Posted 1 week ago

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This film for GQ and Wilkinson Sword was one of those with a now-common small, PR/Marketing budget. With these budgets we always try and push for the biggest production value we can achieve. The further we can push a film towards a commercial look, the better. The client wanted a loose, handheld feel so for this shoot I chose the new Sony FS700 camera. With the large, super-35 sensor, a decent flat, cine-style profile, ability to shoot to external recorder in 422  and ability to use Canon lenses, I knew, with the right lighting, I could achieve some nice results. I was also keen to try the super-slow motion capability which we only ended up using in the razor-into-bucket shot. We lit the set (the small barber shop in Soho which was the client’s choice) with an Arri 2.5K HMI and a couple Kino Diva 400 lights which proved to be a good combination for our limited space and resources. I was helped with the lighting and camera by my ace assistant Gregory Luscombe. Overall I was impressed with this camera system and would use it again for sure on the small/medium budget shoots where slow motion is a benefit. 

Wilkinson Sword: The Perfect Shave - Presented by British GQ Magazine from Alex Kryszkiewicz on Vimeo.

Produced by Spring & Mercer for British GQ and Wilkinson Sword

Director/Producer: Jay Flaxman
DoP: Alex Kryszkiewicz
Editor/Colour Grading: Alex Kryszkiewicz
AC: Gregory Luscombe
Music: New Tricks by Max Brodie

Shot on Sony FS 700 to 422 on Ki Pro Mini with Canon L series primes and 70-200 2.8L ISII

Posted 1 month ago

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GQ Presents: Bentley - The Journey from Alex Kryszkiewicz on Vimeo.

Client: Bentley Motors (presented by British GQ)

Produced by British GQ and Spring & Mercer springandmercer.co.uk/

Directed by:

Alex Kryszkiewicz & Tom Geraedts

DoP: Paul Ozgur

Edited by: Owen Oppenheimer @ The Quarry the-quarry.co.uk/

Colour Grading: My Therapy - mytherapy.tv/

Steadicam: Matteo Cosorich

Focus Puller: Thomas Shawcroft

Posted 4 months ago

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This is a short film I made with my girlfriend while on holiday in Russia. The film is the realisation of a spontaneous idea I had while exploring the forest on our first day at Maria’s Dacha (Russian country home). We had only 4 hours of light (after waking up a bit late the following day) to film the entire thing. 

Posted 7 months ago

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This was an interesting project for me. I showed up on the morning of the shoot prepared to operate camera and capture this amazing Russian beast of a car during it’s debut on the streets of London. I had no idea that the client would ask me to direct the piece as well. I had to shoot a couple of double espressos down my neck to get my brain into action. This is what we came up with using 4 great extras, a fantastic stylist and day-saving makeup artist…

Posted 7 months ago

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Last Day in Rio: A Photo Essay Please visit this link for the full story: http://tinyurl.com/bsdx2tq

Last Day in Rio: A Photo Essay

Please visit this link for the full story:

http://tinyurl.com/bsdx2tq

Posted 8 months ago

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Not so long ago I posted a story about my filming trip to the postcard village of Andermatt, high in the Swiss Alps. The films have now gone live so hit play, sit back and think; Heidi in the summer, deep powder and St. Bernards in the winter…

Posted 8 months ago

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I can finally share this film which I shot back in April in Baku, Azerbaijan (see archive post regarding the trip) for YARAT! Contemporary Art Space. By watching this documentary about the exploding contemporary art scene in Baku I hope you’ll enjoy a quick glimpse into the people, architecture and art of Baku. Baku is located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe and this is tangible through her many ethnic minorities, languages and various harmoniously-practiced religions. Baku is an intoxicating blend of sights and stories.  I found the vibe of the city positive and hard to pin down. A city poised to become a new and exciting tourist destination for the curious travellers of our ever-shrinking globe.  

