Camera Work with John Ricard

Camera Work with John Ricard

By John RicardArtsVisual Arts
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Camera Work with John Ricard episodes

  • Camera Work 50
    John Ricard discusses Nikon D800, D810, D800e, Sony a6000, Sony a6300 and tips for shooting on White Seamless.
    27 min
  • Camera Work49 - Director Jordan Brady
    Camera Work 49
    Guest is Director Jordan Brady.  Instagram: @DirJordanBrady Website: www.jordanbrady.com 
    I find Twitter frustrating due to the 140 character limit.  Jordan says he feels creativity needs limitations.  He works in commercials where the spot is either 15 seconds or 30 seconds. These limitations can fuel creativity.
    Jordan mentions a new camera that will shoot in 40k.  It will make it easy to make certain decisions in post, rather than on set.  Jordan asks, “What is wrong with making these decisions before you are on set.  Sooner or later you are going to have to make a decision.”  Jordan did a film called, “Waking up in Reno” (on Netflix). 
    Jordan is hosting a “Commercial Directing Bootcamp” seminar at my studio.  It is an all day workshop given to other filmmakers.  The attendees are not learning lighting or cameras.  They already know that.  
    Often you see people offering basic filmmaking workshops.  Sometimes, they aren’t qualified to present an advanced workshop.  It can also be frustrating to attend a basic workshop when the presenter spends too much time on basics that aren’t actually necessary to know. For Jordan’s workshop, attendees had to submit a reel to “prove” that they were on the level necessary to attend the workshop.
    Jordan’s workshop will talk about how to run a set so that ad agencies will hire you again, and that the crew will hire you again.  How to live sanely as an artist.  It is also an overview of how the business works.  You have people who are dealing with low budget and Jordan will explain how to plot a career path that can help you get larger budgets.  Jordan sees film schools that will take anybody and they promise to teach, scripmaking, casting, directing, etc.  While Jordan feels it is good to know as much as you can about all aspects of filmmaking, the truth is that amalgam person does not exist in the real world.  Jordan is a director. That means he is not the cinematographer.
    I recently bought a BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera.  The seller, Andreas sold it to me for only $500, saying he wanted me to have it.   The camera has a lot of limitations, including a battery life of only 7-15 minutes at times.   The camera also has a 3x crop, turning a 21mm lens into a 60mm.  But the file is gorgeous.
     
    Jordan mentions a video camera that recorded on to cassette tape in the 80’s.  Jordan loved the look it created.  At one time there was an actual film festival of movies created on the device.
    I photograph BJJ tournaments sometimes.  It is insanely boring to photograph the matches.  However, when I walk around with my Leica and I photograph the moments taking place off the mats -guys crying over loses, guys talking to their coaches, guys meditating before  match, etc, I am able to create photographs I love.  In fact, I wish all my photography were done on my Leica because the things that the camera is not good at shooting -action, fast moving events, far away people, are all things that I am not really interested in.
    Jordan often uses a 40mm lens.  The limitation of one lens becomes a creative endeavor.  A 75mm lens is sexy and a 21 is wide and establishing.  But a 40mm is perfect for observational shots. It makes you feel that you are in the conversation with the people.
    I asked Jordan how many people are on his sets.  He says his crew may be 55 people.  Jordan says the kid who shows up and is a team player, is noticed by Jordan. He notices if they are willing to chip in and they are not on their phone.  When he sees a PA who is attentive who is studying everything taking place on the set, he notices that.   Jordan will sometimes ask a PA, “Whose job on this set do you want?”  If the PA says, “I want you job,” he will say, “Come watch.”
    But if the PA isn’t watching, he knows they aren’t serious.  If they are talking too much or rolling their eyes when someone says something, or if they just have a negative attitude, he doesn’t want them back on his set.  
    Personally, I don’t like when someone acts like they don’t have to bring their A game because we are working a lower level job.  Jordan agrees that if you take the gig, you should do the job to you best ability.  
    I asked Jordan how do you get the big, high end jobs?   Jordan says it is the Reel, the Relationships, and not caring about the Revenue.  The Reel is your portfolio.  The Relationships are your commodity.  You build these up over time.  You need to have relationships with Creative Directors at ad agencies and Producers.   You need to have a strong Relationship with your own crew as well, but this comes after you have nailed the job.  For Jordan to take a job, it has to fulfill at least one of the Rs.  And once you accept the job, you bring your A game.
    When you start off, you are offered mediocre scripts to film.  If you are able to access scripts for commercials that were almost made, you may have a better script to work with.  Jordan recently worked with his wife on a personal project commercial like this, where they spent 20k of their own money to produce the spot.  This money has come back to them in the forms of jobs they got from showing this work.  The mistake people make is, to make a personal project commercial for say, Bud Light.  They use their girlfriend in the commercial because she’s “hot”.  The commercial needs to look real, but you wrote it yourself.   The problem is, you aren’t a writer.  And then you also art directed the spot yourself, but you aren’t an art director.  These are strikes against you.  If you were really casting this, is your girlfriend the person who would have been cast?  When you do your work for your reel, you have to do it to the same level that you would do if it were really doing this commercial as a paid job.
    I mention that once you get the details right for the commercial, you would show it to Bud Light as a sample of what you could do on their next commercial.  Jordan says no, you don’t show that commercial to Bud Light.  Instead, you show it to other people who need to make their own commercial.  If I photographed a sample Dunkin Donuts commercial, the point isn’t to show it to Dunkin Donuts.  The point is to put it on your website so other people says, “That is an awesome DD commercial.  We should have him do our Juicy Juice commercial.”
    Jordan says as a comedian it can be tempting for him to want to write his own scripts for commercials, but he has to admit to himself that Ad Agencies write them better.
    32 min
  • Camera Work 47

