Shot & Echo http://shot-echo.posterous.com Motion. Pictures. Music. posterous.com Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:45:00 -0800 Edelkrone Unveils its Slider Plus http://shot-echo.posterous.com/edelkrone-unveils-its-slider-plus http://shot-echo.posterous.com/edelkrone-unveils-its-slider-plus

Innovation in DSLR filming accessories is not only limited to the U.S. or Asia. One of the most prominent newcomers over the past two years have been the Turkish engineers at Edelkrone, Based in Ankara. Their Pocket Rig and Focus One Pro systems (which we will be reviewing here soon) have gained the Digital Video Black Diamond Award and much admiration from documentarians, cinematographers and videographers who want to keep a compact, autonomous shooting style with a robust and stable solution. 

Today Edelkrone unveiled their latest offering, the Slider Plus. Now we haven't been fans of sliders as they are either cumbersome, overpriced or simply not designed well enough for a smooth shot. But Kadir Koymen's team have ingested their hallmark inventiveness and solid engineering skills into a slider that is only 1 ft long yet through its double-motion system reaches a total length of 2ft on only 1 tripod, and apparently does so with increased supplenes from start to stop.

And it is also moderately priced at $499, under half of what you'd pay for signature sliders from other companies (hear that, Philip Bloom?). What we would be interested to see is if this system will also work in a diagonal or even upright position, or if there would be any way to counterbalance it. Edelkrone have indicated it is ready for a motorized controller which will be ideal for timelapse videos. The Slider Plus will start shipping in January 2013, so keep a look out for additional test videos in the weeks to come.

 

Sliderplus

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Tue, 13 Mar 2012 02:06:00 -0700 On Hankley Heath, Skyfall Rises http://shot-echo.posterous.com/on-hankley-heath-skyfall-rises http://shot-echo.posterous.com/on-hankley-heath-skyfall-rises

A curious thing happened on a photographic nature walk one wintery morning in March. On Hankley Heath in Surrey, a young lady who shall only be known by her blog moniker The Foraging Photographer, made an unexpected discovery while investigating a new batch of tadpoles.

The makings of a Scottish lodge were rising from the snowy heath, a bustle of workmen masking plywood with authentic-looking stonework. She had fallen upon a set which, as it turned out, will be a crucial location in the plot of the upcoming 007 movie. Film crews have built an entire replica of what seems to be the Bond family estate in Glencoe, complete with chapel and graveyard. Its name: Skyfall.

More elements of the backstory reveal themselves through her photographic coverage, days before the heath is blocked off when principal shooting starts, so head on over to her blog for some great images of frogs, ferns and low-flying helicopters. Spoilers abound in her posts, including why they would rebuild the lodge on a military training ground (but if you know Bond movies, you probably know the answer to that already.)

 

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Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:42:00 -0800 Bond Shooter Greg Williams on Convergence http://shot-echo.posterous.com/bond-shooter-greg-williams-on-convergence http://shot-echo.posterous.com/bond-shooter-greg-williams-on-convergence

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Photographer, cinematographer and motographer Greg Williams has renewed his blog and as the name shows, he does give some amazing insight into his own work and stories behind the images. For now he's highlighted works with Jude Law, Robert Downey Junior, Brad Pitt, Christina Hendricks and a session for Vogue with Olga Kurylenko. 

Williams, who's currently shooting on set of the latest Bond movie Skyfall, wrote this about his style: "Ultimately I’d rather have a beautiful flawed photo than a technically perfect boring one. I think that’s often the other outcome. I sincerely believe that flaws make images believable."

Having used four Canon 1Ds bodies as his workhorse for digital stills since 2004 at "an average of 3,000 frames a week", in recent years Williams has also been shooting with the Red One, creating what he calls Motion Photos (Motos) as well as short films, commercials and music videos. You can see his 2010 Showreel below and more on Vimeo. If anyone embodies the modern photographer/cinematographer hybrid, it's him.

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Tue, 31 May 2011 11:58:00 -0700 Tattersall hosts free filmmaking webinar http://shot-echo.posterous.com/tattersall-hosts-free-filmmaking-webinar http://shot-echo.posterous.com/tattersall-hosts-free-filmmaking-webinar

Anyone who's been thinking about moving into motion pictures or is thinking about making the move from DSLR stills photography to videography should sit up right now. CreativeLive have just announced that none other than Gale Tattersall will be hosting a filmmaking seminar online on July 8-10. Even better, the live feed and daily re-casts will be completely free, as with all CreativeLive web workshops.

