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Here's Michael, phoning in an on-set report for the blog. (Okay, it isn't, but if you saw the behind-scenes pics, you'd know it's not far from the truth.)
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Okay, so remember how I wrote last week that (I had read that) Michael Muller’s action-packed Trauma ads were inspired by war photography? That was wrong. They weren’t. At least not consciously. How do I know? Michael just sent me the true story himself via email, along with a…self-portrait:
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Some photographers take themselves too seriously. And then there's Michael.
“Contrary to what was written—well, at least from my point of view—I never looked at one war photograph. I was told the creative was a story-lined theme of 3 shots that were all taking place simultaneously. That was all I was given, and Ray Slay [senior VP, NBC Universal Photography and New Media] gave me 100% creative freedom to approach this shoot as I felt best.
That is not to say the people over there didn’t have a war-theme docu-style in mind, but in my mind I always go into shoots with an open canvas. Some people have the picture painted in their head upon arriving on set. For myself, I arrive blank and let the moment and the surroundings and the people inspire me. It can be challenging to the nerves to arrive at 7 AM to a set this size with nothing upstairs, but after shooting for almost 25 years, I am at a place where those nerves are quieted on the first of many cups of coffee. I do not have brass balls, but yet a quiet certainty that I will get the shot. I feel I always do, because I won’t leave a set until I know I do.
This was a massive set, with full pyrotechnics, major set moves, andplus I was directing video in between the stills with a RED camera. I definitely could’ve used a pot of brass to drop into. It was really fun. I got into the zone, rocked my Sea Shepherd shirt and thought of the whales being massacred and probably tapped into that state of mind, creating a fantasy human-carnage scenario. I am really happy with the final art that ended up outside and inside magazines all over. And I have received many pats on the ass for a job well done. (Like football, in the end it takes a full team to win the big game, hence the cheesy analogy ;).)”
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Want to see what Michael shot with the RED? It’s right here:
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