John "Oggy" Ogden

John Ogden is well known for his ability to capture the thought, expression and action that audience's respond to. With experience in all genres of broadcast and film - drama (both TV and feature), TVCs, music clips and documentaries - complemented by his underwater experience and published still photography, Oggy is in demand around the world.

Oggy's background as a photo-journalist was early schooling in how to tell a story effectively. He built this experience with an English degree majoring in film history and theory. With 20 years in the industry, Oggy has fortunate to develop his personal style based on elements from each genre:

"Documentaries showed me how to work with available light and how to light naturalistically. It also taught me how real people behave in a variety of situations. Drama provided an opportunity on how to develop the story succintly using lighting appropriate to the mood and camera moves to best reveal the emotions behind the story.

MTV taught innovation, and along with commercials, showed the value of arresting and memorable imagery. Commercials also taught the most effective communication of a message in a short time, and an awareness for the creative opportunities offered in post-production."

The 21st century audience has been completely swamped with imagery. A director or DOP can never become blase about technique and technical developments, howeve Oggy is correct in his belief that "the never ending search for the next new thing should not get in the way of a story well told.

Oggy's projects span Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, The Phillipines, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, China, South America and the USA.

Recent TVCs
Clients include Mercedes, Peugot, Toyota, Mitsubishi, GMH, Daewoo, Hyundai, Ford, Coca Cola, McDonalds, KFC, Telstra, Optus, Hewlett Packard, Westpac, ANZ, CUB, Lion Nathan and Kelloggs.

For a number of clients, Oggy provides both directing and DOP services.

With his experience in underwater photography, recent TVCs with underwater components include Queensland Tourism and Coca Cola (Japan) with Ian Thorpe. (Credit: John Ogden)

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Art and the Creatives