This semester I am incorporating the audience more into each of my pieces and because there are many things to consider when it comes to your audience I have been researching and reading about directors for films and other performance type medium. A movie that I saw recently that struck me as an intelligent approach to grabbing the audience and capturing them for the entirety of the film was “500 Days of Summer.” Directed by Marc Webb and director of Photography being Eric Steelberg, these two directors brought a good amount of visual interest to the non-traditional boy meets girl love story.
Eric Steelberg, cinematographer living on the west coast, is a native of Los Angeles and has a great amount of background in still photography. This is quite evident in his work such as “Juno” and “500 Days of Summer” because of the strong compositional shots in between scenes. The photographic compositions have an artistic and pleasing way of carrying the audience and taking care of their visual wants and needs. On his artist website, it states that he shot his first short film at age 16 and won two national and one international awards for that film. Without attending film school, he worked on over 40 major US and international film festivals and gained his lensing, lighting, and compositional skills and talents from experience. In 2006 he won a Grand Jury Prize Award and an Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival for “Quinceanera”.
Along with feature length films, Steelberg has directed several music videos and commercials. His music video collection includes artists like the Postal Service, KDT, and Deep Dish. His commercial clients include Walmart, Sprint, Miller Light, Buick, Matsunichi, Century Council, and Sunsilk. When looking at some of his commercial and video work, I noticed how he can take the audience and give them familiar visuals to help draw them in and feel content while viewing the work.
When reading through Steelberg’s blog, he notes some of the difficulties and challenges that are presented to him and the film business when in the beginning stages of filming. Last week in a chapter in the Mike Figgis book for my digital film class, I read that many filmmakers do not make films because they claim they do not have the funds are are not willing to go to the lengths to find it or make sacrifices. I found it hard to believe when I read that the budget for filming “500 Days of Summer” was significantly less than the budget for “Juno” which creates problems. It was very informative reading through his blog posts and getting an insight into what he writes in his journal.
What I feel I can gain from his work is his connection that he makes with his audience using his talents in composition and lighting. I want to have a stronger connection and relationship with my audience and would like for my audience to feel the same with my performances. Steelberg turns the light on for his audience and I think it would be a great step for my work if I could turn and direct the lights on my work.
Artist Website
Marc Webb's Artist Website
Audience Research Web Page
Eric Steelberg's Variety Page
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