News

Sony is On Location in Maine: F3 Super 35 in the Spotlight

Sony's new F3 Super-35mm cameras are in the house. The Maine Media sound stage is home this week and next to two new workshops featring Sony's latest HD technology.

Doug Jensen, an HD cinematographer, producer/director/editor, consultant and founder of Vortex Media, is currently teaching Digital Cinematography with Sony's Super-35mm HD Cameras.

This workshop provides excellent exposure for cinematographers, camera operators and video professionals of all levels to hands-on, detail-oriented instruction on the features and operation of Sony’s latest technological advances. Using PMW-F3 and NXCAM Super-35mm cameras, students receive both classroom instruction and hands-on, real-world training in a variety of studio and field production environments.

High-speed broadband internet and affordable DVD/Blu-ray distribution have revolutionized how video can be used as a sales and training tool for today’s businesses. Doug's August 14 - 20 workshop Production of Broadcast-Quality Training and Promotional Videos addresses the creative and technical elements required for producing successful videos and is ideal for independent producers, corporate multimedia staffers, ENG/EFP professionals and event videographers who want to take advantage of this rapidly expanding sector of the production industry.

There are a few seats available in next week's session, so make your Maine plans today and get to work with the new Sony F3. Sony's next sponsored MMW workshop is Advanced Digital Cinematography September 18 – 24 with Alice Brooks.

Call for Points North Pitch Session Submissions by August 31

The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF), the premier venue for non-fiction film in New England, is seeking submissions for its 2nd Points North Pitch session.

The Points North Pitch is part of the Points North Documentary Forum, a conference component that runs concurrently with CIFF from September 29 – October 2, 2011 throughout Camden and Rockland, Maine.

Participants in the Points North Pitch Session can submit a trailer or clip of no more than five minutes in length by August 31. The festival will choose several finalists to present their work-in-progress films to the visiting industry delegation on October 1.

Past panelists have included representatives from HBO, the BBC, ITVS, PBS, the Sundance Institute, the Tribeca Institute, and American Public Television. One winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize sponsored by Boston’s Documentary Educational Resources and a scholarship sponsored by Maine Media Workshops. The Points North Documentary Forum is funded in part from the generous support of the LEF Foundation and the Maine Arts Commission. For more information, visit www.camdenfilmfest.org/pointsnorth. 

CIFF is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting a snapshot of the cultural landscape through the year’s best non-fiction storytelling, connecting audiences with the industry’s emerging talent to discuss documentary film as an art form, a catalyst for change and as an outlet for the independent voice. Passes are now on sale for the 2011 festival at www.camdenfilmfest.org/attend.

From "Cowboys & Aliens" to Maine - Ulano is Back in Town

It’s hard to keep track of Mark Ulano. With film projects shooting around the world, this master of sound production and mixing could be anywhere, in any time zone, but next month we know for certain: he’ll be in Maine. 

With his latest film Cowboys & Aliens taking movie theaters by storm, Mark will be taking a break from life on set to teach his popular Sound Production and Mixing workshop September 18 – 24.

Mark has been recording sound for film professionally since 1976. His extensive list of credits includes Super 8, The Tourist, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and Inglorious Basterds. His work on Titanic won him an Academy Award for Sound Mixing.

Quite often the quality of sound is the most under-appreciated aspect of filmmaking. The truth is that photography and sound are the two most important tools in storytelling. Join Mark in Maine for his one-week class and acquire the technical knowledge and set procedures required of professional sound recordists and mixers in a wide range of field productions.

IMAGINE Magazine’s Special Edition Features Maine Media Workshops + College

New England’s premier media trade journal, IMAGINE Magazine, has given Maine Media Workshops + College “pride of place”, featuring the school on the front cover and in a two-page center spread. The magazine’s August special edition is devoted to “how the industry learns in New England” and includes articles on training, mentoring and internships, alongside monthly features on film festivals, funding awards and the latest developments in New England’s media sector. Now in its twelfth year, IMAGINE is seen by more than 50,000 industry watchers annually and received more than a million hits on its web site in the last twelve months.

An effective industry advocate and respected source of news and information, IMAGINE cites MMW+C’s immersive learning atmosphere, top notch faculty and beautifully diverse natural setting as its distinction. In addition, an extensive interview with MMW+C President Charles Altschul makes clear that the opportunity to creatively take risks and find new inspiration is championed as an institutional mission, sui generis.

