Behind Every Camera There Is...
Woody's Boot: Jojography via Favim.com
There are a long list of phrases that photographers, in general, dislike. Good hearted people will mistakenly say things like, "Your camera takes great pictures". But the truth is, the camera doesn't take great pictures. My camera is only the tool. My camera is my paintbrush. The image sensor (and sometimes film) is my canvas. The lens is my chisel and the world before me is my giant block of marble. What comes out of my darkroom (digital or otherwise) is a unique representation of how I see the world. It's not the way the camera sees it.
Painters look at a canvas and see swirls of paint working together to create a painting. Sculptors look at a chunk of rock and see a three dimensional creation that they need to dig out. As a photographer, I look everywhere and see shadows. I see depth. I see colors and tones and textures. I work with light and angles, painting with light and sculpting with my lens.
Jessica Chastain as Princess Merida in Latest Disney Dream Portrait by Annie Leibovitz for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
Sadly, in some circles, photography is undervalued as an art form. There is this idea that because something that already exist can be reproduced then it lacks artistic integrity. Yet, I don't see filmmakers struggling with this. The truth is that art is the creation from out of my mind. Photography is simply my medium of choice. Still cameras and two dimensional images make sense to my brain and to my imagination. Whether I choose to share that with paint or stone or digital images or stick figures really makes no difference. That is why I do this. That is why I love this.
For this event, I think that photography is one of the more challenging mediums to work with. If you are going the character route, you have to find locations, models, possibly make up artists - all before you even take a single shot. Finding landscapes to match existing animation is tricky as well. But this is where creativity and imagination will shine. As photographers, it is up to us to take the visible world in front of us, the concept we are in pursuit of, and CREATE. You may want to use silhouettes, special lighting, expressive colors, and anything else that comes into your mind to put together an image that will excite the imagination of others. Best of luck to you in your pursuit of some amazing images!