Shalom Ormsby Images | Fine Art, Beauty, & Fashion Photography from San Francisco » Video

Blend Images’ New Motion Reel

Shalom — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:01:19 +0000

Blend Images will soon be enhancing its stock photography offering with stock footage. This new reel, edited by Blend owner, Stewart Cohen, features some of the clips that will soon be available.

I’m proud to have contributed my work to this reel, and am excited about Blend’s strong entry into the stock footage market.

If you have experience producing HD footage

Lucasfilm’s Rick McCallum on Using Canon’s DSLRs for Film Production

Shalom — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:46:21 +0000

Lucasfilm Producer, Rick McCallum, speaks at NAB 2010 about using Canon’s DLSRs such as the 5D Mark II in their feature films.

Although they’re currently using them as B-cams, he said that Canon DSLR footage intercut with the Sony F35 CineAlta camera is “indistinguishable.”

This maps precisely to what Director of Photography Shane Hurlbut recently said at Blend Images conference in Palm Springs about using the 5DM2 for feature-length Hollywood film production.

One thing that Shane said about the 5DM2 is that the in-camera compression gives the camera a filmic look, similar to film grain. So there’s no reason to not start that feature with your Canon 5DM2 today…

The Magazine of the Future… Happening Now

Shalom — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:38:02 +0000

VIV Magazine unleashes the power of Apple’s iPad to give us a visually striking example of the future of magazines and interactive, cross-platform, multimedia presentations. Here’s their breathtaking new film-noir piece, which showcases amazing, cinematic production value (a la Frank Miller’s “Sin City”):

Impressed and intrigued? I certainly was. Content creators and distributors are taking note of this game-changing piece, and others like it.

Fortunately, VIV offers us a peek behind the curtain of their beautiful production:

The questions that bubble up in my mind, which I’ll guess are probably presenting to you as well are, “How can I take my productions to the next level, given the resources at my disposal? How can I make use of emerging technologies to supercharge my creative output? What kind of alliances and collaborations can I form to help make this possible?”

Countless technological innovations have endowed visual artists with virtually unlimited power. If we can dream it up, and if we can muster the resources to support our vision (an important part of the equation), we can create it. Even the sky isn’t the limit. Now go make it happen (and when you do, drop me a line, because I love being inspired by fellow creatives, as I was by the VIV crew).

Kanso: The Power of Simplicity

Shalom — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:11:01 +0000

Here’s a great example of the power of simplicity, and an illustration of the Zen term, “kanso,” which means the creation of the maximum effect using the minimum possible means.

This inexpensive public service announcement from the UK (created by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership) is more beautiful, creative, and emotionally rich than all of the expensive ads I saw on yesterday’s Super Bowl. A helpful reminder it’s not money that makes project great, it’s thought.

How do you use the power of simplicity and conceptual power to supercharge your creative projects? Are there ways to create more impact using fewer elements?

PS – Buckle up!

Sam Haskins

Shalom — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:43:45 +0000

Master photographer Sam Haskins reminds me of why I became a photographer in the first place (which goes far deeper than the opening line of this piece):

Edward Burtynsky’s “Manufactured Landscapes”

Shalom — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:38:16 +0000

If you’re a photographer, a visual artist, a person who cares about the health of our planet, or all of the above (as I believe many readers of this blog are), I’m confident that you’ll want to watch this stirring documentary, “Manufactured Landscapes,” if you haven’t seen it already. It features the powerful work of photographer Edward Burtynsky, who turned his lens toward the factories of China, the countless people who work in them, and the vulnerable environment in which they are situated. The New York Times aptly calls it “A protracted exploration of the aesthetic, social, and spiritual dimensions of industrialization and globalization.”

I earnestly encourage everyone to watch this documentary and to form their own opinions about the crucial issues it raises. Below is the two minute trailer for the film, which speaks for itself:

Here’s a link to Manufactured Landscapes on Netflix.

Hats off to Jennifer Baichwal for creating what I feel is one of the most important documentaries of this decade.

Michael Gracey’s “Roller Babies”

Shalom — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:03:26 +0000

Ah to be so talented and so young…

Music: “Rapper’s Delight,” by Dan the Automator

It took a village to create this head-bobbin’ piece. Here are the credits:

Director: Michael Gracey
Agency: BETC
Agency Producer: Fabrice Brovelli
Creative: Agnes Cavard & Valerie Chidlovsky
DoP: Alex Barber and Greg Fraser
Production Company: Partizan Midi Minuit
Executive Producer: Jaques Etienne Stein
Post Supervisor: Rahel Makonnen
Editor: Ben Harrex@ Final Cut
Post Production Company: MPC
Executive Post Producer: Vittorio Giannini
Post Producer: Paul Branch,
VFX Supervisors: Dean Robinson and Ludo Fealy
3D VFX Team: James Bailey, Anthony Bloor, Ross Denner, Ali Dixon, Daniel Elliott, Ahmed Gharraph, Andreas Graichen, Lewis Guarniere, Mark Harrison, Robert Hesketh, Jake Mengers, Alexandre Millet, Jorge Montiel, Jordi Onate, Vicky Osborn, Emanuele Pavarotti, Simon Payne, Dean Robinson, Wayne Simmons, Charlotte Tyson, Grant Walker
2D VFX Team: Dan Adams, Chrys Aldred, Mark Beardall, Mike Brazelton, Kelly Bruce, Stuart Bullen, Hayley Collins, Miodrag Colombo, Ludo Fealy, Olivier Jezequel, Vaibhav Marathe, Alasdair McNeill, Mikael Pettersson, Yourick Van Impe
Telecine: Paul Harrison and Jean-Clement Soret

Here’s some behind-the-scenes action:

Evian’s “Live Young” microsite features more info about the piece, and even links to some of the babies’ Facebook pages.

Dub FX takes beatbox to the next level

Shalom — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:18:45 +0000

Beatbox innovation from Dub FX:

Filmed by Dowdenboy.

You can learn more about Dub FX and buy CDs on his website if this taste leaves you hungry for more.

[Hat-tip to DD for tuning me in to this virtuoso.]

Gorgeous Slow-Motion Surfing Perfection

Shalom — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:00:56 +0000

Surfing and cinematic perfection in every glorious detail:

May we all find ourselves in perfect waves like this (actual, virtual, or metaphorical) and ride them as skillfully.

The Making of the Prius “Harmony” Commercial

Shalom — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:21:25 +0000

Here’s a brilliant and inspiring example of using special-effects technology to create a magical world, while at the same time retaining a distinctly human quality (because the landscape is made of people). Fascinating to see how they created this world. The complete commercial is shown at the end.

A great visual metaphor for how it feels to drive a Prius…