Bryant Bell Photo BLOG

This is very creative, and cartoonily violent

2009-10-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Crazy flip book style animation video. I really appreciate it when people put so much time into something so that we can enjoy it. Believe me, this must have taken a minute and a half, plus a bunch of brain ache and thought

Nice to meet you, what's your blog about?

2009-10-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

Spent over a year now trying to figure out what a blog is. Stupefied still, but, like any good scientist I gathered the hard facts. The un-dubitable results of tensive tests lay here.

Having a blog is like posting up for your friends. Hitting them up with info or whatever in an even more casual way than email or text messages, a way that is non interuptive at all (rss is a choice!) In the same right, a total stranger may one day begin reading and then one day we meet on the street and then, the guy is already a friend because we've already had a conversation in some kind of technologically tweaked out way - but nevertheless a conversation.

A blog is also like a notebook, where you can stash info that you need to recall in a quick and easy manner by access to the search bar or tags.

A blog is also something or other to do with being commonly tied to the crimes of free speach and copywrite infringement, but hey.

A blog is also totally ridiculous, superfluous, and inane. Only those of us with computers, and enough free time to screw around on them to excessive ends, will ever make benefit or play from these things. That's no reason not to enjoy them, I'm just saying that in the case of the apocalypse you cannot chow down on the macbook to outlast survivor man.

Start a blog today, it's like planting a seed, and you have no idea what kind of plant it's gonna be.

Tiesto music video with future dude

2009-10-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

I usually don't get into sci fi or futuristic type stuff, but this music video has got a really nice robot man effect with a mysteriously organic feel.

Rasta Fish

2009-10-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

Yo, check this out! The Raaaaaaaahsta actually just surfed a board that my friend made by hand out of wood. Check back tomorrow I'll blow ya mind again! Above is a youtube story on the ripping.

Interesting photography by Kerstin Zu Pan

2009-10-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Very graphical and colourful portraits by Kerstin Zu Pan

A single shot on it's own, slow mo from the Red One

2009-10-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot, completely unedited and out of context, of snowboarder Vera Janssen riding up at the Camp of Champions summer park on Blackcomb's Horstman glacier. We got this extra shot while on a different job and thought that it may be of interest to you to see the result of shooting snowboarding on the red one camera and the slow motion that is possible. Also of interest, any one of these frames can be pulled from the raw file and printed up to full double page spread size, remarkable quality for a video camera and/or remarkable frame rate for a photo camera. This is un-coloured or altered, just straight from the camera settings.

EDIT: The blogger video quality leaves a lot to be desired, so to get an idea of what the full size shot looks like here is a jpg taken from one of the frames:

The modern America's Cup...

2009-09-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

Today comes a lil' story about the America's Cup that will be going down in February 2010.

Here's what I've gathered so far...

The America's Cup is an old standing yacht race that started out with the beautiful 12 meter sloops such as these:

But, times have changed, and this time around for the first time ever the two competitors are both using multi-hull boats, much to the chagrin of the traditionalists. Not to mention that the boats now use snowmobile motors to raise the sails and feature futuristic hull and sail shapes that have no resemblance to the old classics that the cup was known for.

The defending champion is Ernesto Bertarelli who won the last cup with his well known Alinghi. This time around, with the Alinghi 5, he's using a catamaran with decidedly less graceful lines, but quite faster:

Bertarelli is a Swiss billionaire (via family pharmaceutical money) married to a former Miss UK:

His challenger is old buddy but now rival Larry Ellison, billionaire American founder of the Oracle software group.

Ellison has spent $20 million so far in developing ond of the fastest boats of all time, a trimaran with a 90x90 foot footprint and a mast taller than the statue of liberty.

It's kind of bizarre to think that these two will be competing for such a classic cup. Both boats are also quite dangerous, as they are designed to be as light as possible while being just strong enough to hold together. A mast failing on one of these would not be pretty. Not to mention if these boats pitch pole or capsize, the crew would be violently tossed off from a height 10 stories high. Should make for exciting television.

Mix into that a red hot rivalry and the new America's Cup rules that result in tight racing throughout the course, and shit could get crazy!

More on the rivalry, Ellison has hired Bertarelli's old Skipper Russel Coutts and won his right to challenge for the cup only after a major court appeal in New York supreme court after Bertarelli had selected a small Spanish yacht club as the 'worthy' challengers and changed many of the rules to his liking. When both boats are jockeying in the starting box for the best position when the clock strikes 0:00, there is a lot of tight proximity maneuvering and the possibility of two multi million dollar boats colliding and sinking on behalf of two massive egos is very real. I'll be tuning in...

Neither of these homeboys are having trouble with money, check out Ellison's other yacht, a modest weekender:

This is a battle of billionaires, chasing down a cup that was built on the premise of gentlemenley, sportsmanlike, international competition. I'll let you make up your own opinion...

Cool Things...

2009-09-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to say today other than check out these cool pics I've recently stumbled on of cool ass things. If you're with me on any of these holla a comment!

If you're RSS-ing click here for the full post

Update on Thing that is Happening; The Pool Hoppers screenplay...