I have to date followed two outstanding webinars, both by Director of Photography Vincent Laforet, and both on the subject of making movies with the new generation of DSLR cameras. British cinematographer and DP Gale Tattersall made TV history last year by deciding to film the season finale of House entirely on Canon 5D MKII cameras. This upcoming workshop will be specifically of interest on day 2, when Gale will discuss basic lighting as well as in-depth setups for day shoots and night shoots.

In addition, we'll get a glimpse at pro-editing on the brand new (and yet to be released at the time of posting) Final Cut Pro X, which promises to be a complete overhaul in editing, especially beneficial for DSLR shooters.

again, 8-10 July at www.creativelive.com. Seriously not to be missed (but you can always buy the workshop as a download beyond these dates.)

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Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:15:00 -0800 Haiti Revisited, on iPhone http://shot-echo.posterous.com/haiti-revisited-on-iphone http://shot-echo.posterous.com/haiti-revisited-on-iphone

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One year on from the crippling earthquake that hit Haiti, photographer Jeremy Cowart revisited the Island nation after his previous tour in which he tried to aid the people in any way he could (also see his Voices of Haiti gallery). Apart from documenting the relief efforts as a volunteer for Hope International, the entertainment, fashion and travel photographer shot a personal journal on a much less intrusive device; his iPhone.

Apple's little snapper is becoming ever more popular among pro shooters, be it as stills or videos, including a new wave of music videos being shot on the iPhone 4. As visual voodooist Chase Jarvis puts it, the best camera is the one that's with you. He even named his photo app after this mantra. A plethora of camera-devoted apps help to edit and tweak your lo-fi shots, making the basic fundamentals of mind, moment and composition the true spirit of iPhone photography (iPhonography?). Cowart's poignant images of life in the Haiti of 2011 conveys just that. And in case you're wondering exactly which apps he used, short of selling his refinement secrets, @jeremycowart writes "
I literally now have 20+ photography iPhone apps. I honestly think I used every one. I would download a new one and start experimenting..." divulging that some of those include 

By the way, Cowart's instructional photography DVD Lifefinder has been receiving quite a bit of love from its viewers. We personally haven't seen it, but judging by his CreativeLive workshop, we can understand this might be comfortably inspirational.

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Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:25:00 -0800 Apple TV 2: Love is in the AirPlay? http://shot-echo.posterous.com/apple-tv-2-love-is-in-the-airplay http://shot-echo.posterous.com/apple-tv-2-love-is-in-the-airplay
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image ©Louie Psihoyos

Let's face the music, we've become digital comfort-junkies.
We want to Facebook on the go,  look forward to some quality FaceTime with our loved ones or pull a Crazy Face with the iPad.
Whatever happened to social awkwardness? 

Well, the good people at Apple are now giving us even less motivation to leave the living room couch. You may have heard of their little hobby, the Apple TV.
That little set-top box recently became even smaller , ditching the internal hard-disk capacity and heat issues (the first generation was known to run from a warm 30 degrees Celsius in stand-by mode to a feverish 50 degrees during full activity) for a streaming black hockey puck. The initial idea is not that revolutionary: connect it to your HDTV and with the included remote select which music, movies or photos you have in your computer's iTunes or iPhoto library or rent new releases directly from Apple's servers. Sales of the device are so far limited to countries where iTunes store movies and TV shows are available, but that shouldn't affect functionality in other countries. You can always get an iTunes account in say Germany with your European credit card and download films and shows with English audio tracks. 

But there's an iOS update afoot that has a little feature called AirPlay which makes the interactivity between your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and the Apple TV even more interesting.
Steve Jobs recently demonstrated AirPlay functionality at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. Say you're listing to Erykah Badu's new album on the iPhone when you come home from work, but don't want to stop listening just because you're home. Press the AirPlay button and select where you want to push it to and all of a sudden Window Seat is bumping out of your AirPlay compatible speaker set in the Kitchen. Or, and this is where it get's really interesting, you've been catching up on The Colbert Report on the iPad and want to find out how he nails Quincy Jones. Tap the AirPlay icon, select Apple TV and the iPad pushes the whole video, at the point where you are watching it, over to your telly and Home Cinema set-up. Just like that.

