Blue For You - Sebastian Ortiz

When a friend calls you up to pitch a paparazzi stalker concept where you have to shoot the perspective of said paparazzi stalker, you say…. yes!

I was feeling a bit burnt out at the end of the summer when I got this phone call. And as my friend Sebastian shared this concept with me, I could feel my energy increase. This was exactly the creative project I was needing.

After the call, I paused for a moment and thought, how on earth do I shoot the perspective of a stalker? How would a stalker photograph? Never thought that this was even something I’d have to consider in my career.

It was a great 3 days of being on set with some very talented people. Here’s my perspective of a paparazzi stalker. Most of the shots captured on my R6 with a 70-200.

Day 1 our star arrives in a car and fans rush to greet her. Normally when I’m on set, I want to be right beside the camera capturing exactly what motion is being captured. This time however, it oddly made sense for me to linger in the background. I knew I wanted to have lots going on in the foreground and then to reveal what the stalker was actually focused on in the back.

Day 2 was shot inside a really cool house in West Van. The large windows, the wood and concrete, reflections in the pond. It was dreamy.

Day 3 continues inside the home as we switch to night mode. Ever since I started to shoot film stills, many projects have been at night with the most challenging light. It’s definitely a balance between properly exposing for a portrait session versus capturing the ambiance of a set.

Blue For You
Directed by Sebastian Ortiz
Key Cast: Jelena Milinkovic, William Redfren
DP: Max Brey
Producer: Javier Porragaas
1st AD: Carl Figueiredo