Photographer Cory VanderPloeg has been responsible for the execution of the past five covers of OTMzine. Each time we work with him, we are able to execute our collaborative creative vision exactly as we envisioned it. With the help of stylist Heidi Ondrusek, make-up artist Natalie Kaine and hair stylist Matthew Collins and several talented models, we have been able to create some of the most memorable shoots we have been a part of facilitating. Cory’s fun personality and strong work ethic combined with an easy going demeanor make each shoot we complete with him an absolute pleasure.

For this month’s guest blog series, we’ve asked Cory to share some of his inspirations and happenings with our readers. Check back each Wednesday for his posts.

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My inspiration comes from a lot of places, but I can almost trace it back to 4 people. These 4 filmmakers are masters of cinema, lighting, story telling and creating iconic films.

1. Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick characterized his films by a formal visual style and meticulous attention to detail. The master, as I like to call him, directed 16 films that were sometimes claimed by critics as ‘slow and boring’ but I saw them as methodical and reflective his obsessive and perfectionist nature. He had his finger in every aspect of his films’ productions often writing, producing, directing, editing, and shooting his own films.

‘Everything else [in film] comes from something else. Writing, of course, is writing; acting comes from the theatre; and cinematography comes from photography. Editing is unique to film. You can see something from different points of view almost simultaneously, and it creates a new experience.” — Stanley Kubrick.

2. Frank Darabont

Frank Darabont has created my favourite film to this date: Shawshank Redemption. One of the best and recurring parts of this film is the way that Darabont used visual storytelling . Watch how the opening scene unfolds by gradually giving us pieces of the puzzle — first the Ink Spots’ “If I Didn’t Care” on the radio, then a mansion, then a car, then Andy in a car, then the fact that he is disheveled, then the fact that he has a gun, then the fact that he is drunk. The order of disclosure is really important, and the effect would be totally different if, for example, we saw that he was drunk before seeing the gun. That’s visual storytelling, and the entire film follows this mantra.

This film gets me every time, and every time I watch it I get inspired and learn something new about the film. Aside from the uncountable accolades this film has received for storytelling, direction, writing, cinematography, sounds engineering, editing and of course acting, Shawshank Redemption is an absolute masterpiece and is the greatest example of storytelling that I can think of.

3. Quentin Tarantino

The reason I can feel confident looking up to a person like Quentin Tarantino, or feel inspired, is because he is all about his work. Tarantino get a lot of ‘guff’ from critics on his style of filmmaking, use of language, his cast selection, even as far as his personality and how he carries himself on set. The beautiful thing is he couldn’t care less. Quentin Tarantino is someone that cares more about his craft and making the film the way that he wants to, rather than being successful and making everyone like him.

4. David Lynch

Lynch is known for his surrealist films, and if you have ever seen one of his films you would agree that he has his own unique cinematic style. Some critics even dub it “Lynchian”. Lynch is involved in every aspect of production when he is making a film and you can see it best by his films’ dream imagery, meticulous sound design, surrealism, and in almost every film, violence. These simple but effective qualities have earned Lynch the reputation of  disturbing, offending and/or mystifying his audiences.

Feel free to add any film made by any of these 4 men to your ‘films to watch’ list.