2009-09-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

If you've been following along and read about the 'Thing tha's happenin' " a few posts back, you may be wondering to yourself: hmmmm, seems a bit behind schedule?

Well, it is. My September booked up by the 3rd and I've been going hard with commercial work and have had very little time for this personal project. Although I did manage to write a 12 page script which I've embedded below for you to read/share/consider playing a part in/consider investing/consider letting me know what you think/pointing out errors or ideas/etc...

Typically, when a film is made by a studio the last thing they want is to let the screenplay out because it would expose far too much into the 'magic box' of the filmmaking process and would take from the salable value of the film. But from the start, as you know, this is not a typical movie this is 'Cinema for the People' so by no means can I withhold this document from you - the peeps! I'm going to bust open the whole filmmaking process for you to examine and enjoy. Ask me anything...

Although I will issue a SPOILER ALERT: Reading the screenplay could take from your enjoyment if you plan to watch the finished film. Having said that, it's looking like this film is at a 50/50% chance of being made right now, financing and a race against the seasonal change being the two most challenging elements, so it may also be your only chance to 'see' the film (in your imagination that is.)

(This is the first draft so please excuse spelling & minor errors)
Pool Hoppers

Hinckley Yachts

2009-09-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

The Hinckley Picnic Boat above and the Day Sailer below. Both are great modern takes on classic styling. Both are the epitome of crafts built for enjoying a day or weekend on the water for those for which money is no object. The picnic boat is powered by dual jet drive motors and has a joystick controlled docking system. The day sailer has a mirrored kevlar shell, electric assist motor for silent maneuvering in harbour, and ample cabin space below without compromising the clean lines of the near level deck above. Fucking gorgeous eh? These are the Astons of the water.

Silver series by Guido Argentini

2009-09-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

Forever...

2009-08-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

The tide will rise and fall,
The sun, the sun, the sun will do the same.
You and I will dissapear
but something, Love, will stay

Man Men poster behind the scenes

2009-08-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen this TV show but, cool idea for the poster photography and well executed. Here is a behind the scenes on how they had the character's office flood with water:

(If you're reading this outside of the blog, click here to see full post)

So, there's this thing happening...

2009-08-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

I know you don't give a shit, so I'll keep quick on my background: I produce videos (corporate, web, training, sales, marketing, retail-display, etc) and shoot commercial photography (editorial, advertising, marketing, etc) for a living. It's a splendid work, creative for the most part and affords me an amazing amount of freedom of which I hold in very high value. Don't get me wrong, it's great...

But, when I grow up I want to be a Filmmaker proper.

And I'm growing up rather quicker than I had suspected. (So is telling by the beard on my face not the mind behind it... Slightly above and behind it actually, sort of at a 45˚ angle to the beard in a way, if you're looking from the side. If you're looking from the front it's probably directly above just a bit.)

That brings us to this point, where, there's this thing that's happening... I'll explain it as straightforward as possible just so you get the idea of what I'm talking about, (or writing as this case may be):

- Over the next 4 weeks or so I'll be making a short film (12 minutes +/-)

- This week it's being written, the next week it's being cast/rehearsed/all that stuff-ed, the third week it'll be shot and the fourth finished out

- when the film is completed it will be offered online in HD formats for your viewing pleasure using a Pay-What-You-Want format not unlike how Radiohead released their last album (you can pay ¢0, or $2, or $4, whatever, really)

At the end of the day, this experiment will let us know, is it possible for independent cinema, truely independent cinema, to survive and propel itself off of a small dedicated fan base. In other words if all works out, another short will be produced, probably equally as awesome or more-so, and furthermore until we get to a point where a feature film will be produced and screened in a theatre or two, independently. It's called 'Cinema for the People' because the film is for you to watch and not for any big studio to exploit or censor. What does this mean? Boobies? maybe. Explosions? maybe. I'd actually love to hear from you about what is it you'd love to see that is not in current big box films. So write an email, or post a comment below, or tell a friend about this at some point - because Cinema for the People does not work without the 'People.'

PS. If you are reading this right now you are officially an early adopter and therefore, you can know that the first short film's working title is "Pool Hoppers" before anybody else would even have a clue,

Bry

stay up both here and at www.aspectfilms.ca

How to make Iced Coffee...

2009-08-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Last summer I brought you a Guacamole Recipe, this summer it's Iced Coffee:

When the days are so hot you just don't feel like the traditional coffee because, well, it's just not on. You're more feeling a refreshing bevvy, but oh snap, you already got hooked on the caffeine. Well here's the answer. Skip the megabrew corp and make it yourself using this method,

- Grind your beans up like normal

- mix them with Cold water in a french press

- let it brew overnight in the Fridge

- in the morning, grab the pot, plunge the filter, and pour over ice.

- mix with milk + sugar or whatever you like. (I like chocolate milk sometimes)

Boom, it's so easy even a kid could do it. It's actually better tasting coffee when it's cold brewed because for one you have no chance of burning the coffee and, as I've read, there's less acidity or somesuch

Enjoy!