    Camera Work Podcast 47



    @johnricard



    @shettababy







    Marshetta worked with me very briefly on Black Girls Rock last year.  When she saw an opportunity to work with me for this year’s BGR shoot, she quickly volunteered to assist me.  I had asked BET to provide an assist of the shoot.  As Marshettahetta describes it, the assignment was for me to photograph attendees in high energy expressions.  We were also photographing curvy women at the event.  We were set up in the area where the performances and awards were being held.  We were positioned near the entrance to grab women as soon as they entered the venue.  We wanted them while they were fresh and blamed up.    The challenge was to photograph the women quickly -maybe 20 or 30 seconds.







    For me one good thing about this shoot is that we had BET staffers bring in the women and take care of the model release.  I was able to focus 100% on capturing the right moments.  It is mentally draining to talk to so many people in this high entry manner.  I’m not really even aware of what I’m saying. I’m in a zone and I’m saying anything that will generate the reaction that I am looking for.  



    I put myself “in state”.  In my mind, the women are all going to pose like rockstars.  I don’t even entertain the idea that they might be nervous or uncomfortable.  My “reality” is that they will shine in fromt of my camera, and I allow MY reality to overpower their own.  



     



    Granted, the women have chosen to do this session, so  it is like that they will cooperate and I am also catching them at at  time when they are dressed to the 9’s and that also makes them want to be photographed.  I pointed out that Marshettahetta was a good assistant because it is easy for anyone on set to make one comment that makes the person uncomfortable and Marshettahettahetta seemed to instinctively understand that and she never said anything inappropriate.






    Instagram:  Personally, I don’t use it view content.  I create content there.  After Marshetta took a photo of me at BGR, i looked for her IG to tag her.  I discovered her profile is private.  Marchetti said she was willing listen to why her IG should be public, but she has had conversations with people in the past about it, and she has her own reasons as to why she likes the account private.  



    I explained to Marshetta, the following: Imagine I am an art director for Complex magazine, and you get on my radar.  I might want to check out your work regularly, without you knowin

    42 min
  • Camera Work 46

    Camera Work 46: Photographer Kawanna Curry joins John Ricard.



    I love attending photography workshops and I love watching photography instructional online, but at times, the slow pace drives me crazy.  Sometimes you will see an instructor give a great presentation one day, but then you see them on another day, maybe when they are doing a sponsored presentation, and instead of being  good presentation, its just a big commercial for a camera related product.



