Circle Up Now » Marc Levey http://circleupnow.org/blog Human Rights Social-Action Network Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:58:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en Memphis Results http://circleupnow.org/blog/1584/memphis-results/ http://circleupnow.org/blog/1584/memphis-results/#comments Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:14:54 +0000 Marc Levey http://circleupnow.org/blog/?p=1584 The event day was spectacular. Perfect weather. Enthusiastic participants. Great shots from the air.

Be sure to view the full six photosets in our gallery!

Soon after the event, we connected with the aerial photographers and chose the official images to be released to the press.



Our event was covered by the evening news throughout the South, and our still images received front-page placement by a number of newspapers the following day.

All in all, our partners were thrilled with the exposure we generated for them, our event participants really enjoyed the experience, and our team was pleased with the results we created.

Till next time… Keep the Dream Alive!

Marc
]]> http://circleupnow.org/blog/1584/memphis-results/feed/ Memphis Pre-Production http://circleupnow.org/blog/1582/memphis-pre-production/ http://circleupnow.org/blog/1582/memphis-pre-production/#comments Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:29:00 +0000 Marc Levey http://circleupnow.org/blog/1582/memphis-pre-production/ On the eve of November’s presidential election, our team arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, to choreograph an aerial art image of one of the greatest human rights leaders of our time, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to convey the message “Keep the Dream Alive”.

Working in conjunction with Amnesty International and its local partners, Circle Up Now will be producing an aerial art experience on the Mississippi riverfront with hundreds of civil rights leaders and their supporters.


As we flew into Memphis on Tuesday, our aircraft serendipitously lined up alongside the river and treats us to a perfect shot of Tom Lee Park, the location for our event this Sunday.



Later that day we visited with our helicopter pilots to discuss flight plans.


It was almost impossible to find a pilot and copter in Memphis that could provide us with the tools and experience necessary for us to shoot from the sky, but pilot Wayne Bredan has come through. He’s convinced one of his close friends to pilot a second helicopter for the event as well.

Wed. before the event we met with city officials on the riverfront to discuss logistics and permitting.



John shot some photos with the umbrellas that Amnesty has created for the participants of the event as we tried to decide whether or not to include them in the actual image.


We also connected with local artist, Siphne Sylve, who again shared with us her sketch of Dr. King that has been chosen as the official image for the aerial art.


We visited the Memphis College of Art to enlist some of their photography and video students to cover Sunday’s events on the ground. Many of them are enthusiastic and appreciate the opportunity to tell some stories through their lenses. I have a feeling that some great shots will come from this partnership.


We connected with Andrew Withers, son of award-winning civil rights photographer, Ernest Withers, on Saturday night to discuss the aerial image and storyboard angles to shoot from. He and his brother, Joshua, recount stories of being in the presence of Dr. King when they were children.




One last shot of team member Carter Brooks and aerial photographer Jeff Pantukhoff as they position our crane to shoot the time-lapse photography and video of the image coming together on the ground.

Our team is excited about tomorrow’s event. We will be meeting with volunteers, local police and paramedics, the press, and VIPs throughout the morning as we prepare for the event to be held at 2pm.

Wish us luck!

Marc
]]> http://circleupnow.org/blog/1582/memphis-pre-production/feed/ Athens Wrap Up http://circleupnow.org/blog/1571/athens-wrap-up/ http://circleupnow.org/blog/1571/athens-wrap-up/#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:45:54 +0000 Marc Levey http://circleupnow.org/blog/?p=1571 Throughout the night and morning our team gathered and viewed the images coming in from around the world. Some of the images were stunning, and we were incredibly pleased with the results of our partnership with Amnesty International.

Here are some of the newspaper articles that were published about our event in Greece.



After visiting the Acropolis one last time, a few of us drove to the beach and put our feet into the Mediterranean. We were supplied with a beautiful sunset as we later packed our bags and flew to South Africa early the next morning.





As we took off from Athens airport, we circled around and were treated to an early morning view of Athens. You can actually see the Acropolis, the ancient Olympic Stadium as well as the modern Olympic Stadium in the foreground. What an awesome view.







Thank you to Dimitris and his stellar team at Amnesty Greece. We could not have done it without you.

