Cinematographer Curtis Clark, ASC teams with renowned still photographer Sheila Metzner to bring a spontaneous style to Ralph Lauren's latest ad campaign.
Though the differences between still photography and cinematography are profound, both depend on skillful composition and the rendering of light and shadow to produce a lingering impression with the viewer. Still photography is a very personal medium in which a talented individual can largely create and control the working environment. Shooting in the motion picture realm, on the other hand, virtually demands an army of technicians before, during and after production. It’s rare for the masters of both disciplines to team up, but when they do, the results can be spectacular.
The psychic journey leading up to the collaboration can be nerve-wracking, though, especially when the famed photographer is directing the project. Cinematographers can find themselves at odds with individuals whose standing in the print medium equals or exceeds their own standing in the motion picture business.
That possibility concerned cinematographer Curtis Clark, ASC when premier fashion photographer Sheila Metzner asked him to shoot a Ralph Lauren commercial that she was slated to direct. The commercial’s concept was unusually loose for such a high-profile project. The spot was structured around Tanga, a striking Ralph Lauren model; as the French beauty is engaged in a fashion photo shoot, showing off the very best Lauren has to offer to its very best advantage, a question arises: who is this beautiful woman we’re looking at? Soon, a story emerges. Juxtaposed against the startling black-and-white and color imagery of the shoot itself is an aural collage of music and the disembodied voices of people discussing the model, as well as snippets in which Tanga talks about herself.
This was a challenging project that demanded the best of both the still-photo and cinematography arenas. Fortunately, rather than finding themselves at loggerheads, the two artists involved clicked and complemented each other. Metzner’s photo shoot and Clark’s pseudo-verité documentation of the session melded to create both a highly unusual six-minute film and an innovative TV commercial. "In a sense, we were doing a movie version of a still shoot," Clark explains. "I went into this project with a certain degree of trepidation, because Sheila has her own rather formidable background and reputation in the very area where I was about to tread."
Of course, Clark has an impressive background and reputation of his own, initially encompassing documentaries and features, but later extending to high-end commercial work. "Although I’m an American, I spent half my life in England because I went to film school and started my career there," Clark says. "To put things in perspective, I didn’t have a Social Security card until 1984! I started my career in Britain in documentaries and began my feature career by shooting The Draughtsman’s Contract for Peter Greenaway. After shooting some other films there, I came to the States and shot Alamo Bay, Louis Malle’s last U.S.-based picture. I then began working with Robert Young, and we did several films together, including Extremities, Dominick and Eugene and Triumph of the Spirit. I only started doing commercials about five or six years ago."
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