To shrink the hobbits in “Lord of the Rings” was not a simple feat for Peter Jackson, it took a lot of set crafting and perspective tricks. Instead of going through those extra hoops for the recently released “The Hobbit,” Peter and his team took a different composite approach to the process of resizing the actors. Our friends at Popular Mechanics detailed how the results were achieved.
For one of the most epic trailer sequences of the year, youtuber Genrocks compiled over 100 films into one sequence. Although the movies range into every genre, the sequence flows amazingly well from one scene to the next. For a list of all the movies and music used in the compilation, click here.
To have an eye for fine art requires a special kind of talent. Nicolas Ruel does a fantastic job of creating unique photographs that capture the essence of a city in his “8 Seconds” project. For all of his images within the project, he sets the camera to an 8 second exposure and changes perspective mid shot. This lets him capture a layering effect in a single shot.
Miriam Bohm has a unique way of capturing and displaying her pictures. After photographing an object or scene, she will print and sculpt it into an eye catching display. Instead of stopping there and hanging it on a wall, she repeats the process several times, leaving the viewer with a final photograph which captures an extra sense of dimension and light play.
With a well thought out idea and fantastic execution, Max Riche managed to win several awards with this photo series. The concept was to capture the progression of amateur’s journey into professional athleticism in one photo. He was thoughtful enough to video several of his shoots and explain the process that led to these well recognized photos.
Even though I’m a wedding photographer, I’ve never pretended to understand some of the trends that brides embrace to make their wedding or engagement pictures unique and creative. I dont mind rolling the “must have” shots of brides who cant get away from the latest on pintrest. Trends like this one, though, are not only bizarre, they’re slightly evocative.
We’ve featured several creative uses of projection mapping here on Fstoppers before, used for both commercial photo shoots or just visual appeal. There is something captivating about incorporating dynamic imagery into a set. Formative is a company that adapts projection mapping set ups for any auditorium. Regardless of who the speaker is, this would make any conference or event quite engaging.
Hailing from Norway, photographer Jens Haugen shared a quick video of one of his recent shoots involving some dramatic soccer scenes. The shoot was done for HamKam, a soccer club which is part of the Noweigian Premier League. [more]
I’ve been a fan of all of the Lord of the Rings movies and am very much looking forward to the release of The Hobbit this December. I always knew that a lot of work went into the film industry beyond the actors and cameras, but after seeing this behind the scenes of the upcoming Hobbit movie, it makes me realize how extensive the work is after all the filming is said and done. [more]
If you’ve been looking to upgrade your video set up and get some higher quality audio, take a peek at the holiday savings for the TASCAM DR-40 4-Track Portable Digital Recorder. B&H is offering the fantastic price of $139 plus a $15 rebate. Although online ordering is unavailable till tomorrow afternoon, you can still stick it your cart for later. Amazon is also offering a deal, though not nearly as enticing. [more]
Everyone knows “that” guy or girl who should have stuck with a point and shoot when picking out their camera. From the gear head to the overly enthusiastic “artist,” Youtubers DSLRnoidea have a little fun with the type of people who really weren’t meant to own a dslr.
If you’re a fan of setting up bird feeders and watching the adorable little animals swoop into your back yard, you might want to look into this new piece of equipment designed by Bryson Lovett. Instead of hunting down your favorite avian wildlife at 200 mm, this little contraption allows you to view and photograph the birds up close and personal without invading their space.
While thinking over possibilities for new landscape photography, Ernie Button acquired some inspiration over his breakfast food. In this fantastically creative series of dubbed Cerealism, Ernie creates some pretty “Cerealistic” looking places and puts a nice background to them. The best part about it his set came after the shoot with the addition of a spoon, bowl, and milk.
It takes a lot of patience to put together an extended time-lapse work; I have great admiration for anyone who actually finishes one. “Existence” is a time-lapse project which Michael Shainblum worked hard on for four months. The scenes he picks are meant to contrast the two sides of life, the busy metropolis that many of us live in and the beauty in nature that can be seen when we step outside our city boundaries.
Good special effects are the ones you don’t really realize were “special.” They are the moments that give you that sense of awe without dragging you away from being caught in the moment. Fuel VFX specializes in creating special effects for a wide range of movies, some of which you’ve most likely seen this year. [more]
