You Can Hire an Artist

When I first developed this website to offer my skills as a traditional artist for hire never did I imagine that I would be asked to collaborate on a film!   So then I was very pleased to accept the commission of a billboard design which will be part of the closing shot for a film called Fate.  The film is a production made by Transcendent Films, a UK television and film production company based in Spain. 

The film is to be entered as Chapter 4 of an ongoing film-making contest being sponsored by Canon USA and Vimeo called Beyond the Still.  Each contestant is required to create film chapters based on the final still image of a previous film-maker’s chapter.  Each month a winner of a chapter is chosen with seven chapters planned to complete the contest.  I am, of course, very hopeful that Transcendent Films Chapter 4, Fate, is chosen to be the winner.  Not only will my art work be part of the winning chapter, but as my billboard is the final still in the film it will automatically be included in the beginning of all entries for chapter 5! 

It was the director Kris Koster’s idea that the final still image of this film be of a retro-styled billboard.  I was asked to create the billboard which would include a portrait of the young boy chosen to act in this chapter.  Using photos of the boy then it was a bit of a challenge to make, as the director required, this sweet boy look mischievous and even a bit sinister, all while keeping the wholesome tone of dental hygiene and the retro-style.   Below are my first attempt at the portrait, trying to be faithful to the photos, and also the final version as per the director’s suggestions.  The portrait was done by hand using acrylic paint and pencil on Bristol board.  The billboard background and text were made using Photoshop and and final version of the portrait was then added.

This month’s chapter contest has closed as of midnight last night.  Within a week the film should be available for viewing.  I’ll keep you posted on the results and add will add the still to this post when it becomes available.  Good luck to Kris Koster and to all the other collaborators of Fate.  I am very honored to have been a part of the team!

Postscript – 5/5/10:  The film has been released online at Vimeo and here it is:

The Story Beyond The Still: Fate from Kris Koster on Vimeo.

To make sense of the complete short feature made to date you can view this and all prior chapters at Vimeo using this link:   

http://www.vimeo.com/groups/beyondthestill/videos/11445196

For more information and to see all chapter winners and finalists go to:  http://www.vimeo.com/groups/beyondthestill

Trancendent Films has already done well in the contest to date.  Their Chapter 2 entry, The Mob, was chosen as one of the top ten finalists.  To find out more information on Transcendent Films Spain visit their website:  http://www.transcendentfilms.com/canonvimeo.htm

 Kathleen Benton

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