Hey Everybody!

We’re up for a SXSW interactive people’s choice award and we could really use your support. If you don’t mind, it just takes a second, and all you have to do is vote for our Viv Mag Interactive Feature. The voting is a little confusing so we put together this pic to make it easy-peasy. Thanks in advance!

http://sxsw.com/interactive/awards/peoples-choice

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Congratulations to the winner of our first Living Art Contest, David Stewart. We had some really fantastic entries, and I want to thank everyone who participated as well as our sponsor, Really Right Stuff.

David’s entry offered something unique that we wouldn’t get as a still or as traditional video. As a living portrait, it manages to elicit a reaction that evolves with the progression of the piece. Good stuff, David.

He will now have his choice in choosing his choice of quick release system from Really Right Stuff. Check back in the future for more opportunities to show off your work.

Alexx

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Living Art, at it’s core, is an image that moves. Think- print in motion. Creating Living Art is about making a strong image, and then making that image move. Remember, we’re not making motion pictures: that’s what movies do. We’re making pictures that move.

So now, we would love to see what you all can do! We are hosting a little contest and calling it “Move Us With Your Image!” It might be helpful when designing your work to think in terms of 3 components: the start image, the movement, and the resolve. Then use the same artistic mojo that you use to creating a powerful still image, and make it move. For some examples of how we have been making Living Art, check out our Living Movie Poster and Living Magazine.

Keep in mind that this is a developing art, and we don’t want to limit you with rules. We will be judging on your creativity and how you use this medium to connect with the viewer.

A big thanks to Really Right Stuff for sponsoring this. The grand prize will be a L Bracket / quick release clamp combo of your choice to help you turn your camera on its side, and shoot vertical.

Deadline for submissions is November 30th and winners will be announced in December.

Here’s some guidelines:

1. Landscape or portrait mode, it’s your choice. Just make sure you make the choice and it’s a conscious one that fits the shot.
2. Audio is fine, but certainly not necessary, and may be distraction. Use with discretion.
3. It doesn’t have to be shot on an amazing video camera like the 5dMII. It doesn’t even have to be shot with a video camera at all. A series of images shot in rapid fire, for example, is fair game.

We will be judging mostly on creativity and how you use the medium to convey your ideas. Technical merit is cool, but whatever makes the image work conceptually will be valued over high production images that don’t connect as well.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Here’s how to submit:

1. Go to Vimeo.com (they allow both horizontal and vertical videos)
2. Sign Up for an account
3. Upload your video
4. Email Andrew the link to your video (andrew at alexxhenry dot com)

Resources:

Canon 5d Mark II Users: For those of you that are going to use the 5D Mark II or if you’re a lucky individual that somehow has their hands on 7D you can find just about anything you need to know about the camera at Planet 5D’s Wiki. Whether its exporting or shooting issues, starting there should be very informative.

Exporting with Vimeo: When we first started posting to Vimeo we wanted to make sure we were exporting the best way possible so it looks crisp in clean on the web. This article is extremely helpful.

Now go out there and create! Any questions? Post them in the comments section and we will be sure to respond.

Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog via email or RSS and/or follow us on twitter for any updates or announcements.

Best of luck!
-Alexx & Andrew

Photo courtesy of: Nate “this-lens-is-worth-more-than-my-car” Kalushner

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Thanks to everyone who made it to the Collision Conference today! As I mentioned in my talk, I’m offering a challenge to those of you who what to try your hand at making Living Art, and I’d love to see what you come up with. Check back Tuesday for all the contest deets to be announced.

-Alexx

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Thanks to everyone for all the terrific feedback and comments on this and all the other blogs that carried the Living One Sheet Video! It’s great to be part of this discussion. This is such an incredibly exciting time to be an image maker. We are at the dawn of something new.

It won’t be long before the Harry Potter vision of the future is realized with moving portraits adorning newspapers and adverts. I am so excited about all the possibilities with converging photography with motion and thrilled to be on the front lines.

I’ve been getting some feedback about how these changes are exciting but scary, and some fear about the barrier to entry (cost of Red etc…) and I’d just like to state the obvious and say that yeah, change can be scary, but as Heraclitus pointed out 2500 years ago, the only constant is change. So as artists, we wind up facing the fundamental Darwinian axiom- evolve or dissolve.

Sure the Red One is expensive, but you can rent. And even still, the video image quality from the 5DMII is breathtaking, and that is certainly affordable.

So I challenge you to go out and try something. Take your aesthetic and vision as an image maker and try something new. I’d love to see what you can come up with. As an added incentive, there’s even a contest in the works. Stay tuned for the deets.

Best,

Alexx

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