Now in my case I could have the kids wanting to watch Sesame Street / Barbapapa / Babar / Muppet Show / The Polar Express / Wall-E / Toy Story 1,2,3, all of which are on a different media, be it DVD, mp4 on an iPod or .avi on our iMac. My main motivation for ordering the new Apple TV is so that I can have everything in one place and at the click of the remote have their requested show or movie playing in seconds. I must add here that we do not let them watch regular television, a big advantage of the digital content age; we control what they see, without advertisements, without violence, without pestilentially dumbed-down songs that nag on in your brain long after the kids have gone to sleep.

As the Apple TV doesn't support .avi files, I will obviously have to do some converting. 
Or do I? First reports from beta testers say that AirPlay not only works with Apple's native apps (iTunes, Remote, video) but quite a few third-party apps too. Audio, for example, can be pushed to the Apple TV from Pandora or selected games, be it with a slight delay. This raises the question, would AirPlay work with streaming apps that can play and simultaneously convert .avi videos from the computer? Then you'd have a movie on your desktop being served to your iPhone being streamed to your Apple TV which pushes it onto your TV screen.

"Our suspicion is that audio will be available automatically for routing using AirPlay but video will not," says Matt Gallagher, the Australia-based programmer and founder of ProjectsWithLove, makers of the ServeToMe/StreamToMe combo. "According to Apple's documentation, routing audio with AirPlay is automatic for most iOS audio."  Gallagher adds that on a technical level, StreamToMe plays all audio through the AV Foundation layer and correctly uses the MPVolumeView class in fullscreen which offers the button to switch audio targets. "At this stage though, Apple have not offered any information about how video might work, or if this is available to 3rd party apps at all. Certainly, if it is possible to provide video streaming but extra implementation is required, we will update StreamToMe once it is clear what the requirements for this would be."

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On a final note, Gallagher expresses what most Apple TV enthusiasts have long hoped for. "Ultimately, we would prefer to release StreamToMe for the Apple TV itself." The potential for running apps natively on the Apple TV is huge, especially since it seems to be running a version of iOS. Some incorrigible tinkerers have already managed to get a weather app, a Wii-mote app and the media center app Plex running on a jailbroken device. Should Apple decide to open up this little black box to third-party apps like it has iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads, the amount of things you could soon be doing with your TV are limitless, from playing games, to surfing the net, to chatting and who knows, even FaceTiming. And at only €119 per box, that's a whole lotta TV love. You hear us, Steve? 

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Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:24:00 -0800 Clint Mansell on scoring "Moon" http://shot-echo.posterous.com/clint-mansell-on-scoring-moon http://shot-echo.posterous.com/clint-mansell-on-scoring-moon

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Here's a man on our interview wish-list, but as the following article seems to be Exclusive to the excellent Little White Lies movie mag, I'll grant them the scoop.


Clint Mansell, former Pop Will Eat Itself node and now a much-wanted film composer, talks to James Wright about scoring for the Duncan Jones sci-fi "Moon", as well as his collaborations with Darren Aronofsky. Highly insightful of his creative process and scoring workflow. On that by now popularly borrowed piano, drum fill and string theme Mansell reveals being inspired by a Portishead track to create "a very subliminal part of the film to play on the cloning theme. At the same time you’ve only got one character in Sam, so with each song I tried to make it so that they feel the same but they’ve each got slight unique differences to them."
Great read.

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Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:19:00 -0800 Moon tries to tweet itself out of Oscar isolation http://shot-echo.posterous.com/moon-tries-to-tweet-itself-out-of-oscar-isola http://shot-echo.posterous.com/moon-tries-to-tweet-itself-out-of-oscar-isola

Moon

Can tweets land you an Oscar nomination? Ridiculous, you say? Maybe, but a little twitter storm has been highlighting the plight of an independent movie trying to rise above the corporate shadows of its indifferent distributor to orbit the upper echelons of Academy attention. (note to self, write more concise sentences in 2010) 

The movie in question is British psy-fi Moon by writer/director Duncan Jones. The campaign doesn't so much seek recognition for the film as a whole—although it proves more than worthy—but more specifically a little love for lead actor Sam Rockwell. Normally this is the task of the mighty movie studios who decide which of their year's releases they deem worthy of a consideration marketing blitz. Sony Pictures Classics had been quite supportive of the Trudie Styler produced lunar drama, but only as far as theatrical, DVD and Blu-ray distribution went. 