Regards,

Marc
]]> http://circleupnow.org/blog/1571/athens-wrap-up/feed/ On the Day of Action http://circleupnow.org/blog/1570/on-the-day-of-action/ http://circleupnow.org/blog/1570/on-the-day-of-action/#comments Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:09:44 +0000 Marc Levey http://circleupnow.org/blog/?p=1570 This morning the weather was absolutely beautiful. The sky was clear and there was a breeze that made the 100-degree heat tolerable. We were informed by noon that the authorities were reached and we were granted the right to fly our helicopter within 1000 meters of the Acropolis in order to get our aerial photograph.







John finalized the sketch and began to lay out the image grid. I met with the media and worked out ground coverage while volunteers began to welcome participants and guide them to the waiting area.







There was a short welcome before we began to “thread” participants into the image. Everyone was excited and curious about what they were doing. They couldn’t wait to see what the image would look like from the sky.







With some last-minute adjustments to the image, the helicopter flew overhead and began to shoot.








Within an hour we viewed the aerial shots, some of which you can see here.











Once we said our goodbyes, we raced back to the hotel to connect with our other teams around the world to see how their images were coming along.

It’s been an amazing day. Exhausted, though. Goodnight.

-Marc
]]> http://circleupnow.org/blog/1570/on-the-day-of-action/feed/ Pre-Production in Athens http://circleupnow.org/blog/1568/pre-production-athens/ http://circleupnow.org/blog/1568/pre-production-athens/#comments Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:36:05 +0000 Marc Levey http://circleupnow.org/blog/?p=1568 This afternoon we visited the location where we will be staging the aerial art event tomorrow. Pnyx, at the base of the Acropolis, is the ancient site where Aristotle, Socrates and Plato shared their ideas about philosophy and democracy.





We met with our aerial photographer, Nikolas Kominis. He arrived with a grim face, slow to inform us of some last-minute red tape: our helicopter had been “grounded” until written approval from the Federal authorities was obtained. Considering that most officials had already gone home for the day, getting such approval would be almost impossible.

While our partners at Amnesty International got on the phone and began to spin their magic, we chose to move forward and begin discussions on flight plans, angles and altitudes to best capture the image from the sky the next day.

We then had to measure out the two flat areas at the site, eventually choosing the lower level to stage the “canvas”. We discussed what the messaging and graphic for the image should be, coming to agreement on “Rights For All” with the Chinese characters for “human rights” surrounding the Amnesty International candle.







Later in the evening we ate dinner by the Acropolis, and connected with our final team member, Dovrat, who brought us some pre-publicity fliers that were circulated for the event.





Back at the hotel we again connected with our team members in Los Angeles – Jeremy, Leslie and Nicole – to answer questions and provide coaching to the 28 other cities throughout the world that have committed to creating smaller aerial art circles tomorrow in solidarity and unity with Amnesty International. We also connected with Lisa in South Africa in preparation for our Mandela piece scheduled for next week.

Needless to say, we got very little sleep.

-Marc
]]> http://circleupnow.org/blog/1568/pre-production-athens/feed/ A Day of Action in 24 Hours http://circleupnow.org/blog/223/global-day-of-action-24-hours/ http://circleupnow.org/blog/223/global-day-of-action-24-hours/#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:20:44 +0000 Marc Levey http://circleupnow.org/blog/?p=223 Flew yesterday from Los Angeles to Paris, and then to Athens. Took more than 30 hours to get from my home to the hotel. Pretty exhausted, but filled with adrenaline as well.




Met with Amnesty International - Greece event organizers this morning to discuss logistics and press coverage for the event to be held this Saturday. They showed us published articles in newspapers and magazines already generated in anticipation of our arrival and production of the event. Wish I knew how to read Greek.


Yesterday we were finally authorized to use the archeological site by the world-famous Acropolis as the location for our aerial art event. We were hoping to hear from the authorities sooner, but are glad that we waited for their decision. We had a back-up location, but not as spectacular as this one.


Back at the hotel John, Onyay and I answered emails and made phone calls to team members in Los Angeles, South Africa and London. It’s exciting and nerve-racking that we will be producing over 24 aerial art events around the globe in less than 24 hours. It has never been done before, and now I know why.

If that were not enough, we are also handling the logistics of traveling to Johannesburg next week to produce our next event on behalf of Nelson Mandela and the children of South Africa. Considering that it almost reached 100 degrees today in Athens, but only around 50 degrees in Johannesburg, we have a few more logistics to think about.

We will be visiting the event location tomorrow morning to meet local officials, and then revisit the site in the late afternoon to see how the sun creates shadows on the aerial art “canvas”.

About to get some rest.

Take care.

-Marc
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