Learning to See » Architecture

MLK

Jon Roemer — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:00:43 +0000

We were in Washington, D.C. this weekend and got a chance to visit the new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, Washington, D.C. January 14, 2012. Click to enlarge.

A Burton Lynch Christmas

Jon Roemer — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:54:02 +0000

In Boston last week for an assignment, arrived the evening before and took short walk through South Boston to get dinner at a local taqueria.

One twisted element away from a Tim Burton film.

South Boston, December 14, 2011.

David Lynch was here.

B-ball B-board

Jon Roemer — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:42:47 +0000

Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Basketball billboard, basketball billboard, basketball billboard.

Hot off the non-linear editor – Fordham University’s “College Basketball – New York Style!” billboard rises on Manhattan’s west side, overlooking Riverside Drive and the West Side Highway.

Fordham is featuring it on their YouTube Channel, two of their FaceBook pages, FordhamSports.com and it will be used for promotion this season and next.

In a prior post, Down by the River, Up by the Tomb, I gave some background. Three cameras used in two locations. Each filming for a few hours. Over 2600 stills used to create the three time lapse clips which were then edited into the piece above.

Produced, shot and edited by me.

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Update 01/06/11 – related post: FU Got Game.

The Crane Life

Jon Roemer — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:45:08 +0000

A month ago in The Cranes and Me I posted stills from my work documenting a construction project in Manhattan. Here is a short video made from the time lapses produced that day:

I set up two cameras to shoot the time lapse sequences and they were used in two different locations. This created four sequences.

The cameras fired at five seconds intervals which was determined based on their needing to run for an hour, the image file size and the size of the compact flash cards. Due to the contrast of the scene (deep shadows, bright highlights, and white tents) the images were recorded as raw files.

In terms of post workflow – the raw files are optimized in Aperture and exported out as full res jpegs. The jpegs are then brought into Quicktime to create a 24 fps sequence and then sent to FCP X for editing.

Down by the River, Up by the Tomb

Jon Roemer — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:37:35 +0000

On location yesterday in NYC to shoot time lapse segments for a short video. Out the door at 5:15am and at the site by 6:30am. Set up location #1 in West Harlem Piers Park, on a pier in the Hudson right by 125th St and the West Side Highway. Fortunately, Fairway’s parking lot is open and affords us a staging area.

The weather is rainy and windy. The goal is to time lapse the installation of a billboard from three vantage points via three cameras, all with different lenses. The billboard company says they cannot install the new board if it is rainy or windy but they will not make the call until 7am (with the installation at 8am.) So, we have to be ready regardless.

Camera #1, on the river, gets setup with a 70-200mm and weatherproofed. Two assistants are left to run it, watch it, and have each other’s back.

View from camera #1. The top most billboard will be replaced. 6:50am, NY, NY, Dec. 6, 2011.

I head up to the grassy knoll on the north side of Grant’s Tomb, out of view of the river site and about five stories higher in elevation. Alternate side of the street parking means no go on street parking so I end up in a lot at 134th St. I meet assistant #3 there and we begin the long wet march back to the grassy knoll, across the famous elevated portion of Riverside Drive which seems to be a resting place for all of the dog poop in the city. Watch where you walk and what you drag the bags through or fail to do so at your own risk.

We set up on the knoll, locations #2 and #3, one camera with a 300mm for the tight shot and the other with a 90mm for the wide shot. We weatherproof them and the client joins us.

Assistant #3 = Jon, I = Jon, and the client = John. Three Jo(h)ns on a grassy knoll in a New York City park. Sounds like trouble.

Camera #2, Canon 1D Mark IV with a 300mm lens. NY, NY, Dec. 6, 2011.

A time lapse is math. How long is the action you’re recording to take place? What size is the memory card in your camera? How much space does each image take up? And in this case, the billboard company has told us that the installation could take 4-6 hours, so add in camera battery life as another factor. Run the numbers, do the math. Worst case scenario we need about 10 seconds between images if we shoot jpeg. Raw files are too big and not doable if we have any hope of catching the raising of the new billboard and also being prepared for a potential 6 hour time-frame.

Camera #3, Canon 1Ds Mark III with a 90mm TSE lens. NY, NY, Dec. 6, 2011.

Fortunately, the weather cleared just enough for the billboard installation. The crew did a super fast job, taking only one hour. We stay on site another couple of hours to get enough tail end footage. When all is said and done, each camera yields a 35 second clip (one frame every 9-12 sec. depending upon the camera, each running for about three hours, images funneled into a 24 fps video.)

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Update – 12/21/11: B-ball B-board <- video created.

Banner Images: Peddie School

Jon Roemer — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:31:29 +0000

Early this year I did two blog posts looking at how clients were using my images to define and market their brands.

Banner Images: Creating a Brand for NYU’s Gallatin School

Banner Images: Fordham University and the Woodrow Wilson School

In the past month I spent two days shooting for the Peddie School and before I could follow up on the assignment images were already gracing their home page:

The Cranes and Me

Jon Roemer — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:46:06 +0000

On location Wednesday morning to continue a construction progress project. I had three cameras running – two on autopilot shooting time lapse and one, manned by me, for candid shots and other angles.

The wide shot leaves room for the future building to fill the frame.

Lincoln Center construction site. NY, NY, November 2, 2011. Click images to enlarge.

From the plaza level. NY, NY, November 2, 2011.

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Update – 12/09/11: To see a short video created from the time lapses described above please see: The Crane Life.

Student Voices – Legal Methods

Jon Roemer — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:09 +0000

I am very proud of this piece. Its short length does not begin to convey the amount of work which went into it. It was created for Columbia Law School as a fundraising video to kick off their Annual Fund.

Production was done by the Law School’s Office of Communication and Public Affairs (thanks Libby & Michele!) I was director, cameraman, and editor. My assistants did sound (thanks Dan & Chris!)

The photography was completed in two days split between three visits to the campus. There is a very tiny bit of b-roll provided by a second shooter, Alex Hotz.

This is the director’s cut – it is more interview centric than the official cut, concentrating on the stories of a few students.

The official cut, “Remember your first day of law school?”, can be found on my vimeo page and on Columbia’s site. It is a bit lighter in tone, a bit faster paced, featuring more students with shorter sound bites.

1995

Jon Roemer — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:06:31 +0000

In 1995 I started a project documenting areas around Manhattan. I concentrated on New Jersey and Staten Island but more particularly on places that still had a tie back to Manhattan – either through line of sight or via some of the iconic bridges leading to it.

Looking at the images now, ten years after 9/11, I am struck most by the ones featuring the World Trade Center.

Jersey City, NJ. 1998. World Trade Center. Click images to enlarge.

Weehawken, NJ. 1995. Baseball diamond on top the Lincoln Tunnel. World Trade Center.

Staten Island, NY. 1997. World Trade Center.

Newark, NJ. 1998. World Trade Center.

Manhattan from Weehawken

Jon Roemer — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:16:59 +0000

A week ago today, coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel and up onto the helix. We had just hit the 14-hour mark but the view back to Manhattan was too stunning not to stop and haul out the equipment yet again.

View of Manhattan from Weehawken, NJ. August 15, 2011. Click image to enlarge.

The noir version:

Music: title score from Scene of the Crime, 1949.