ARTIST WANTED 2012 Submission

Just entered the Artist Wanted Photography competition for a chance to win $25,000 and an artist residency in NYC. If you get a chance, stop by my competition portfolio and give me your vote!!!

http://christophermalcolm.artistswanted.org/yr2011

MODEL SPOTLIGHT - ARIANA ESTELLE

Got to work with model and ballet dancer Ariana Estelle last weekend. You can check out the result at www.christophermalcolmphotography.com

If I Picked The Oscars....

With the 2011 Oscar Announcement's looming, I think I'll take this opportunity to share with you my own picks for the best work in films in the last year. Do you care? Probably not, but I'll share anyway :-)

Here's hoping 2012 will be even better!

Best Picture

Midnight in Paris
Beginners
Shame
The Artist
Drive
The Tree of Life
Hugo
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Warrior
Moneyball

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Terence Malick – The Tree of Life
Martin Scorcese - Hugo
Mike Mills – Beginners
Steve McQueen – Shame

Best Actor

Michael Fassbender – Shame
George Clooney – The Descendants
Demian Bichir – A Better Life
Ryan Gosling – Drive
Brad Pitt – Moneyball

Best Actress

Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Elizabeth Olsen – Marcy Mary May Marlene
Carey Mulligan – Shame
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor

John Hawkes – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Albert Brooks – Drive
Bryan Cranston – Drive
Ben Kingsley - Hugo
Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis – The Help
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Original Screenplay

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Mike Mills – Beginners
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Steve McQueen, Abi Morgan – Shame
Sean Durkin – Martha Marcy May Marlene

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Logan – Hugo
Alexander Payne and Nick Faxon & Jim Rash – The Descendants
Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin - Moneyball
Amini Hossien – Drive
Lee Hall, Richard Curtis – War Horse

Best Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki - The Tree of Life
Janusz Kaminski – War Horse
Robert Richardson - Hugo
Guilliame Schiffman - The Artist
Steve Bobbitt - Shame

Best Editor

Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa – The Tree of Life
Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Michael Kahn – War Horse
Thelma Schoonmaker - Hugo
Joe Walker - Shame

Best Art Direction

Dante Ferretti - Hugo
Rick Carter - War Horse
Jack Fisk – The Tree of Life
Gregory Hooper – The Artist
James Murakami – J Edgar

Best Costume Design

Sandy Powell - Hugo
Jacqueline West – The Tree of Life
Joanna Johnston – War Horse
Jill Taylor – My Week With Marilyn

Best Original Score

Alexander Desplat - The Tree of Life
Cliff Martinez – Drive
John Williams – War Horse
Ludovic Bource – The Artist
Mark Isham - Warrior

Best Sound

War Horse
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Hugo
The Tree of Life
Warrior

Best Animated Film

Rango

MODEL SPOTLIGHT - Ulorin Vex

Got another chance to work with one of my favorite models, Ulorin Vex, a couple weekends ago. This is our third shoot together, and hopefully not our last. Check out the portfolio at

www.christophermalcolmphotography.com

MODEL SPOTLIGHT - Amanda Jones

Just completed my final shoot of the year with the lovely Miss Amanda Jones. Check out the series at...

www.christophermalcolmphotography.com

PHOTOGRAPHER'S FORUM BEST OF PHOTOGRAPHY 2011

One of my images is featured in the annual Photographer's Forum Best Photography of 2011 book now on sale. Check out more from the series at
www.christophermalcolmphotography.com

Steven Spielberg is not an edgy filmmaker.

In fact, he's the exact opposite. If you looked up the Hollywood style in the dictionary, you'd likely be shown a xerox copy of Mr. Spielberg's IMDB page.

Ever since defining the "blockbuster" with "Jaws," his own personal style has become the template against which big budget action films are judged. And he rarely misses a beat. I mean, how can you miss the mark when you are the mark, right?

Well, after a brief hiatus, Mr. Spielberg is back at it again. With two movies as a matter of fact. With "The Adventures of Tin Tin," he catches his colleague Robert Zemeckis' fever for CGI animation. And with the wonderful new work, "War Horse," he draws on all his experience and vast skill set to produce what Spielberg does best. Create a Spielberg movie.

Spielberg films to me always feel more like watching a moving storyboard than anything actually taking place in the real world. His characters leap forward from the screen as if drawn from comic books. If you watch it closely, even in Spielberg's Oscar winning "Schindler's List," you will see the same sweeping camera moves as you would in "E.T." or "Catch Me If You Can." And, as with all of his films, those sweeping crane shots float to the orchestral sounds of John Williams' sweeping scores.

"War Horse," the sweeping epic of one horse's journey during World War I Europe is perfectly suited for this approach. With it's sights set firmly on your heartstrings, the film doesn't pull any emotional punches. Told through episodic sequences, we follow the majestic horse and the lives of the humans who it comes into contact with. Set among vast English countrysides and massive battles, the film is oddly most effective when dealing in minutiae. The drama of an auction block. A fall harvest. The most efficient way to cut barbed wire. All these scenes work because we are fully invested in the lead character. Even if he does arrive on four legs.

"War Horse" is heroism in the face of great tragedy. Of beauty in a time of horror. You won't leave the theater thinking you've seen the reinvention of the wheel. But by the time Spielberg lays his late "Gone With The Wind" inspired final shot on you, you will find yourself wishing you had a war horse of your own. And your heart will once again be warmed over.