Louise Rosen, an advisor to MMW+C and recipient of IMAGINE Magazine’s 2011 Imaginnaire Award says, “IMAGINE has captured the essence of MMW+C, a kind of alchemy of vision, place, tools and teaching that results in extraordinary experiences.”

IMAGINE's cover features work by Anna Land, MMW+C intern, who captured filmmakers from Bestor Cram’s Documentary Camera class learning on location as they filmed Camden Sushi Chef, Chris Wolf.

PDN Survey Says: Maine Faculty Ranked Top Workshop Instructors

The September "Photo Education Issue" of Photo District News (PDN) reports the results of their summer survey "Who are the best workshop instructors?" PDN Editors received responses from 1,800 readers, and 13 instructors emerged as clear favorites.

Congratulations to the MMW faculty, representing a range of photographic work, saluted by the PDN survey: Photojournalist and Olympus Visionary David H. Wells, renowned commercial photographer Bobbi Lane, nature and wilderness photographer Eddie Soloway and the legendary Jay Maisel.

Bobbi taught her popular Introduction to Portraits workshop in Rockport in June, but summer is far from over! The week of August 21 – 27 will be a PDN powerhouse: David leads his Street Photography class in which students learn to work rapidly and unobtrusively in busy environments with minimal equipment and maximum adaptability. Eddie's A Natural Eye workshop week weaves together eye-opening outdoor experiences, technical lessons, daily critiques, and Eddie's one-on-one meetings with each participant in order to view the natural world with fresh eyes. Jay's Light, Gesture & Color master class begins with an initial critique of each student's best work, and continues with critiques and shooting assignments designed to hone photographic skills, intuitive self-trust, and the ability to think in terms of pure color.

Visit our website to access a complete list of top-flight, award-winning industry professionals teaching in Maine this season. Photography, filmmaking and multimedia workshops continue through October. There's still plenty of time to plan your MMW Workation!

Trading Maine for the Marlins

One minute, photographer Sarah Glenn is at work assisting Maine Media instructors with week-long summer classes, the next she's on a plane heading to the opposite end of the East Coast to cover the Florida Marlins for Getty Images.

"I am grateful that I had the opportunity to photograph six home games of the Florida Marlins in Miami," Sarah tells us when she lands back in Rockport. "I was on assignment for Getty Images to capture the game action, important players, and news-worthy story images. Within the seven days I was there, I am excited to say that my work was published in The New York Times, New York Post, Miami Herald and over thirty news and sports websites including ESPN, MLB, Yahoo, and CBS Sports. It was an incredible experience that has opened up many doors for me to pursue my dream of sports photography."

Among the instructors Sarah has assisted this season are Michael Zide and Parish Kohanim. She's now back on campus working with Michael Merritt.

Visit Getty Images to view a gallery of Sarah's photos from her whirlwind baseball week.

Maine Media Community Events Aug 15 - Sep 1

August is here but that doesn't mean things are slowing down at the Maine Media Workshops. We hope you'll join us for these upcoming events!

August 15 Masters of 20th Century Photography Presentation Topic: Ernst Haas

Susan Danly, Curator of Graphics, Photography, and Contemporary Art at the Portland Museum of Art, Craig Stevens, and Todd Weinstein discuss the legendary Ernst Haas, photography master and long-time instructor at the school, and his influence on the art form. Born in Austria in 1921, Haas was both a photographer and a photojournalist influential for his innovations in color photography. The Portland Museum of Art houses Ernst Haas Memorial Collection of works by photographers including George Tice, Maggie Steber, and Elizabeth Opalenik. This event takes place Monday, August 15, at 4 pm in the Union Hall Theatre, 2 Central Street in Rockport, Maine.


August 22 Masters of 20th Century Photography Presentation Topic: W. Eugene Smith

In 1989, Jim Hughes put together a multi-projector presentation on the life and career of W. Eugene Smith entitled Shadow and Substance. With the help of local multimedia guru, Geoff Parker, this presentation has now been recreated in a digital format to be used by future generations of Workshops students. Join Jim Hughes for the premier screening of this newly refurbished presentation. The showing is followed by a discussion with Tim Whelan, proprietor of Tim Whelan Photographic Books at the Maine Media Gallery. This event takes place Monday, August 22, at 4 pm in the Union Hall Theater, 2 Central Street in Rockport, Maine.

