Archive for September, 2009
The Cinematography of Mad Men
Posted by Shareef in documentary on September 23rd, 2009
Winner of 2009 and 2008 Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, Mad men has received critical acclaim since its premiere in 2007, and this mini documentary by the guys at FilmFreakCentral.net showcases some examples of the cinematography techniques used by Matthew Weiner and his directors.
Being a period drama set in the 1960s, the directors avoided steady-cam and hand held cameras, opting for dolly shots, as these newer methods did not feel appropriate to the show’s time period.
The use of the pull-outs and push-ins are used heavily to fit the characters into the context of the scene, especially so with the main character Don Draper. The pull-outs are used quite often to box the characters into the angles of the set, such as door frames, walls or mirror reflections, giving a sense of loneliness.
Perhaps the most effective are the numerous shots from behind Don Draper, where the camera is looking over his shoulder at the rest of the scene. This shuts the audience out which builds on his mysterious character, only revealing his face in full camera in times of chrisis.
3D Renders from Flickr Photos
Posted by Shareef in CG, photography, technology on September 19th, 2009
Computer scientists at the University of Washington’s Graphics and Imaging Laboratory have extended Microsft’s Photosynth algorithms to produce 3D renders of cities using thousands of Flickr photos. Previously, the algorithms could only handle specific landmarks made from a few hundred photos. This has been improved, so the program can handle more – 4,600 photos are used to produce this 3D render of The Old City of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Venice involved 250,000 images, which took 27 hours to match and 38 hours to reconstruct.
It is hoped that these renders will become more detailed over time, and the characteristics of these ancient cities preserved in case reconstruction is required due to earthquakes or flooding.
Acceleration
On a similar theme to a post a few weeks back, accelerated time-lapses, Jake Lodwick has proven he has immense patience in creating this short piece of him keeping the same pose for increasing time intervals. His last few postures were understandably relaxed (01:22) – holding the clock the same as earlier in the video would have caused severe cramps in his arms.
Birds on the Wires
Posted by Shareef in music, music video, photography on September 15th, 2009
Jarbas Agnelli saw a picture of birds sitting on overhead electric wires, and, being the music man that he is, instantly saw their resemblance to music notes on a page. He cut the picture out and used the exact location of the birds as musical notes to compose an actual song. The result is pretty amazing, considering he could have chosen any tempo and bunched the notes together in any combination. The song cycles through the notes three times, each time new sounds and instruments are added to almost mirror the process he probably took in the studio. Great job.
The Butterfly Nebula
Posted by Shareef in photography, science on September 12th, 2009
The newly upgraded Hubble Space Telescope is producing some of the most detailed space photography ever seen, including this shot of the Butterfly Nebula. Previous images of the nebula were not as impressive.
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