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Posts Tagged ‘movie’

Commercial, Event, Photography | 0 comment

Social Distancing and Drive In Movies at Tysons Corner Center

Taking Care Tysons

Tysons, Virginia

Presently, the world is adapting to changes to everyday life. With this in mind, these are photos of social distancing changes implemented at Tysons Corner Center during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although we are not yet back to normal, you can visit, walkthrough, and do some shopping. Of course, I have missed my assignments there, so this was an appropriate first assignment back since February!

Social Distancing reminders at Tysons Corner Center
Social Distancing reminders at Tysons Corner Center

Throughout the center, there are stickers showing a six-foot distance with reminders to stay apart from those who you do not reside. Additionally, there are hand sanitizing stations that are touchless. At their ‘Taking Care’ website, all the policy changes with respect to social distancing are explained so that you can view them prior to visiting.

Taking Care Tysons
Tysons Corner Center sign for ‘Taking Care’ during the Covid-19 pandemic

While I was making these photos, I noticed many people taking advantage of the changes. The sanitizing stations were frequently used as people walked through entrances. Also, most shoppers wear masks and keep their distance moving through the large hallways. At this time, I am encouraged. The Tysons community is working together to lessen the effects of the coronavirus so that we can hopefully return to normal.

Drive in Movies

To give the community more of an opportunity to get out of the house, Tysons Corner Center also hosts a series of drive-in movies. Additionally, it is a fund raiser for Second Story. With your donation, you can get in to see the feature with your car tailgate as a seat! Their next show is this Friday, August 14, so visit their site to get their details to start next weekend!

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Personal, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Interstellar Review

Photography Inspiration

I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving weekend! It was another nice day for family gatherings with a long weekend. It comes in handy to recover from all the eating and visiting. With the break, I took some time to see a new feature film playing in a real IMAX theater. At this time we went to the National Air and Space Museum in downtown Washington, DC. Being Black Friday, I did not expect too as many people filing into a museum.

There was a line through security, and all the exhibits had people going through them for most of the day. It was encouraging seeing as this was probably the only museum that I requested to visit as a child that was enamored with the space shuttle program, and all the technology that has come from aeronautical research. This was the perfect setting to watch the movie, Interstellar.

Space Shuttle Discovery arrives at the Air & Space Museum - ©TimeLine Media
Space Shuttle Discovery arrives at the Air & Space Museum – ©TimeLine Media

This movie is another good story told by director Christopher Nolan. For me, he creates films where I end up really pulling for characters to overcome obstacles as they strive to accomplish an almost impossible goal. Technically, Nolan has used the IMAX to his advantage in previous movies like The Dark Knight, and seeing it in a real IMAX theater can make panoramic vistas look even grander, and can make simple dialog scenes very intimate. It teaches lots of photographic lessons of framing, composition, and he uses the effect to really enhance the storytelling.

Science Fiction

The almost 3-hour movie did not seem much longer than an hour and a half. The musical score by Hans Zimmer was very celestial to go along with the space travel focus. Overall the keyboard was used throuhgout. It sounded like old pipe organs, and synthesizer pads that reminded me of scores from many 1980’s science fiction movies. The sound also had a lot space with the reverberating chords. In an IMAX theater, the volume and strong low-end tones added to the dramatic action scenes. The collaboration between Zimmer and Nolan has spanned a few films including the Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception. Again, it works well here. I am listening to the sound track again now to catch more of the subtleties. For sure it was hard to not be distracted by the visuals.

Air Force Memorial - ©TimeLine Media
Air Force Memorial – ©TimeLine Media

Without giving away the movie, I really connected with the motivation of the characters. They have ambitions to save the world, do tasks that are in the best interests of their families, and to leave the human race in a better place than they are now. It is very inspiring to see these themes told in such a big movie, then to walk out of the theater and see the actual machines that were very much a part of the recent non-fictional past can be inspiring. Hopefully many in the 3 sold-out shows that evening felt the same way!

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Personal, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Rush

©TimeLine Media - NASCAR car in paddock with split tone

Many good photographers have written about  using other art forms to improve your photography. Master painters take light and shape in combination to guide viewers eyes through their compositions, and grab their attention. Being a still photographer, I have looked at paintings as well as other photographers in trying to improve my photography. I did not consider how movies can do the same. Although they may seem similar, and may use much similar equipment, motion pictures require an entirely different mindset to execute well.

Movie Inspiration

Ron Howard, being one of the best directors currently working, recently released the movie “Rush” about two rival race car drivers that competed for the 1976 F1 Championship in auto racing. Saying that the Academy-award winning Ron Howard knows what he is doing is more than an understatement, but I came away with some thoughts about how a photographer and blogger can relate to this depiction of world class competition at a specific time.

©TimeLine Media - NASCAR car in paddock
©TimeLine Media – NASCAR car in paddock
©TimeLine Media - NASCAR car in paddock with split tone
©TimeLine Media – NASCAR car in paddock with split tone

The filmmakers not only had the actors, decor, and cars in the movie styled for the time, but there was a hint of toning throughout that set the period for the early to mid-1970’s. It was subtle, much like the split tone effect on the photo above, but it gave an overall feel to the movie as a whole that placed them in the correct time period. It would probably have still worked without this color treatment, but it’s addition was a nice detail.

Motorsports Photos

©TimeLine Media - racer in car before race start
©TimeLine Media – racer in car before race start

The action is the draw of the sport. It is a display of skill, speed, and determination. But there are personalities, and stories off the track. In the movie, the rival drivers have two completely different mindsets in their approach to racing. The movie shows the lifestyle of the drivers off the track mirrored their style on the track. It furthers the story, allows the viewers to make their own opinions, and it made me want to research further about their rivalry.

Happily, the filmmakers stayed true to many of the details of this time. With the blessing of many of the people that lived this piece of racing history, the story was an excellent portrayal of the best F1 racers of that time. I will have this in the back of my mind the next time I will cover a sporting event, a wedding, or any significant event for someone that is looking for photos. I would like my photos to tell a story much like this movie – both accurate to the events taking place, and compelling to view for those that were there, and those who will look back on the images in the future.

©TimeLine Media - motocross racing
©TimeLine Media – motocross racing

 TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208