In Jones' own words, Sony wasn't going to waste energy on the critically lauded work. “We have more than asked," tweeted Jones (@manmademoon), "we’ve knocked heads. They have chosen the films they are backing & we are not in their plans." This is particularly frustrating for the filmmaker, who happens to be David Bowie's son, as "we have done SO well so far with the awards we HAVE been submitted to," including the British Independent Film Awards, the Athens Film Festival (Nychtes Premieras) and the Edinburgh International Film festival. Apparently when it comes to the United States, Sony thought it would cost too much, as DVD screeners of Moon sent out to critics and Academy members "would need to be water-marked copies as our DVD isn’t out yet in the U.S."

In addition, Jones also found out, too late, that Moon was in fact eligible for the Golden Globes. Moon is up and running for BAFTA nominations, and the British Academy has also been trying to shake up the voting procedure to allow more foreign movies to become eligible, and noticed. According to Variety.com,  Bafta is "studying a solution to stream all the qualified films via a secure website to its members in order to level the playing field," an that idea has the support of distributors, who would be saving precious screener cash in these harsh economic times.

But even though influential creators including Iron Man director Jon Favreau and Coraline author Neil Gaiman support Moon's cause, getting Rockwell on the Oscar bill will not be easy. It is not altogether impossible for Academy members to pick up on the buzz and decide for themselves to see the movie—and then hopefully submitting Rockwell's name—but the odds are low, even if over 2100 people have signed an online petition, including Jim Jarmusch and James Franco. 

However, all's not lost. 5,777 voting ballots have been sent out to the Academy members, and they have to be returned by January 23rd 2010. Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards will then be announced on Februrary 2nd. Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences represent 15 general areas, namely (yes, I'm going to list them all) actors, animators and short film makers, art directors and costume designers, cinematographers, composers and songwriters, documentary filmmakers, directors, executives, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, producers, public relations specialists, sound artists and engineers, visual effects experts and writers (I love it how AMPAS leaves the best for last...). So, if you're reading this and happen to know a member, from Amy Adams to Steven Zailian, tap on their shoulder and whisper a little Moon love into their ears.

Alternatively, badger Sony Classics to send out £3.49 gift cards to rent Moon on the UK iTunes Store. It's swift, effective, and multiplied by 5,777 will only cost them just over £20.000. Think of the money you'll make selling DVDs when Sam Rockwell wins that Oscar, Sony!

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Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:11:00 -0800 Digging deeper into HDSLR movie making http://shot-echo.posterous.com/digging-deeper-into-hdslr-movie-making http://shot-echo.posterous.com/digging-deeper-into-hdslr-movie-making

Great things are afoot in cameraland. I'm talking about the capability of the latest DSLR cameras to capture HD video, and at some amazing results. Even entry-level models like the Nikon D90 and the pro-sumer Pentax k7 are allowing anybody to create some dedicated shorts with an array of lenses ranging from fish-eye wide-angle to superzooms. But it is at the High end where a serious departure is being made in moviemaking. Look at videos made with the full-frame Canon 5D mark II, shuch as Shane Hurlbut's Navy Seals project, and you'll see amazing quality already being used for commercials and independent shorts coupled with compact versatility.


And then there's the new Canon EOS-1D mark IV. Yes, it's a pro 16.1 megapixel still camera, but with its Full 1080p HD movie function at 30 frames per second its also a camera for cinematographers who think outside of the box. Explorer of Light Vincent Laforet has had pre-release access to canon's new beast and combining it with pro filmmaking gear such as steadicams, focus pullers and even Arri lenses. To see where all this can lead to watch his Nocturne video, shot entirely in available light on the street of LA, mostly at an incredible 6400 ASA.

Then go to Vincent's blog to see the making of Nocturne, and follow the developments first hand. I will personally be tracking the advances in HD DSLR movie making, as the fusion of photography and cinematography opens up so many inroads into new media that a photographer will soon not be able to do without mastering both skills. It's an exciting time, and I look forward to seeing the first full length feature shot on DSLRs to hit the cinemas...

Nocturne from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

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Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:11:00 -0800 Name that waveform http://shot-echo.posterous.com/name-that-waveform http://shot-echo.posterous.com/name-that-waveform

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This CD labeling concept by designer Joshua Distler would make a great quiz for music geeks. If you've ever worked with music creation software like midi grandaddy Cubase, Apple's Logic and Garageband or younger cats like Reason and Ableton Live, you'll instantly recognize the pattern as being the waveform visualization based on a tune's volume output. A nice idea, but how many of you out there could recognise a choon by its waveform alone? No, I don't think it will be an instant TV show hit, but some dev could turn this into an iPhone app that visualizes your music library into a guessing game, I guess.

