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The Creepshow – Interview/Concert – Captivatethem.ca from Alexander Vlad.

Shot & Cut by Alexander Vlad
Interview by Remi L Roy

Live footage of The Creepshow from Maverick’s (Ottawa). A big thanks to Future Skin for hosting the interview.

Created on the Canon EOS 7D with 17-40 f4L & 70-200 f4L.

Tunes used with permission from artists.

©2009/2010 Alexander Vlad | Captivatethem.ca

Evenin’ folks.  Here’s a sneak peak on what I’m working on tomorrow.  Last night I photographed a kick-ass area band called The Fantastic Flow.  They first appeared on my radar when I met their frontman at a New Years party.  After the hangover cleared, the Flow had the chance to open for one of our favourites, Ko (ko-nation.com) when he performed at Live Lounge (613) at the end of January.  The boys are gearing up to take on the best of the regional talent for Live 88.5’s The Big Money Shot, and I think they have an amazing chance at scoring some big dough.  To go along with their entry into the contest, they are putting out a self-titled EP (about bloody time) and gave us a shout to shoot and design their album cover.  The following is a really random assortment of shots, bound together by hard light, slow shutters, and green gels.  I’m excited to see how tomorrow’s effort will unify it all.

Thanks for lookin!  Check out The Fantastic Flow over on their MySpace, and check back over here soon to see the finished album art and snag some tunes.  All photography © 2010 by Alexander Vlad  |  Captivate Creative Studios.

Today I pulled myself away from editing long enough to grab lunch and snap off a quick shoot with the amazing Killa Hell!

I’m also starting to take out my Canon 7D a lot more for location work, instead of the venerable 5D’s.  It’s an amazing cold-weather camera, and I love that I can easily negotiate it, even with thick gloves on.

I’d only shot 45 frames before the speedlites finally gave out, as I was blasting 1/2 and full power to compete with the sun.  As it turned out, our will to brave the cold pooched around the same time as the batteries, so we retreated to the car.

All photographs © Alexander Vlad 2010 | Captivatethem.ca

Remember Ko?  A few months back we did an interview and shot a show for this rising star.  Then he had just gotten off a tour with Snoop, was promoting his first album, and preparing for a tour with Swollen Members.  Four months later our paths have connected again, and we hatched some cunning plans.  In between all the scheming, we squeezed in a shoot before his most recent show in Ottawa.  Here’s a couple of early offerings:

All photographs ©2010 Alexander Vlad & Captivate Creative Studios | Captivatethem.ca

And last but not least… SUPPORT NEW CANADIAN MUSIC!

Just a little something from yesterday’s covershoot for the new Team PTP mixtape, entitled Triangle Offense.  The whole album will be available to download with full cover art tomorrow.  Get in on some of the fun and follow Cashtro on twitter for updates!

All photographs ©2010 Alexander Vlad, Captivate Creative Studios

I’ve only been dabbling in video since April, but I have to admin, HD DSLR’s are moving me in a big way.  I especially love their promise in documentary and guerilla film making.  Over the last several months, I’ve been working hard on ramping up my editing chops, technique and finding workarounds for the obstacles (of which there are many).  As a result, I’ve been cranking out as much video as I can manage, and this is the first in a series of venue-specific promo flicks for UMM Entertainment Group.  Essentially, its a spiffy combination of images (shot on Canon 5D & 5DmkII) and movie (shot on Canon 5DmkII & 7D) to showcase some of the various clubs in a way that is both unique to the venue, but unified with the corporate identity and the other videos.

I think Cheech & Chong said it best: “It’s gotta be like different…but the same!”

So, hot off the presses, here’s the first of UMM’s new promos:

Over the next week I will be completing another 4 of these babies for UMM venues in Toronto & Ottawa (Lobby Yorkville, Brunswick House, Tila Tequila, Lobby Ottawa).  Coming up on Friday, I have a second day of shooting to add a narative for a more cinematic promo concept for another (unrelated to UMM) nightclub & martini lounge in Ottawa called Sotto.  In a coming post I’ll go into more detail about that project and the ways I’m trying to merge my photography and video work to create a stylized and cohesive aesthetic.  Till then, enjoy!

…and happy New Year as well, btw…  busy busy busy!

Captivatethem.ca presents: UMMtv Ep 1 – LMFAO from Alexander Vlad on Vimeo.

Shot & cut by Alexander Vlad on the Canon EOS 5Dmk2 and 7D dslr systems. Additional camerawork by Greg Bamber & Pistol Pete. Interview and treatment by Remi L Roy.

All music produced & performed by LMFAO.

©2009 Alexander Vlad | Captivate Creative Studios

Another quickie shoot entry, this time from Lobby Nightclub in Ottawa.  DEMU Label strutted it out with both ladies and guys shirts and hoodies.  I was slinging double duty on video and stills (7D and 5D), so if was a terrific juggling act.

It’s been a while since I’ve taken on fashion with a hand-held strobe, so the images had more motion and less clarity than I would usually like.  I think I was also under the influence of guitar thrashing as I seemed to have the whole “rock show” mindset about the gig.  The colourful ambience still draws my favour though, so I’ll share ‘em with the net!

The vibe at the show was amazing, with Hamid Rebel presiding over the party, rocking out on his electric guitar.  Hamid has started to become a constant, performing at several events I regularly shoot at, and crossing paths with a multi-talent like himself is always a great experience.

I’ll update with an image gallery when the video is complete.  Enjoy!

“The gimp’s sleeping.”

“Looks like you’re gonna have to wake him then…”

I can’t think of a better way to start the holiday season!  This gimp shoot was assembled for a promotional campaign for Cirque Noir.  Inspired by the very best of Montréal’s underground fetish parties, Cirque Noir is a 1920’s Berlin-themed event.

This epic party is being thrown at Mercury Lounge, 56, and The Collection in the Byward Market, Ottawa.  The locals out there realize the implications of this.  One buidling, three venues, four floors, all Cirque Noir.  It’s all going down on January 15th, 2010.

Our mischievious friends from Wellfedartist.ca will be providing bodypainting, and there will be a whole host of live performances, including some of the regions best DJ’s and the occasional dominatrix.  Beats will be supplied by Paulo Cardoso (Bomba, Onaversal), Jeff Lapratte, & Mercury Resident Lance Baptiste who is performing a special German Electro set.

It’s been a while since I’ve shot some really sinister shit with hard light.  The whole shoot went down on location at Mercury Lounge, and the models, Cindy and Patrick were energetic and so much fun to work with.  Big shout to Piotyr for playing the role of voice-activated light stand!  The official flyer and promo design is being done by Kid SL and Taktikal Design, so whatever he cranks out, it will impress.

You can find all the kinky info for the party on their facebook event listing.

All photographs ©2009 Alexander Vlad & cannot be used without permission.  We got whips and chains a’plenty.