Home

Content

Philip Bloom

DP • DIRECTOR • FILMMAKER

Piccadilly Furs

Play the HD Version (High Bandwidth Required)

640x360

45MB

12votes

21641 Views

9 Comments

7 Favorited

0 Reviews

Short film shot on Letus Extreme 35mm Cinema adaptor and Sony EX1 XDCAM HD camera.

Comments

Shiv Kumar

March 11, 2008 01:59 PM

Incredible Light and portrayal of just people

Phil,
This was the first of your videos I remember seeing. I was totally mesmerized. I think the music has something to do with it also ?. The combination of time lapse scenes and slow motions scenes kind of throws the viewer into fantasy land or something.
So what does it take to walk up to strangers and have them participate in your videos?
I can’t get over how you’ve captured the light in the various shots. Good work.

Eva Sturm

April 02, 2008 06:14 PM

This is magic!

I love this video, still my favourite, since I first saw it on Phil's website. The music fits perfectly to these pictures. Excellent work, very well done!!

Keith Wright

September 09, 2008 12:17 PM

Pretty pictures...

I'm sorry to be so grumpy, but this is kind of filmmaking that makes me weep. I know it looks great, and technically we could probably talk all day how to get great images out of low cost video equipment, although I wouldn't want to. But really, it's the kind of filmmaking that adds up to absolutely nothing more than 'nice'. It has no drama, no story, no tension, no place. It's a showreel, a technical showpiece, stock footage at best. I just don't get it. This may be the intention, if it is, then well done. But such a shame to see that a talent has painted itself into such a shallow corner. KW.

Philip Bloom

September 09, 2008 03:43 PM

Keith I don't get it. Why make such a comment. You obviously know nothing about me or my work. This as most people know was purely a test as it was my first time with the Letus and EX1 so I was playing aroud with it. This was the end result. In the end my test shots cut together so well to the music that I put it on the web and the rest is history.

But since when does everything have to have story, tension, drama? Are your definations of film so narrow minded? Check out stunning works, not that I am comparing, like Baraka and Koyaanasqatsi.

Your last statement confuses me, again you know nothing of my work, what I do, who I am, what I make if you think I have painted myself into such a shallow corner. I find it quite offensive to be honest! i make Documentaries, movies, commercials. What corner exactly have I painted myself into. I will defend this piece to the hilt. It started something for me that changed everything.

Stop being so grumpy!

Keith Wright

September 09, 2008 06:22 PM

Pretty pictures

Philip, you are right. I apologise for my last comment; it was personal and unjust.

I certainly did not intend my comments to be seen as a personal attack. I was basing my judgement on what I saw here, on this little screen, In the same way I judge any film based on what I see, not necessarily who made it or what their intention was. If this was purely a technical showcase, I get it, that’s fine. But since I have now watched a few more of your films, I’m afraid I still feel the same. They look absolutely fantastic, but I’m left cold.

Maybe this is just a matter of taste. I’m not sure. Maybe we are talking a different language. I’m not sure. But for debate here is how I see it.

When I flick through my dads Ansel Adams Calendar and stop at the majestic Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite, I can almost hear it roaring in my head, almost see it moving before my eyes, it is a photographic moment of beauty and my imagination runs wild. That, to me, is the power of great stills photography; it presents a world where I can fill in the spaces beyond the edges of the frame.

When you add movement, things, in my opinion, are very different. The moving image presents a new set of ‘rules’, which include structure and editing.
Even setting out to create a snapshot of any city, town or person, there is the potential for drama in its construction. Crossing a road in a busy city is potentially dangerous, but only dangerous if you edit it that way, a woman’s smile is only meaningful when received by another, a fizz of light can be blinding if we see the blinded, a shadow is foreboding if we see potential consequence. When I say, drama or story, I mean it in the smallest but most effective way.

Without drama, music is often just the crutch, pasting the cracks, smoothing the transitions. Honing technique is nothing more than the path to great aesthetics, and aesthetics alone in the moving image is nothing but a slideshow.

I feel drama and aesthetic can always live together and are stronger for it. Take a film like City of God or Werner Herzog’s Lessons of Darkness or even Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine, and you have films that are not only beautiful to look at, but do what film is supposed to do best, tantalise the emotions.

I guess I’m still slightly grumpy.

Shiv Kumar

September 10, 2008 09:52 AM

Keith,

I'd love to see some of your work :). How about posting something so we can all see the work you do?

Elena Nazare

October 15, 2008 04:18 AM

I think this is amazig

That's because every story counts. It's great to see people on the streets , going to work, travelling, or just siting somewhere and thinking. All the people in the world are important , and everyone of us have a roll and a story. And without us the world would be so empty. Every story will build in time the past and the history , and is so great when someone could show us some moments in this time who never come back again. That' s why this kind of videos are amazing, and I know I'm right.

Paul Joy

October 17, 2008 09:11 AM

Each to their own

If you love feature films, short films, stories or whatever then great, but this format is just as pleasing to me. This is pure videography, it's like a photograph, there is no inherent story-line or plot, it is up to the viewer to make of it what they will.

I'm not entirely sure why the holy grail in videography has to br story telling and feature films, these formats are of course a wonderful use of the technology, but that doesn't make it the ultimate destination for all videographers.

Keep it up Phil.

Steve Brunton

August 05, 2010 12:44 AM

Fashionably late (as always)

Erm...2008? Am I too late? I just found this link via the London meet up: http://philipbloom.net/2010/08/04/new-york-boston-and-london-meet-ups/ Doh, Philip! You beat me to the punch. I was just about the wade in with: Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, Naqoyqatsi & Baraka. I must admit, sometimes, there's nothing better than sitting down with a pizza and watching the latest mind numbing Hollywood MESSterpiece. You know... films for the 'Lowest Common Denominator' folks. But there are films (as above) for people with a more refined, worldly palate. The rediscovery of beauty, educated through the medium of cinematography. The above films are worth MUCH more, and say MUCH more than the likes of 'Transformers the Movie' - and they will stand the test of time. I salute you, Philip, for keeping up with this tradition. In 10-20 years from now, people will look back on your 'documentaryesque' films and see an accurate slice of life in the early 21st century. Who else is doing that right NOW? ...I can't think of (m)any. Imagine if this film was made in the 70's? Think about it. Fin.

Credits & Tags

Videography / Cinematography: Philip Bloom Rating: 4.67

Tags: Piccadilly

Asset Information

Updated: 48 months ago

Short

Duration: 00:02:56

Definition: This Video is a High Definition (HD) Video

Dimensions: 1280 x 720

Size: 66.84MB

Send Link by Email

Embed

Download

London, ,

England

Contact Member

Bio

For the past 20 years I have been following my passion as a career and it has taken me around the world to places I have felt privileged to have seen.

More...

PHILIP BLOOM Dop, Director, Editor