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Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:30:00 -0800 On a personal note: to Claudio and Glenn http://shot-echo.posterous.com/on-a-personal-note-to-claudio-and-glenn http://shot-echo.posterous.com/on-a-personal-note-to-claudio-and-glenn

Can you dedicate a post to someone? If so, this one goes out to Claudio and Glenn.

Yesterday evening most of my closest friends were over to drink some wine and have some cake, it being my 36th birthday and all, a very homely affair with kids laughing, running and dancing around. "Look at that," said my mate Zak, standing in the study with my acoustic bass guitar around his neck, pointing at an old picture of us with Jurgen from Jazzanova while I was picking some oodles on a Charrango. After a while he paused for a moment and said "This is what we should be doing all day, making music, creating things, not wasting time at some office." Around that one snapshot were others from times past, and I came to realise that two very good friends were missing from our get-together.

Claudio was some thousand miles away living his happy life with his lady and baby boy, by now running his own one-man creative design company by day and playing gigs with his band HOTEL at night. I've known him since we teamed up at high school, jamming songs in the music room during breaks.

Glenn was also living his and to a certain extent our dreams, a very gifted pianist and composer, on the road with various bands including his Jazz trio, a musical director for major artists and TV shows, writing tunes with his love Chantal, and goofing around with his two dudes whenever he had the chance. But life can be so cruelly short for even the brightest of us, and we have all been sadly missing him since a fatal crash in 2005.

I write this in the middle of the night while my baby boy gently sleeps. If he had half the talent of both Claudio and Glenn he would know how much fun making music is. Somehow I like to believe it's already in him, that hearing them play went into my consciousness and became part of his DNA. And when he sits down behind his little red baby piano, plinks a short tune with both tiny hands, looks round at me and smiles, that right there is the proof.

The following clip is an amazing rendition of Astor Piazolla's Oblivion by the Corneille Roelofs Trio at Gouvy Jazz in Belgium. It was the band's last performance, two weeks before Glenn's death. If you're reading this, pursue whatever you enjoy doing most, don't let your talents go to waste.

"Do I know it? I wrote it!" - Glenn Corneille

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Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:03:00 -0800 A suggestion to the HFPA http://shot-echo.posterous.com/a-suggestion-to-the-hfpa http://shot-echo.posterous.com/a-suggestion-to-the-hfpa

So Ricky Gervais is going to host the Golden Globes next year. Considering the 82nd Academy Awards have a white-haired Clouseau impersonator doing the honours, this might actually be the year the Hollywood Foreign Press Association wins the ratings AND viewership war from AMPAS. Seriously, how witty can Steve's co-host Alec be without Tina Fey? It's Complicated.

But may I just make one suggestion, HFPA? Ricky already has a hilarious double act with a little red monster. No, not that one. Elmo! Watch this clip and tell me the two of them presenting the show in polka-dot pyjamas won't bring the house down..I dare you...

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Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:39:42 -0800 Who needs CGI when you have nature? http://shot-echo.posterous.com/who-needs-cgi-when-you-have-nature-0 http://shot-echo.posterous.com/who-needs-cgi-when-you-have-nature-0 Sometimes the sky just blows my mind.

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Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:02:00 -0800 The making of a headshot http://shot-echo.posterous.com/the-making-of-a-headshot http://shot-echo.posterous.com/the-making-of-a-headshot

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Beba watched silently from a dark corner as I was being shot. "She knows all the poses," says photographer Irini Michopoulou of her trusted canine. "In fact, they used her for a TV publicity shoot. She's a model too!" There is something comforting about having a photographer's pet witness your headshot session. No grunt of judgement nor a bark of support but purely objective observation, exactly what's needed for an Actor's headshot. You need to be you, a blank face on which a casting director can project a character, but with enough expressiveness in the eyes to catch attention.

It is of course up to the photographer to bring out your best look, whether neutral, dramatic, cheeky or jovial. One only needs to look at a photographer's portfolio to know if matches your concept of mood and style. Now Irini has been a pro fashion and music publicity shooter for several years, and her attention to detail is immediately evident in her actor portraits. They convey a unique personal atmosphere with each individual, not an easy task considering actors are not models: stage presence does not always equal photogenicity.

