A
media maker always needs to be telling a story
and a video has to work that way in the viewer's mind
no matter what budget it came in at. I construct the
story by breaking it down into specific shots, composing
things in the frame and in space with the camera. The
companion to the camera's composition is the lighting
because the lighting doesn't just make things look pretty,
it determines what in the composition is most important
to take in. And there's a logic to all of this that
needs to be followed so that your viewer doesn't wander
off into extraneous thoughts. Telling the story isn't
the minimum that you should get in producing a video;
it's the whole thing. So even if the budget is limited
(e.g., no green screen, no dolly and crane shots, no
SAG actors, no teleprompting) and there's just a camera
and some lights, the story should come through clearly
and engagingly.
I have a background in fine arts, having studied at Wesleyan University as an undergraduate art major and Rhode Island School of Design as a graduate student in the Painting Department. If it hadn't been for art, I might not have become involved in video production and photography, which became my new professional and personal pursuits. I get a lot of creative satisfaction in the everyday problem-solving that inevitably occurs in media production. I have sought out a wide variety of productions to work on because I see that they all have something to teach me. In that same spirit, I also continue to shoot photographs as a personal artistic pursuit. Visitors to this website can also visit fomophoto.com for a very different perspective on my professional skills. This site is not about commercial photography; it's about seeing the world in a vital way. And there's no reason why commercial work can't benefit from that way of seeing.
Click here to visit fomophoto.com