    Is it ever frustrating to watch what other photographers are doing?  Kawanna says sometimes it is indeed "very frustrating" if she is not out shooting when someone else is.  It can make her depressed.  Today, the term "hating" has become popular in urban slang.  The term is used almost anytime someone criticizes an album, tv show, book or statement that a person has made.  "Why are hating on her?" becomes the question anytime you level a criticism of someone.  For me, if I don't enjoy looking at the Instagram feed of someone who is doing the work I'd like to be doing, that doesn't mean I am "hating" on them.  It just means that my desire for those to achieve is so strong, that I don't necessarily enjoy watching someone else live my dream.  Kawanna says, sometimes you are asking yourself, "What is stopping ME? Why am I not out there?"



    On the day we recorded this episode, I had just presented a "Solutions" workshop at my studio.  One of the activities we did was to look through someone's Instagram feed and try to determine, "Who is this person?"  Then, you read the person's description and see if that matches the images they are posting. Sometimes you see an IG feed that only communicates, "I know how to take a selfie", but you read the description and it says they are a scholar.  



    Kawanna asks if it is best to have a separate personal and professional page for your IG account.  She acknowledges wanting to show the person side of her life, but she also wants people to see her work.  When she posts a selfie people will like it and comment and like it, but then when she posts a professional image that took her 90 minutes to retouch, it doesn't get the same reaction.  For me, if I want to get "likes", I post an image of my daughter.



    There is a good side to this however, imagine the account of a guy who posts photographs of sexy women.  Let's imagine he has a large following.  If he posts a photo of himself taking his son to school, it is probably not going to get a larger reaction than his other work.  Nobody really cares about him. They just want to see the naked women.  So, when people are responding to your personal images, it shows  that they care about YOU.  And bottom line, people hire people.  The don’t hire work.  They must have a connection with you.  Kawanna says if people are going to spend an hour or two with you in the studio, they have to connect with you in some way.



    In my view you should have only one IG page.  It’s so time consuming, who wants to manage 2 separate accounts.  The personal images, don’t have to be just selfies. It could be you at Yoga or you  eating lunch. The personal images could show you at a museum, or they can show that you travel or that you hang out with c

    36 min
  • Camera Work 44

    My wife, Tamara guests.


    Recap:


    We start with my list of “5 Things We Don't Like About Other Podcasts”.  These include, Long intros, Inside jokes, Too many visual elements on an audio podcast.  Tamara suggests I should focus on the positive, rather than the negative.


    We then move on to discuss, “Life! By Design: 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You” by Tom Ferry a book Tamara recently read.  The book asks you to answer, questions like: How do you feel about your career?  How do you feel about your relationships? How do you feel about your health?  How do you feel about your income? 


    The book inspired Tamara to create a blog, www.tamaraloves.com.  I point out that Tamara’s blog does much better than mine in terms of actual readers/views.  My blog has always been forced or contrived.  My heart has never really been in my blogging.  Tamara’s blog is more authentic and I believe that is why she gets more viewers.


    Tamara says the Life: By Design book suggests that we should feel free to change.  Sometimes your friends will try to put you in a box and its hard for you to escape that box.  I used that concept to discuss how a photographer may tell aspiring model to not bring her friend to a shoot.  This can seem sleazy on the part of the photographer, but often there s a legitimate reason.  Perhaps the photographer is trying to take the model beyond her comfort zone, and often the friend will bring her back down to earth.  


    The book talks about how, once you are done with the exercises you should be willing to set the example that other people will want to live up to.  Your life should not just be for you.  You should live in a way that other people can look to you and be inspired.  Tamara says, she encourages her coworkers to create their own blogs.  She points out that they have cameras/phones and the Wordpress platform is free, so there is no reason they shouldn’t be blogging.









    Sean Cummings from Show Magazine once told me that I should view my Instagram feed as a source of inspiration to others.  I've always believed that everyone should have the opportunity to do something creative.  We all should get to be models, and directors and photographers.  These fun professions should not be reserved for just a "creative" few.  

    31 min

About Camera Work with John Ricard

From the publisher's feed

Commentary on all things photographic with NYC based photographer John Ricard.