“The biggest thing is that no one is allowed to touch his hair,” said KC Armstrong about shooting the most massivest pop star on the planet right now, “he does it himself, and he uses absolutely zero product.”
KC recently had a editorial session with Justin for Macleans Magazine, and was impressed that great hair wasn’t the only star quality the little power house celebrity brought to each frame.
“He’s got those puppydog eyes!”
Darrin’s short film for Front Lines (shot for display in conjunction with the photography exhibit of the same name) debuted last month during Scotiabank’s Contact Photography Festival. We were floored by the clearly defined style and aesthetic already emerging in Darrin’s motion work, and we had to ask him about it.
Who had the idea for Front Lines?
Brendan Meadows came up with the idea with a friend of his who owns a clothing store, Matt Robinson, who’s been collecting vintage military uniforms for a decade and wanted to feature them in a photo story, maybe even publish a book. So three photographers got involved, Brendan, George Moreira and Simon Willms, and they thought, hey why not do a recreation shoot of the Spanish Civil War? Since that’s where most of the uniforms came from.
Then Brendan asked me if I wanted to shoot motion on the day and I jumped. There were about 30 guys in uniform on the beach, I took my 5D and rigged up a steady cam that wasn’t too steady – I really wanted the look of the film to be evocative of oldschool military footage, a bit shaky but not too handheld. I was chasing around the beach capturing these guys, it was a real run and gun. I’d grab small groups, set up scenarios and have them repeat over and over, which was hard because they weren’t actors. It was even raining at some points, so the whole thing was incredibly challenging. But what was most difficult was actually in post, going through a day’s worth of footage trying to put together a real story with these little random vignettes – it took weeks and weeks and a lot of concentration but I think it was a success.
What appealed to you about shooting the motion aspect?
I thought it’d be the ideal setting for film with a lot of movement in it, both with the camera and the people, and I’d also really been wanting to do a black and white piece.
We know Robert Capa’s famous Spanish Civil War work originally inspired the photographers’ creative, did any aspect of that inform your film?
Of course I was conscious of it and its style, but on the day what I really sought out were the off-moments, the compelling stories, I wanted the soldiers to ignore me unless I was directing them, and for the most part as the day went on, I did start to find those kismet scenes where everything felt realistic and innate.
What’s been the reaction to it so far?
I’m surprised by the amazing response. People really like the video – to the extent that a few people asked me if they could purchase a copy, even though it was never intended to be for sale. I got great feedback that it’s unique and photo-real and that’s encouraging.
What’s next for you and motion?
In two weeks I’ll be shooting a documentary exploring life with Tourette’s Syndrome in Vancouver for Saatchi and Saatchi, so I’m excited about that. The young guy we’ll be shooting is a wonderful person who unfortunately lives pretty bravely with the most severe form of the syndrome, so it’ll be an intense experience working with him – I’m looking forward to it, to understand what this kid is going through in his life, and to bring the technique I took on with Front Lines to the table. I discovered a lot about moving the camera, what to do and what not to do, what works and what doesn’t, how you can easily overcomplicate shots – once you find the magic in composition, you stick with it, you don’t have to force movement into the shot.
KC Armstrong and Grip Limited captured the essence of summer in bright brilliant green, channeling a splashy club-vibe for the new Bud Light Lime print campaign. The fun thirst-quenching emerald scene will continue to grace billboards, and restaurant and club walls all across the country while the weather’s hot, convincing more and more Canadians to love lime-flavoured beverages.
We’re thrilled that Applied Arts Magazine loves Darrin and KC’s work as much as we do.
AAM awarded both photographers with 2010 Applied Arts Photography + Illustration Awards and feature them in the June/July issue. Congratulations to them both!
The 2010 Photography and Illustration Awards celebrates the best and brightest work completed over the course of the previous year.
AmoebaCorp teamed up with Sylvain Dumais to help promote Brunico Communications’ speaker series ‘Shift Disturbers’ for 2010 with a riveting tale of shrine building gone awry told in brilliant stop motion.
Amoeba’s Michael Kelar says, “After a couple long days and whole lot of thrift store purchases the opening film for the Shift Disturbers 2010 event came together. It’s a story of one designer’s idol worship taken one step too far.”
Shift Disturbers from AmoebaCorp on Vimeo.
Created by AmoebaCorp
Directed by Sylvain Dumais
Music by Victor Veros courtesy of TA2 Music
Performance by Peter Sawyer
Shift Disturbers is a mash-up of visionary speakers from the worlds of advertising, art and design. Speakers this year included, Nick Law, Cindy Gallop and Stéphane Xiberras.