Wednesday, April 29, 2009

EA SPORTS: Madden 10 Cover - Behind The Scenes



It is amazing for people that don't work in this industry to see what it takes to pull off a production like shooting the cover of Madden 10. Someone asked me if I worked with anyone else on this shoot. When I answered, they were shocked to hear that about 30 people contributed to make the photo shoot happen.

We had an amazing crew, Uncle Mark Hofmann, who is literally my uncle. If you are looking for a great producer, look no more http://www.markhofmannproductions.com. In no time flat, he found us a location, had the production team lined up and made everyone feel like, even the forecast for rain, was under control. Alicia Addis, who did the catering and is also part of the Hofmann Production Duo. Bobby Flay watch out, she put a twist on your chicken and it was the bomb! Luis Garcia, Alisal and Jeff Wiant who moved a ton of gear from San Diego to LA on more than one occasion. Your days starts before everyone else and ends long after. Your hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed. Dominic and the lighting crew from Screaming Broccoli (great grip service) www.screamingbroccoli.net. Susan Seligman, stylist with a smile. Judy our runner who was all over LA picking up FedEx boxes of footballs, uniforms, props and cameras. Two "Stand-Ins" for the talent to help with the lighting set-up and our test images. Sandy who made sure the talent arrived safe and on time. The Limo and motorhome drivers. The helping hands at our location, The Home Depot Center (electricians, grounds crew and facilities). The EA crew, Larry, Larre, Mike, Anthony...thanks for trusting us to do "our thing". The equipment managers of the Cardinals and Steelers, thank you for getting the uniforms to us. The NFL folks who helped us with patches, pylons and official Superbowl balls. Mark K from Popgun Design and his retouching crew. And of course, Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu. I have shot a bunch of athletes over the years and can honestly say they both are class acts and a pleasure to work with. Thanks for running the same plays over and over and over and giving us your time with a smile.

So a huge "THANKS" to everyone involved, it was truly a team effort and I couldn't have done it without you!


Troy and the EA crew look over some of Mike Young's Superbowl images for inspiration.


Troy taking a dive for the cameras.


Larry takes his mark on the set while we dial in the final changes to the lighting and exposure.

Tim test drives the helmet for our Troy "Stand In" while the chin straps are adjusted.


Standing in for one of the photos that will be used as art in the game.


Tim and Larry review a few images.


Larry running a few plays at Larry B from EA. We wanted to simulate the lighting of an NFL game and give the images some "pop". The set was lit with a couple of Xenons for edge lights and a large bounce flat to sneak some light under the helmets.



Troy standing in for some portraits

4 comments:

Brent Rust said...

Do you have a podcast/video that we might be able to see more of the behind the scenes?

Tim Mantoani Photography said...

EA shot video, I believe they will be posting it as part of their promotions for Madden 10. When I see it, I will post it here or add a link. Thanks for reading.

Puggle said...

You are an amazing photographer!

Anonymous said...

That's really great to see behind the scenes of photographers work!
I'm a year 1 photography student and I really appreciate your blog! thanks for sharing!