Photographer Nino Muñoz shoots Giselle Bundchen

2009-07-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

These are some pretty hot photos from Nino Muñoz

I have no idea why but hotels always seem to turn me on and give off a sexy vibe (the nice ones at least, I'm talking Fairmont not Motel 8), it may have something to do with a longstanding tradition of glamour shoots taking place in them. Although I'm not sure why that is the case either, cheap space? Cheap 'storyline' for a shoot? Cheap room with power and props as is? Anyways, there's something about being away from home in a place that has a bed, hot tub, all the nice treats, room service, and little else that gets us going. Giselle Bundchen does not hurt either...

Red Camera = Photos + Videos in 1 shot...

2009-07-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

[Bryant Bell and Norm Li shooting high on top of a glacier in the Coast Mountains of BC]

We recently had the opportunity to try out a technique that is on the cutting edge of photographic technology and that has only recently become available due to the so called merging of video and photo technologies. What I'm talking about is acquiring photographs for print in a national magazine and video for the same publications online presence within one camera, which allows both outlets to share the exact same shots. I'll hold off from showing you the results until they have been published but if you are interested in this technique and wondering what kind of .tiff file the Red camera produces I will send you a full quality still pulled from the shoot and I'm sure you will agree that it is easily mistakable for a photo from either Canon or Nikon's top of the line cameras. (email: bryantbell [at] shaw [dot] ca)

To verify the progressiveness of this concept, although the camera and capability has been out for a while, there are only 2 other instances I know of that have used this method: Alexx Henry for a 'living' movie poster and Greg Williams' shoot with Meghan Fox for Esquire's print mag and site. The timing for this kind of 'dual purpose' shoot could not be better, with more and more magazines investing in their web sides and abandoning the sinking magazine industry it is the perfect time to test out these waters. (525 mags shut their doors in '08) With any luck, I think we will see several more of these type of projects before the year is done.

Chase Jarvis has written about the convergence of video and photo on his blog from the photo side of the divide commenting on the D90, as did Vincent Laforet when he shot what could have passed for a perfume advert on a 5D and many of us predicted that inevitably these two historically very separate disciplines would at some point become very much one and the same. It's been my belief since I took up photography professionally, just over a year ago, that photo shoots are really just mini film shoots. In fact the science and techniques involved are exactly the same and if you're coming from film into photography, you should find the transition rather easy. You may or may not know that this is exactly how I got into this stills game. I'm a filmmaker originally and own + operate my company Aspect Films full time. However, I found that for keeping my 'blade sharp' and to have a constant creative outlet photography was perfect - it's possible to go from conception to finished product all within one day and with a reasonable budget. The same cannot be said for a film no matter how short or simple (if you want it to be of a high, commercial quality.) So these 'mini film shoots' are perfect - essentially that's what photographs are to me is a 1 frame film.

So I will maintain this blog under the 'photo' moniker and I will continue to run Aspect Films under a 'motion based projects' umbrella - but the fact of the matter is that my job these days is simply to be an image maker and to do my best to create the best possible images no matter what the delivery or format, static or moving.

(although I'm getting into this storytelling thing, and film will always be champ at that, don't be surprised to see something from me shortly that is completely out of left field, I hope you all will enjoy...)

Snapshots from the past fortnight...

2009-07-23T13:46:00.001-07:00

Bryant Bell's rules for architectural design

2009-07-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

- a ramp is better than stairs

- a window is better than a wall

- a room is better than a hall

- a door can be as big as possible so long as remaining easily opened and closed by one

- a house should occupy 10% of the land upon which it sits, at the most

- a house should sit naturally on it's land, as if it had grown there with the surrounding nature, and should consider first the setting before the structure

- each room should have at least two exits, for the case of emergency or intrusion, to allow the subconscious mind to relax and be at peace

to be continued...

Skipping town...

2009-07-12T01:49:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers!

I'm heading off to a secret island for a week to recoup, recharge, and re-lax, so this blog might run a touch dry over the next 7 days - but bear with, I'll be back before you know it.

We've had some interesting shoots over the past couple of days, and after shooting the Red One camera I have only Great things to say about it. Being able to capture such an incredible image in such a convenient package has really inspired me, and I assure you that there'll be a short film coming from us within the next 2 months max...

More details later,

See you soon,

Do you like these?

2009-07-08T12:03:00.001-07:00

Was thinking of printing these ones, let me know your thoughts...

Great shot!

2009-07-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

I was watching a trailer for a new Robin Williams movie and then all of a sudden, in a scene where he takes the wrong meds, this shot pops up and I was like whaaza? I had to pause that frame and giggle for almost a minute, and then take a screen cap to share with you all. This is even funnier when it's moving so check it out for yourself in FULL screen.

Some randoms...

2009-07-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Just to keep my feedin'.

Awesome tree house!

2009-07-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

found this via ffffound, how sweet is that?

Eminem 'Beautiful'

2009-07-04T01:13:00.000-07:00

Sounds like Em might have tapped back into whatever it was he was tapping into back when his stuff was unstoppable. Remember? I like this new one...