Lovely

[oselle]

From not_alone's journal, Elijah Wood's lovely tribute to Pierre Vinet:

"I'll never forget the first time that I met Pierre Vinet. So many of us had flown to New Zealand to embark on a journey unlike anything we'd ever experienced. I was introduced to Pierre as our on set stills photographer, and I greeted him with great excitement, telling him that he had the "best job on the film!" His job was that of observer and documentarian for the process of bringing Tolkien's world to life and that unique perspective thrilled me.

To be the one to capture this incredible adventure that we were all taking part in and the brilliant artistry and passion of everyone involved, was a privileged opportunity. His enthusiasm and energy was genuinely infectious. "This is ze poster!", he would frequently say, his excitement for the images he was capturing, overflowing. Pierre always made everyone around him smile, no matter how difficult the shoot became or how tired any of us were. The familiar mischievous glint in his eyes, with eyebrows dancing, and lip-pursed chuckle served to inspire anyone around him. I remember often imitating his french canadian accent and signature phrases and chuckles. A true original character. I loved being called into his photo studio set-up for portraits and ideas that he had. He'd grab you and run you over to a blacked out room with his equipment, on a break from filming. His simple portraits outside the context of the set environment, are still some of my favorite images from the films. It was there in his world where, through his lens, he brought the characters that we were playing to life.

I hadn't heard that he was sick until I recently visited Wellington and found out just before he passed away. It's still difficult to process. The world has certainly lost a beautiful photographer, but more importantly; a friend, character, family member, eccentric, mad man, husband, and a true light that shone on everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him."

"His simple portraits outside the context of the set environment, are still some of my favorite images from the films."

Yes. I think Elijah Wood is too old now to be called a "kid," but let me say...that kid's got class.

Comments

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

He sure does!

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Pure class, all the way.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

That was really well said. Much class.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I can think of few people among his peers who would take the time to say something so thoughtful about someone who was "just" a set photographer. That whole production just seemed to be filled with lovely people who developed a genuine and lifelong rapport with each other.

[sixth-queen.livejournal.com]

Those on-set tutors know how to teach writing! I know English majors who can barely put a sentence together.

And that's still a breathtakingly beautiful icon.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Elijah was always articulate and intelligent, even when he really was a kid. I still remember how thoughtful his interviews about LoTR were. On top of that he was always gracious and kind towards everyone, colleagues and fans alike. When Brittany Murphy died a little while ago, Ashton Kutcher, supposedly a friend, tweeted his condolences. He tweeted them, using dipshit Twitter slang like "2" instead of "two." That's about the behavior I expect from actors, so many of whom seem to be shallow dim bulbs. Elijah was never like that, and it's nice to see he hasn't changed. Lovely person, inside and out.

[sixth-queen.livejournal.com]

Ashton Kutcher tweeted? What, he couldn't wait until he got home to write a proper tribute in Word? Yet another reason not to like the mini electronic devices -- people are making policy on the run.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I had to look this up just for you. The full text of Ashton's heartfelt condolence tweet for Brittany Murphy:

"Today the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany's family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon. See you on the other side, kid."

Whoa. Deep.

[merylmarie.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a great testament to a friend and colleague! Thanks for posting that.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

It's so like Elijah to take the time to say something so thoughtful and clearly heartfelt. Still a beautiful person.