And so it was that I found myself with several changes of black and white shirts at her central Athens home studio last week. Irini's allround experience meant she had stylistic facets covered. "They don't give you an assistant any more, so I do everything myself," Irini told me. The conditions for photographers in Greece are far from ideal, and so she frequently takes on projects abroad.

From a technical point of view, Irini's set up is basic but effective. One umbrella strobe and one flash diffuser aimed at the subject and a rolled-down backdrop respectively is all she needs in her 4x5. "The reflective black granite floor also creates an effect, as do the walls, so I know exactly what the room can give me." A Canon 1D Mark II fitted with a 100mm f2.8 prime lens rounds off the headshot equipment specs.

A pro set-up alone won't create great pics. Actor's need to be directed, so a photographer's coaching ability is just as crucial to getting great headshots. Irini knows what she wants and guides you through the motions smoothly, with the added advantage of digital being hat you get to see some shots immediately on the camera's screen, instantly setting your mind at ease that the shoot is going in the right direction.

My contact sheet will arrive within the next few days from which I will have to choose five favourites. Irini will then slightly retouch and adapt these to black and white where desired. A week or two later my smug mug should be hanging on a casting director's wall, or at the very least filed in one of their books, and round two of my quest for an IMDb listing begins.

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Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:07:00 -0700 10 essential tips for self-promoting artists http://shot-echo.posterous.com/10-essential-tips-for-self-promoting-artists http://shot-echo.posterous.com/10-essential-tips-for-self-promoting-artists

"Hey Joe, what you doin' with that iPhone in your hand?"

Had Hendrix lived today he would have been baffled by the way contemporary musicians get the word out about their latest album, upcoming gig or a recent interview. The folks at Gogoyoko have compiled 10 insider tips for the networked artist (signed or unsigned) and yes, it does include twitter. But the times they are a-changin', so read it while it's hot...

http://go.gogoyoko.com/?p=788

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Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:42:00 -0700 Imam Baildi http://shot-echo.posterous.com/imam-baildi-0 http://shot-echo.posterous.com/imam-baildi-0

Shot & Echo has been collaborating with Greek groovers Imam Baildi on publicity imaging since their live band started gathering crowds in early 2008. The international media has steadily been picking up on their modern reworks of classic rembetika and Greek folk tunes, the band most recently playing at Denmark's Roskilde festival. Brothers Orestis and Lysandros Falireas are preparing their second album which will be 99% original material, dropping it by the end of 2009.

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Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:41:00 -0700 For Joaquin Phoenix, it's a (w)rap... http://shot-echo.posterous.com/for-joaquin-phoenix-its-a-wrap http://shot-echo.posterous.com/for-joaquin-phoenix-its-a-wrap

To anybody who saw Tropic Thunder and wondered if Robert Downey Jr.'s super-involved actor character was far-fetched, I can convey that indeed there are film stars who take their roles that seriously.

So when the great Joaquin Phoenix announced his retirement from acting last year to concentrate on music, it did send a bit of a shockwave through the entertainment world. I remember thinking at the time that having garnered high praise and adulation for his work, perhaps he didn't want to fall into the same viscious, downward-spiralling cycle as some of his contemporaries, most notably those that tragically ended the careers of Heath Ledger and Joaquin's own brother. Both Heath and River succumbed to drug-related overdoses.

But this latest news http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2009/01/joaquin-phoenix.html makes me think the Joaq Man is high on something. A rapper? I could have understood a foray into Country & Western after his spotless portrayal of Johnny Cash in Walk The Line, but this Phoenizzle? wtph? Maybe the big giveaway is bro-in-law Casey Affleck with a video camera. Perhaps this is Joaquin's next cinematic project, done all rough and documentary stylee, and he's really going deep into the soul of an actor-turned rapper, and the destructive path it leads him to. I only hope that's the case, because the man really would be headin' for Oscar bling this time...

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Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:03:00 -0700 The Shot & Echo Blog http://shot-echo.posterous.com/shot-and-echo-blog http://shot-echo.posterous.com/shot-and-echo-blog

So you've found Shot & Echo, where movies, music and other madness is right in the line of blog-fire.
Of course the passion for performance and visual media don't necessarily bite the bullet. If we love something, you'll know it. I for one have often wondered what the point is of divulging a viewer's opinion onto the masses. The beauty of blogging however is that you can choose not to care or you could be pulled into a discussion. So we're not just shooting our mouths off here, we hope our posts will cause some resonance. Fire away!

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