Philip Bloom is a British filmmaker that is well known for his DSLR filmmaking, blog and intimate workshops. He has worked with many different companies such as Sky, the BBC and Lucasfilm as a cinematographer and has created a number of excellent short films.
Here at Coventry University, we were lucky enough to have Philip Bloom come in and do a talk with us about his experience and work. He had recently just got back from Miami filming and was pretty jet lagged but still he made for an entertaining lecture!
He started off by putting out there that he started off with a news background, and didn’t go to university. However, he got accepted into college and got a job at the same time so he had to make a life decision to take the job straight away. By doing this, he worked, earned money and climbed the working ladder to where he is today, with 17 years filming behind him. Initially, Bloom wanted to be a photographer because he always loved the idea of news, and being able to capture the truth of what really happened however this wasn’t fully accomplished. In 1989, at only 18 years old, he joined Sky and then went on to film events around the world. This eventually led him to directing and shooting for himself.
After 16 years, Bloom felt that he didn’t have the same interest in his work as he used too so he changed direction to work as a documentary, free lance photographer so that he could create images he wanted to make. With this, he started teaching and working on projects that he enjoyed and were significantly more interesting such as music videos and commercials.
Below are a couple of his short films that he has created:
‘THE TRACKER & THE BANKER’
‘4 INCHES OF ICE’
The video above is called ‘4 INCHES OF ICE’ filmed on a DSLR, Canon 1DC which costs £8700 alone for the camera body! This camera shoots in 4K which are extremely large files and cannot view entirely on a MacBook Pro. The video was shot in Indiana East Chicago, USA) where the temperatures go well below -5 degrees. The video was completed (fully filmed) within one hour with a few shots taken the next day, as a lot of time and dedication goes into Bloom’s work.
After Bloom put his website up, international work was coming through and everyone wanted him to work for them! His work was so captivating that others want similar outcomes for their businesses.
“When you’re too close to something you actually don’t see what’s there.”
I really enjoyed Philip’s talk because it was different and he was so enthusiastic towards his work and way of working. What I liked most about him was the way he could use story telling to make his life seem so interesting and exciting. It’s nice to hear that someone so you was able to get a job and start working his way up from there. Even though most of his talk was about video and media production, it was still relevant. This idea of pre-planning and construction to a shoot is valid even to photography because you should always be prepared. Even Philip Bloom carries even his iPhone camera around with him so that he capture something even without his DSLR. Making the phrase ‘always take a camera with you, wherever you go’ so valid.
Kerrie Caine 