Phil Bloom & Michael Mann's Luck

A day at the races: Canon 7D with Cooke PL primes from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

http://philipbloom.net/2010/03/07/races/

http://philipbloom.net/2010/03/04/shooting-7d-pl-with-cooke-lenses-for-saturdays-la-masterclass/

This blew my mind. Here I was, posting earlier a short by Phil Bloom, which shows the incredible capacity of a DSLR to shoot almost cinema grade imagery with such visual impact and I thought it had nothing to do with Michael Mann, other than perhaps some tenuous shared aesthetic. Suddenly I am discovering a superb short he has done with a Canon 7D on the subject of horse racing no less. Not only that, but some footage comes from the Santa Anita racetrack. It doesn't stop there...  he posted his short film on his blog in March 2010, which is around the time when Michael Mann shot his pilot - which I think commenced shooting in April 2010. It all seems a remarkable coincidence.

It is worth noting that Phil Bloom was invited to George Lucas' famed Skywalker Ranch two years ago, commissioned to show via a short film the cinematic capabilities of DSLR shooting. He met George and other prominent filmmakers, not least Quentin Tarantino who I think just happened to be there. So, Phil Bloom is not beyond the notice of the movie industry's elite.

So what am I surmising? Nothing really, except if there is no link of consequence between Phil Bloom and Michael Mann's Luck, then what this does show is how a shared aesthetic can cosmically collide in time and space.

Since discovering Phil Bloom I am already inspired and looking to rent some DSLR equipment to shoot a short promotional for my work. I am desperate to get back into image making since laying down my large format camera over ten years ago. I ache for it. I am presently a book publisher. Michael Mann continues to push me back into image and story making. For me, images and words are now colliding. So when I found Phil Bloom's site I saw how budget film making came a step closer to fulfilling my heart desire to access this previously elitist world.

So isn't it cosmic that these two influential men almost crossed paths with each other, possibly accidentally, in a stage that I am watching so closely as I seek to find my own path down this road of visual and storytelling artistry.

You see, I feel Phil Bloom's shooting style is a study of character. He has a way of accessing people on the street... Michael Mann is also attentive to character. It is this empathy I pick up, and its so powerful that suddenly I see this crossing of paths. Understanding music is also just as vital, and both are intuitive with this medium too.

See Phil Bloom's horse racing short  - the almost mystical quality of the shots, and the character studies that Mann is now portraying in Luck. See the extraordinary colours in the horse as it is washed. It is all very Mann-esque.

Santa Anita attracts lots of film makers. We know that. And I believe Phil was doing a DSLR workshop at the time. But nevertheless, isn't this amazing? These Bloom shots could be out of "Luck".

So Phil, so Michael... maybe you two ought to hook up?

See Phil's other DSLR films here.