Indie Filmmaker Allan Attridge and Photographer Chris Marquardt Pull Wool Over Eyes of Top Industry Professionals with Transparent Terapixel Camera That Doesn't Exist

Tübingen, Germany

This is the story of how a Canadian Filmmaker with an HD Camera, a Macbook Pro, and a glass box managed to convince thousands of people of the existence of an invisible camera.

www.theinvisiblecamera.com

Early in March filmmaker Allan Attridge took one look at Chris Marquardt’s signature, handcrafted Pinhole Cameras and an idea grabbed him. They needed to make a clear, glass version to show the world. The Invisible Camera was born.

“My goal was to tell a compelling story that would inspire the dreamers of the world”, said Attridge. “The rapid advancement of technology has caused our sense of collective wonder to disappear and I think I am not alone when I say that I miss that. I want to be amazed again. I’m actually sad that this isn’t real”.

For the ruse to be successful Attridge knew the story had to be a mix of simple and complex. A little bit of fact and a whole lot of (science) fiction.

Attridge and Marquardt concocted an elaborate story involving non-existent “Special Polarized Glass”, “Ambient Light Amplification” and “Directionally Desensitized Film” that allowed for extremely low ISOs and high resolution images in the “Terapixel” range. Not only is the camera clear, you can handle the film in broad daylight.

Once Marquardt had the plexiglass camera constructed and Attridge had the script in place they shot the film on Attridge’s Canon 5D mkII DSLR. Attridge edited the entire project on his Macbook Pro laptop computer.

“This level of production would not have been possible a couple of years ago, not on this non-existent budget”, said the filmmaker.

Attridge and Marquardt faced another challenge- the sort of people interested in this “technology” are always on the lookout this time of year so publishing on April 1 was out of the question. They decided instead to release it 2 weeks early to build momentum.

The strategy involved publishing on Youtube, creating a web domain www.theinvisiblecamera.com, and promoting it on Twitter where Marquardt
has a devoted following thanks to his role as a host of a popular Photography Podcast, Tips From The Top Floor.

They also set up an online application process for interested photographers to apply for one of 100 “Field Test Units” that included an Invisible Camera and 100 sheets of DD film.

While Attridge and Marquardt were surprised with the sheer number of people who signed up, it was the sort of people who applied that was truly stunning. Applications from Physicists, Special Effects Producers (from a Major Motion Picture series), Teachers, Filmmakers, Professors, and Professional Photographers to name a few.

“We anticipated getting a few inquiries from amateur photographers but the level of interest displayed by top industry professionals from around the world was completely unexpected”, said Attridge.

"It was an intense two weeks to produce this and make sure it gets out in the right channels" said photographer Chris Marquardt, "but it was more than worth it. The amount of traction this has received beyond a niche audience is breathtaking.”

Allan Attridge is a Freelance Filmmaker and Photographer from Vancouver, Canada now living in Tübingen Germany.

German photographer Chris Marquardt is best known for his international photography workshops and for producing the world's two longest running photography podcasts, the award-winning Tips from the Top Floor since 2005 and the German Happy Shooting since 2006. He has repeatedly taken photographers to the Himalayas, on the Highest Photo Workshop in the World at the foot of Mount Everest in Nepal and Tibet. His seminars cover genres like travel, studio and street photography. Since 2007 Chris Marquardt has been a regular guest on Leo Laporte's Tech Guy Show, a US-wide syndicated radio show. In 2010 he released PocketChris, the first in a series of iPhone apps to teach photography.

Allan Attridge Fotografie

Contact: Allan Attridge
allan@allanattridge.com

Bei den Pferdeställen 12
72072 Tübingen, Germany

This release was published on openPR.