Create Magazine's Editor's Choice --Correction

Whoops! I guess people really do read my blog. I was just informed that the picture I posted in the first press release was one of the nominees but not one of the winners.

And, not to brag, but I got two Advertiser Awards!

Both of the ads were put together from images created to promote the Footlight Club, America's Oldest Community Theater.

This one was for their production of Charles Busch's classic spoof of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Sleeping Beauty or Coma.

In a rather bizarre turn of events, right before we concepted this poster, A&E ran a show about Mr. Busch and introduced me to his creatively spoofy world.

I had had an opportunity to come up with a poster for the Club's earlier Busch production of Psycho Beach Party.

The best part of these productions is working with comedic character actors. Rodney Raftery and Eric Greimann were a blast to work with and the difficult part was narrowing down which images to use.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MATTHEW MCKEE PHOTOGRAPHY WON THE AD MOST LIKELY TO GRAB YOUR ATTENTION AWARD AND THE BEST SHOT AWARD IN CREATE MAGAZINE’S EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARDS

Orlando, FL, April 16, 2008 – Matthew McKee Photography won the A Most Likely to Grab Your Attention and Best Shot crowns in Create Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Awards. Engel conquered tens of other candidates to earn the title and was selected based on their originality and unstoppable design. The award-winning works dazzled the world in the Sep+Oct 2007 Northeast issue and the May+June 2007 Northeast issues respectively.

“Matthew McKee Photography produces consistently stimulating and innovative ads that never cease to impress,” said Create Magazine Editor Dana R. DeLapi. “Their work is always impressive and perfectly complements the message of Create Magazine.”

Create Magazine has seen some fantastic creativity grace its pages in the last year. From advertising to design, writing to gadgets, the Create Team has singled out the best of the best in a showcase for the May+June 2008 issue. With fun quirky categories like “Most Likely to Make you LOL,” the Editor’s Choice Awards provide recognition based on a different set of criteria.

The May+June issue of Create Magazine will be on newsstands on May 12, 2008. Create is also available online at www.createmagazine.com for Create Magazine subscribers and Create Network members.

A Good Marketing Quote and Hair

I was sitting in a client's office the other day, talking about an upcoming project for a concept based still life. The conversation rolled around to the effectiveness of cutting back on marketing to save a buck.

He pulled out a piece of paper with one of the most apropos quotes I have seen in a long time.

"He who stops advertising to try and save money could just as easily stop his watch to try and save time."

Neither of us know who said it. He got it from one of his clients. If you know who to credit for it, let me know!

The poster above is another in the series I have been creating for the Footlight Club, America's Oldest Community Theater.

As always, a lot of fun and creativity went into the preplanning for the shoot. In retrospect, the shoot itself was kind of quiet, as Jason, the stylist on set and our model, wrestled with the wigs to get strategic coverage.

Speaking of good marketing quotes, I found a very interesting article on the Freelanceswitch.com site that talked about marketing and publicity design. It was specifically about designing for publicity, but, like most marketing, the principles can apply anywhere!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Ugh! August in Boston. 90 degrees and sweat pouring down.

It's a little like the scene we recently created above.

This was part of a poster and marketing project for The Footlight Club, and another opportunity for me to work with the wonderful and passionate people there.

We started out studying the classic posters and dvd covers from the Paul Newman movie and reading over the synopsis of Tenessee William's play. And, then we distilled it down until we answered the questions, what is the ultimate theme and what is the audience going to be looking for?

In the beginning of the process, the layout was very busy and full of people. By the end, when we showed up to shoot, it was just Brick and Maggie, played by Peyton Pugmire and Elissa Jordan. Both put on their characters and played the moment to perfection. Susanna Crampton, the producer, and Artie Leger, the director, were both on hand to approve the final shot.


If you want to see great community theater, check out the play at the Footlight Club.

Where's the fun in that?

Okay, just so you don't think we are too serious about our jobs here.

This image was created during a real people shoot in Rhode Island. The project was for a training program and the client was using their own sales reps as models.

This is always a lot of fun, even when we have some reluctant "models".

One of subjects stated to me at the beginning of the shoot, "I don't know why I agreed to this. I really don't like getting my picture taken."

I nodded and said "Don't worry, we are going to have fun today."

And, we did!

Well, my crew and I worked our buns off, setting up and tearing down lighting, running to the next set, harassing my make up artist, Margina (who is great to work with, by the way!), and generally getting the shot list accomplished without blowing up my friend's house.

The point is that, with some good planning, the challenge is fun!

And, every once in a while, you need to stop and ask your models what they really think of the day!

Posters and Composites

One of my constant inspirations is the art of the movie poster. Where else does the art of compositing come together to express the idea of a two hour span of time? It makes heros and villans larger than life. It conveys the central theme and drama (or comedy or whatever) to an audience through the common visual language. It is a dialog that happens in one composition.

For a while now, I have been exploring this art with a local community theater. (Yes, the same one that I just completed a 31 portrait series of its members. You can still order the book by clicking the link to the right.)

Once again, I was able to team up with Kristin MacDougall, on of the fine producers at the Footlight Club, and we brainstormed a poster design for Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Sleeping Beauty or Coma, two Charles Busch plays.

Principle photography took place over a few short hours, photographing the available actors, in costume, on a white background. Compositing and final design, however, took around 6 hours to put together the poster and banner to advertise the show.


This makes my sixth poster series for the club and I look forward to our next project together!