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Valuable creative insights and tips for mobile photos and videos: We interview David Ma


David Ma is a director and filmmaker whose food photos and videos have captured the attention of both the culinary and creative worlds, earning him a spot in the Top 100 Innovators. Adweek’s creator in 2021. In this interview, we explore his valuable creative insights, advice for filmmakers and photographers, and how to create content on the go. allowing him to be more productive, build stronger customer relationships, and create more engaging content.

All about David

David Ma has a unique and impressive background that makes him a versatile savvy and creative person. He started out as a creative agency before moving into the culinary world as a food stylist. Now, as a director and filmmaker, he brings a fresh and creative approach to cinematic food imagery, with his latest project, Food Films, Showcased recipe videos in the style of famous directors, which received over 10 million views and even caught the attention of Michael Bay. Chances are you’ve seen Ma’s work, which has been featured in Fast Company, Mashable, Buzzfeed, Food & Wine Magazine, VICE, and Bravo.

I was fortunate enough to speak with Ma earlier this month and he provided some really valuable insights into being a creator and working with Iphone to create and edit content on the go. He also released a a guide to his favorite LA restaurantsso be sure to see if you live in the area and enjoy good food!

Ma especially likes his iPhone 13 Pro, which I also tested for a few weeks. It’s Apple’s most versatile camera system yet, and I found myself particularly impressed by its macro capabilities, Cinematic mode, and 3x zoom (in parallel with the standard and ultra-wide focal lengths), all of which help. you take pictures easy and fun. to capture engaging content anytime, anywhere.

Ma has also talked about this quite a lot. He told me how he doesn’t have heavy technical training and so he places less emphasis on specific camera and lens combinations and more on agility and light readiness. create whenever. As he puts it, customers expect more than ever to be able to get “quick nimble and crazy stories” and for that, “the iPhone has been a blessing in disguise. [his] “That’s not to say there’s no room for heavy equipment, but as Ma says, having a capable camera in his pocket helps him get faster and get creative without” for an entire team or crew. “

This also extends to editing. “There’s something special about being able to show a chef a picture of their work at the end of a meal at the end of the meal,” says Ma. Furthermore, “I can bring up an edit in Uber for my next job, which keeps me from overthinking or over-polishing.” I think the editing process should be closely connected with the filming process; If you start post-processing too long after the photo is taken, you will lose the creation sequence and the results are often affected. Being able to shoot and edit in one quick motion is a real plus.

Ma also discusses how this has changed his working relationship with clients. By being able to show quick edits to clients, it allows “customers to become real collaborators and not just talent on camera.” In turn, he notes that this allows clients to see the value of pushing the footage a little further, while the intimacy of watching the footage together helps them feel more invested and proud. into the project.

Ma’s favorite feature on the iPhone is its slow motion mode. As he explains: “other creators are focusing on super slow and fast-paced footage. This gives the dish a breath-taking moment on screen… it tells the audience: ‘hey, this is really important.'”

The democratization of creativity

One of the most important points Ma makes is how features like Cinematic mode have democratized creativity:

I love the idea that a 14-year-old or 25-year-old can make a short film using Cinematic mode. It has an aesthetic that only those with the budget and expertise can achieve and allows for more storytellers. I like to see that we are democratizing something that is inherently cinematic technology that many people don’t have access to, allowing storytellers from all backgrounds, economic statuses, training (or lack of) can tell the stories they want to tell. In an area where we don’t always have the best performance, I love that everyone can tell true stories to them and it’s on the same level, which opens up possibilities. extremely large. For the industry, the culture and the world, it’s something really special.

I think this is especially important, because no one is prevented from exploring their creativity in the absence of accessibility.

Advice for advertising

Ma has a lot of good advice for creative people. Talking to more seasoned advertisers can bring a lot of benefits:

It’s great to talk to anyone about their relationship with creativity. Sharing stories can help inspire others, but it reminds you of where you’ve been, where you’ve been, and where you’re going and that you should never focus on any one story at once. . You need all three of these things to propel you to the next step, to be present and to appreciate where you are and what you’ve accomplished.

We often worry a lot about the device we’re using, but as he says:

Practice and make mistakes. Don’t worry about finding your niche right away. In the beginning, study and try as much as you can. Find what motivates you. Being able to experiment with that device in my pocket helped me find my signature style and voice in full swing. Don’t worry too much about the device you’re using. Your phone is a great entry point to experiment and discover your voice… Never discount the tools you have available to you. Everyone has resources. Resources can be formed and relationships can be made. Focus on the story, and the aesthetic will come from there.

On the subject of devices, Ma offered some great tips for maximizing the content you create with your iPhone:

Shoot in Macro mode

There is an amazing amount of texture and detail in the food we eat every day. Use the macro feature to capture vivid details that you can’t always see with the naked eye. For a larger-than-life close-up, bring your phone super close to the subject – uncomfortably close, up to 2cm away – to see your food from a whole new perspective.

Film Flames, Liquid Powders, Splashes and Drips in Slow Motion

Anytime you have a flame, liquid spill, splash or drip, try using the slo-mo to shoot it. Slo-mo is one of my favorite ways to turn a moment gone by in the blink of an eye and pause that beauty into a memorable, cinematic shot.

Use Cinema Mode to tell the story behind your meal

In the example above, I simply filmed with my desired composition. Then after that, I adjusted the aperture to my liking and added focus transitions. Being able to make those adjustments after the fact is not only technically liberating, it also allows you to focus more on storytelling and composition in the present moment.

As a filmmaker and storyteller, I love to incorporate chefs and people into my food shots. Simply switch the camera to Cinema mode and you’ll see the lens automatically find faces, using depth of field to turn anyone into a videographer wherever they are. A simple tap on the screen shifts the focus from the people to the food in front of them, bringing humanity and story into your food chain.

Get Super Wide and Super Close

To create the illusion of a larger-than-life subject, turn your phone upside down and switch the camera to the .5 (Ultra-Wide) lens. Bring the phone close to the subject. Doing this will put your subject above the frame, giving it a commanding presence when you compose the shot. Try it on vertically stacked items like sandwiches, burgers, sushi, salads and waffles, etc.

Using Portrait Mode

Depth of field adds a professional and romantic aesthetic to any photo, especially when photographing food and/or people. Just open up the Portrait mode on your camera, make sure you have enough light, and tap on the subject you want to focus on. Once you’ve captured a Portrait mode photo, you can perfect it even further by adjusting the background blur. Click Edit, “f“In the upper left corner and move the slider at the bottom.

If you have an iPhone with Portrait mode and you haven’t tried adjusting the depth of field after taking the shot, be sure to consider it; it’s a very neat and useful feature.

Inference

Before you move on, here’s another movie from the Food Films series, just because they’re fun:

I really enjoyed talking with David Ma. His approach and work are a great reminder that storytelling is what matters, and how important it is to eliminate the gatekeepers and reduce the cost of being a creator. You can see more of his work on Instagram page and his website.





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