the creative approaches toward using still cameras for special effects. Our technique was significantly different because we built it to move around objects that were themselves in motion, and we were also able to create slow-motion events that ‘virtual cameras’ could move around.
Rock solid! So this brings me to a question- how many times have you, dear Creative, wondered “How did he do that?” or “I’ve invested in the 5D MK II, how can I shoot my own jobs (not really- you’d never do that)”. Maybe you’re interested in upping your photography game and we’re pretty sure we can help. Send your Ask a Photographer questions to me: heather@westsidestudio.com with the subject line “Dear George” and we’ll find the shooter to best to answer ‘em!
We love it when our shooters pursue personal projects and this one was funded with a Chalmers Arts Fellowship from the Ontario Arts Council and Ryan is also working with the National Film Board to develop an interactive component for this project. (Speaking of 360 degree, crazy interactive projects, anyone see U2 in Winnipeg last week? If so, you might be able to find yourself here.)
We also love it when our shooters have fun. Ryan says the coolest part of the project was:
pressing the cable release that simultaneously triggered all 48 cameras and 4 flash units…it just made me smile huge.
Art’s great, techonology’s great too. Let us help you release your inner photogeek with answers to your questions. Email me.