More Research Into Independent Filmmakers/Producers/Photographers

SEB JANIAK
http://www.sebjaniak.com
Seb Janiak is an independent  filmmaker who moved to LA at 16 in order to try and launch a career, after being raised in L.A. It inspires me how he is not afraid to take 'risks' in his work, as he deals with issues which are in the back of our minds, but often too many of us are too afraid to come forward and express this. Janiak masters this to the detail. An example of this is from the print screen below. The nuclear bombs over Los Angeles can connote many things. The way that this image is edited, and the deep thought which has gone behind it such as the contrasting blue sky and beautiful model staring at the nuclear shows how easily this world can be destroyed, by human nature itself. Part of an exhibition which he created around this idea was called: "Paris from 2044 to Present."

I found many retro images and edited photos which Janiak used mainly as album covers, (which is another aspect to his career). I found them extremely interesting, as they caught my eye immediately and inspired me into a world of vision of my own. I found it really clever how he outlined the bodies with glow paint, etc. Definition seemed to be the main concept which glued all these pieces together.

These are extra images which I found inspiring from Seb Janiak's work. The lighting and way that the subject is positioned is something which I immediately picked up on.

Most importantly to the relevance of this subject, Seb Janiak is a music video director who has built his name up far enough to work with the likes of Janet Jackson, Bob Sinclair, Daft Punk, Robbie Williams, NTM, Planet Edelweiss and Jean Louis Aubert. His music videos have a certain niche about them regarding the cinematography - he builds his music videos around the scene's overall atmosphere which he wants to portray; for example, Janet Jackson's 'Together Again' is set in a desert. Many of Bob Sinclair's videos are set in retro theme and overall, many of his videos seem to based around the concept of "the future."

I feel that Seb Janiak can be identified strongly with Denis McQuail's theory that genre can be considered as a device for helping a huge audience ("mass medium") to create a constant quality of media, be it films, photographs, etc, so that the audience can also identify with it and relate to - with the product living up to their expectations every time. With Seb Janiak having his own niche in "The Future" and strongly editing much of his work for it to 'stand out from the crowd,' his audience will always have the same expectations and satisfying results, because of the way that this theory could be applied to the way he works.