Please note: This film was meant for the local audience in Baku as well as international audiences and is meant to highlight the art organisation YARAT! We kept away from a travel-show format, but there was so much interesting footage that I’d like to make a directors cut one day so that curious foreigners can better appreciate what makes Baku such a vibrant and interesting cultural hub. 

Posted 9 months ago

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It’s cool when old people do daring things nonchalantly. I wonder if most people in Soho wash their windows like this guy? Just cruising around the ledge of his building un-tethered, unaware of the people below, going about their busy lives in central London.  Copyright: Alex Kryszkiewicz 2012

It’s cool when old people do daring things nonchalantly. I wonder if most people in Soho wash their windows like this guy? Just cruising around the ledge of his building un-tethered, unaware of the people below, going about their busy lives in central London. 

Copyright: Alex Kryszkiewicz 2012

Posted 10 months ago

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Back in June I was fortunate enough to win a commission to produce corporate/travel video content for a stunning and ambitious resort development in Switzerland called Andermatt Swiss Alps. The project was produced through one of my favourite clients, PRCo (who represent many of the top luxury hotels and resorts worldwide) and with a small, but excellent crew we travelled from London to one of the most picturesque mountain territories I’ve ever seen.

Our trip itinerary read like a travel photographer’s wet dream; 4am: Mountaintop time-lapse, 7am: Rock climbing with Olympic Ski Champion, Bernard Russi, 10am: Descending a ziz-zag mountain highway by bike towards Andermatt village, etc… On top of the gold list of outdoor activities, we had outstanding weather and I often had to pinch myself to see if I was actually shedding my winter coat of London-brand cynicism under the influence of Heidi-esque scenery.  

After a gruelling, but spectacular filming trip I arrived back to London tanned, healthy and ready to take on the rat race again. 

Highlights:

-Climbing up a steep, snow covered mountain slope in the morning sun to film Bernard Russi and climbing partner, Gregor. This had a bit of a BBC Natural History feel to it, minus the massive crew and super-tech camera kit; though my Canon 5D MKIII with Zeiss glass did the trick. 

-Racing down flawless Swiss mountain highway on a mountain bike with GoPro helmet can on my head. 

-Filming an interview with Bernard Russi in a postcard setting on and a wildflower- carpeted hillside above a stream. 

-Drinking a local beer who’s label almost perfectly mirrored the actual setting I was enjoying it in. 

Posted 10 months ago

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During the lead up to the Olympics the famous torch was passed around the UK on a marathon of “once in a lifetime” moments. People smiled, cried and turned their Wellies upside down once in a while to empty out the buckets of rain that they had endured to see the thing. 

On July 26th the flame had finally made it to Hyde Park where I was to film the its appearance as part of the crew of Wing Productions who had been commissioned by Coca Cola to document its journey for the duration of the relay. There was a list of British pop acts who would play out the event culminating in an outstanding performance from Dizzy Rascal, who I’d never listened to before, but thoroughly enjoyed. It was a scorching day and after shooting time lapse photography for the first half of the show I was given a mission to take one of Wing’s Canon C300s 85’ above the crowd in a cherry picker. It was going to be a great shot from up there at the back of the crowd and I lensed up with an Arri 135 Ultra Prime. Beautiful lens. The only problem with this mission was that when we reached 85’ in the cherry picker bucket the thing broke down! This kid who was operating the machine with me in the bucket began cursing under his breath and proceeded to tell me that they need to get some new machines (all of this in a cockney accent so thick it was almost as hard to understand as the situation itself). Eventually we made it down with the help of his new sidekick below who used manual emergency controls to bring us down, one terrifyingly-jerky move at a time. Despite almost chucking the $40,000 camera setup off the bucket a few times when we swung violently up in the sky, it was a great ride and I thanked our operators enthusiastically as I ran back into the crowd to frame up a more sustainable shot. 

I’m glad to say that the whole day was an overal success. 

Here’s the film Wing produced for Coke from that day: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbO7G5piMXQ&feature=player_embedded#!