Inspire - Thomas Chadwick, Behind The Personal Portrait
As we continue to explore #ETCInspire for the month of June, we wanted to ask Thomas Chadwick what inspired him to create his personal karate piece featuring the world champion karateka, Elisa Au Fonseca. Thomas’ work is often aspirational and humanistic and we wanted to find out what characteristics inspire him to create his memorable and heroic portrait studies.
What inspired you to create a piece about Elisa Au Fonseca?
Years ago, I had met John Fonseca, whose roommate was a friend of mine. At that time John was competing in the highest level in international karate tournaments. Over his career, he won many of those tournaments.
We were both younger then, in our early twenties, and I was in awe of what he was accomplishing.
Fast forward to years later where I enrolled my sons into karate lessons. John had started a dojo with his wife, Elisa, and I was excited for my kids to be taught under their wings. I would pick my kids up from karate lessons everyday and I got to know Elisa. I even started taking karate classes.
Often I would see John and Elisa training their elite students for competition. It was mesmerizing to watch. Elisa is clearly above everyone around her. When I see someone that is that skilled - near to perfection, my mind goes straight to thinking about all the time and energy that went into getting there.
What about Elisa is inspiring to you?
Elisa is a world-class athlete, has held countless titles and was the best in her field for almost a decade. She also runs a dojo, she is a pillar in my local community, and she is a mother. She is also beautiful in front of the lens and in person.
Most importantly though, I am inspired to tell the stories of people who have taken their craft to another level. I like telling the stories of people who WANT IT. From a young age, she dedicated her life to being the best in the world. That takes a drive and dedication that I want to study and tell the story of as an artist.
The video is edited between quieter footage where Elisa is practicing a kata and action-packed footage of her sparring. What was the concept behind that?
There are 2 elements to karate; there is the practice of a kata, which is an almost meditative practice of self-control and mastering routine and discipline. Katas are a choreographed set of movements that you must master, from footwork, to breathing, to how you point your fingertips. It is you being master over your entire being. There is incredible grace and precise delivery of power.
Sparring is defending yourself against the punches and finding the right moment to attack. Sparring is spontaneous.
Kata and sparring are the yin and yang of karate. The practice of doing a kata is to gain self-discipline and self-control. One is not supposed to use karate to start a fight; it is used to defend and disarm. I wanted to show how the mind body connection informs fighting in karate and how the two create a balance within the athlete and individual.
How did you achieve the concept from a technical point of view?
The kata was shot with my camera on a tripod to bring additional grounding, stillness and strength. I chose the location to shoot her in her space and lined her up against a bank of windows to create symmetry. The symmetry of the windows mimics the symmetry of the kata.
I handheld the sparring footage and got in close to shoot. I wanted the footage to be in the action to feel the movement of the fight. Through editing the footage, I was able to get fluidity from one hit to the next.
Did you intend on shooting video and print?
No, my intention was to concentrate solely on a motion piece. I had been told by another photographer / director that his advice was to concentrate solely on motion when you’re shooting motion. He said photographers can get distracted when they shoot both on the same day and that when he has shot both he had wound up with lot of great photographs and not enough motion to cut a good video from. I tried following that advice.
But, being a photographer, it felt strange being in a scenario I would normally jump at the chance of grabbing my camera and shooting. That instinct did get the better of me and I did grab my camera and fire off some shots.
I shot with my camera for about ten minutes total. In the end, three of the photographs became pieces for my portfolio.
When you come from a print background, making video is a whole new realm where you have to learn how to put your stylistic stamp on it. It’s become my goal to get my video work to be on par with my photography. One way I have been able to make that goal a reality is to shoot both on my personal projects.
How long did the piece take to shoot?
I shot it in 2 days, in time slots of 2 hours each day. Since I was asking Elisa and her sparring partner to give me 100%, there was a real physical limit on their endurance. On the first day, I shot the sparring footage. At the end of that day, the bottoms of Elisa’s feet were raw. On the second day I shot the kata footage.
What surprises me most about creating video projects is how much more time is needed for post. Editing is a process I enjoy but it isn’t instant gratification like print is.
What was your process for pre pro your shoot? Did you make a storyboard?
With this piece, I had a strong idea of what I wanted to do. I storyboarded the entire piece. I’ve always been someone who sketches out what they want to do, even with my print work. I keep a sketchbook.
I had planned on doing a voiceover of Elisa. I wanted her to talk about the contract of kata vs. sparring.
After I captured the footage and got into editing with the voiceover, it felt like the piece moved to slowly- and maybe I was trying to force the message too much with the copy.
At that time, I contacted my sound editor and asked him to source music to give the piece an overall punch and more impact. One of the most gratifying things about working in motion is having the opportunity to utilize the power of sound.