 

August 29 Vanished Kingdoms: A Woman's Extraordinary Journey

In the 1970s, Cabot discovered in Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology the journals, diaries and rare photographs that documented the adventures of her mother, Janet Elliott Wulsin, in the 1920s to remote corners of Western China, Inner Mongolia and northwestern Tibet. Cabot spent four years conducting research at Harvard to unravel her mother's fascinating story. Wulsin’s adventures are captured in a magnificent illustrated book, which contains over 140 extraordinary photographs documenting the lost world of Imperial China. In this presentation, Cabot discusses her mother’s journey as well as the process, for the first time, of digitizing rare colored lantern slides and then transposing them into exhibition prints which were exhibited in seven museums in the United States and Great Britain. This event takes place Monday, August 29, at 4 pm in the Union Hall Theater, 2 Central Street in Rockport, Maine.

 

September 1 Creativity & the Law Presentation

With a background in journalism and as a leading practitioner of entertainment law, William Hochberg has written for Wired magazine and spoken at conferences and colleges nationwide. In this wide-ranging and interactive discussion, Bill outlines some of the relevant legal issues facing the creative artist today. Come and bring your questions! This event takes place Thursday, September 1, at 8 pm in the Union Hall Theater, 2 Central Street, Rockport, Maine.


And continuing this month through September 30...

We are the Camera Exhibition

In 1991, when digital photography was in its infancy, Eastman Kodak opened the Center for Creative Imaging in Camden, Maine to try and understand the implications of this fundamental change. Now 20 years later, this exhibition continues this exploration by examining some of the current issues in digital photography, from frameless photographs to the ubiquity of the photographic image. The show at Maine Media Gallery will be rotating, so check back often and see how the show changes over time! First up are Dan Burkholder’s iPhone images, which will be on display through August 25.

For more information on this exhibition, please click here.

Alluring Fall & Winter Destination Workshops

From the hauntingly beautiful California landscapes, to the Himalayas, seductive Argentina and Brazil, and enchanting Italian canals, Stephen Johnson, Peter Turnley, and Thatcher Cook and Brendan Bullock share adventure, expertise, and personal charisma in their ever-popular destination workshops offered by Maine Media Workshops.

October 8, join Stephen Johnson for the Mono Lake and Eastern Sierra workshop. Mono Lake, an oasis in the Great Dry Basin of California, offers lunar-looking landforms, millions of migratory birds, volcanic craters, and “tufa towers.” Globally unique, Mono’s moods will create images unlike any you have ever shot.

October 23, board a vaporetto to join Peter Turnley for the Canals of Venice workshop. Capture the magic and authenticity of “The Queen of the Adriatic” at the perfect time, after the summer crowds have departed. Develop an enchanting visual story that illuminates the intimate moments of Italian life.

October 27, meet Thatcher Cook and assistant, Brandon Bullock, in the Darjeeling Tea Plantation workshop. Work with humanitarian development organizations to document projects that promote fair trade to villages located in the tea gardens. Fuel your zest for documentary photography, high in the Himalayans, while savoring the serene atmosphere of Darjeeling tea gardens.

January 7, begin the new year with Stephen Johnson in the Death Valley in Winter workshop. Expand your photographic horizons with vast expanses of color brought by intriguing landforms, strange mineral deposits, delicate flora, marble-lined canyons, and sand-swept dunes. Death Valley will enrich your landscape portfolio with its quiet magic.

January 15, migrate south for Peter Turnley’s Buenos Aires Streets and Tango workshop. Revel in the seductive, mesmerizing rhythms of life in outdoor cafes, open-air tango halls, street musician stages, and grand San Telmo. Capture those “decisive moments” found in passionate Buenos Aires, the “Paris of the South”.

February 15, treat your senses to a feast beyond imagination at Peter Turnley’s Rio Brazil Carnival workshop. Build a visual story densely populated with parades, costumes, pre and post Carnival activities, and energizing Samba dancers. Widen the angle of your lens and take in every nuance of “Carnaval”. 

Visit www.mainemedia.edu for the complete details for these and all of our great destination workshops. Buen viaje!

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