Natural Bridge in North Adams Massachusetts

Summer on Lake George

Sometimes it all comes together.

Every once in a while things fall into place. It might be luck, it might be fate, it might be dogged persistence. Or it might be an abrupt discontinuous natural discharge of atmospheric electricity.

How else can you explain a journey from boards I drew months ago to a 21 day shoot in Milan, Riva Lago, and the Italian Dolomites, working with talents like The Guard Brothers and producer Gustav Geldenhuys from Smuggler, Michele Anazaione from Some of Us, DP Joost Van Gelder, Chuck Willis from Cutting Room, Dirk Green from Absolute Post, Sherman and Ray Foote and Darren Solomon from Big Foote, the great folks at SoundLounge and Fergis McCall from the Mill, to produce 2 :60 second spots for client SSGA?

How else can you explain that as I was writing a treatment for the boards, I was reminded of the scene in “Breathless” where Belmondo tries everything to get Jean Seeberg’s attention as she sells the New York Herald Tribune?

Produced by Bob Samuel for the Gate Worldwide, the spots feature Kumash, the biggest dog star in Italy, in a classic boy-loves-girl-in-a-“Breathless”-French-New-Wave-kind-of-way, and a tiny “Swiss” village where everything thing runs on time. Time, that is, as defined by a massive clock in a 250 foot high medieval bell tower.

The spots are part of a broadcast, print and online campaign I’ve been fortunate to produce for client SSGA. My hope is that in this season of stormy economic weather we all get hit by the same kind of lightning again real soon.

Check out the spots and pass on the positive energy.

To see more of my work, http://www.billschwab.net

Bill

Clock Tower for SSGA

Dog's Buried Treasure for SSGA

wagon train ad for SSGA
Meteor ad for SSGA

Aquarium ad for SSGA

If you don’t feel creative in Italia, you must be dead.

There’s nothing like some time in Italy to fire up your muse. Everywhere you look, it seems, there is something to admire and inspire.

I was reminded of this during 3 weeks of work on TV commercials in Milan, Sarnico, Sulzano and Castelrotto (Kastelruth) in the Dolomites. (more on the commercials later)

I spent an Easter Sunday in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, trying to capture the square and it’s magnificent cathedral in a drawing. The drawings follow.

One of the joys of Italian life is how they use public spaces, especially on holidays as a combination living room, game room, debating class, social club, performing venue and restaurant. What a great and relaxing way to spend a day.

What I learned was that the Duomo building was best recorded in context with the surroundings. I also learned to draw with one hand while holding gelato in the other.

Schwab learns to Sprechen a little Deutsch.

Having recently completed 2 weeks of shooting in LA with award winning Hamburg based photographer Tom Nagy, I’ve developed a new appreciation of the German language, especially when they speak of craftsmanship and artistry.

Together with Tom, art buyer and producer Jean Wolf and LA producer Dan Halprin, I created an old west wagon train, a fashionable day at the race track, a neighborhood “hold your breath contest”, caught a deep sea diver in the midst of critical financial decision, and recorded a metaphorical meteor’s impact on an investor’s financial future.

Blending location photography, retouching and CGI from Zoot Postproduction and RECOM, the images are part of campaign that includes broadcast and online elements for State Street Global Advisors and the Gate Worldwide.

To see more of Tom’s work, contact Michael Ash. If you’re really lucky, you’ll be able to book Jean Wolf as your art buyer producer. If you need anything from an antique diving suit to an old west wagon train, call Dan Halprin.

To see more of what I’ve been up to, visit my blog bill-schwab.blogspot.com again soon.