{"id":2841,"date":"2024-11-26T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T03:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841"},"modified":"2025-04-12T12:04:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T16:04:57","slug":"john-pytka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841","title":{"rendered":"John Pytka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CLICK HERE TO PLAY JOHN’S REEL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My friend, director\/cinematographer John Pytka passed away in 2024. It happened soon after his 82nd birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, John & I would get together for lunch every month or so. We\u2019d share stories about film production in the 70\u2019s through 90\u2019s. Based in Pittsburgh, John & his older brother Joe, were \u201cPytka Productions\u201d, one of the country\u2019s top commercial production companies. On some of Joe\u2019s projects, both brothers would work together. Separately, John directed & photographed network TV commercials for Alamo Car Rental, Gallo Wine, Budweiser, & many more. He was often used by San Francisco\u2019s Hal Riney & Partners to photograph iconic ad campaigns, including Ronald Reagan\u2019s memorable \u201cMorning in America\u201d TV commercial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\u2019s reel from the days of 35mm film, showcases a different style of production than what\u2019s en vogue today. It\u2019s well paced, beautiful photographic images. Many of the scenes incorporate slow-motion that creates a \u201clarger-than-life\u201d feel to the action. I describe his photographic technique as \u201cmoving stills\u201d.  This contrasts with today\u2019s fast cuts, punchy graphics & rapid camera moves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a true \u201cfilmmaker\u201d, John also edited many of the commercials he shot. This involved cutting thousands of feet of 35mm work print, using a classic Moviola upright editing machine. At the start of his career, John worked at a motion picture film lab. He mastered all aspects of color film processing, Hazeltine color timing & the use of sophisticated optical printers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John spent much of his retirement with his wife, Jennifer on their farm North of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He loved his dogs & would often take them for rides in his truck.  We\u2019ll all miss him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLICK HERE TO PLAY JOHN’S REEL My friend, director\/cinematographer John Pytka passed away in 2024. It happened soon after his 82nd birthday. For years, John & I would get together for lunch every month or so. We\u2019d share stories about film production in the 70\u2019s through 90\u2019s. Based in Pittsburgh, John & his older brother […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27,146,22,36,24],"class_list":["post-2841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-commercial-tv-production","tag-john-pytka","tag-przyborski-productions","tag-tv-advertising","tag-tv-commercials"],"yoast_head":"\nJohn Pytka - Przyborski Productions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Glenn Przyborski\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/\",\"name\":\"Przyborski Productions\",\"description\":\"Przyborski Productions' Website\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Pytka-Glenn.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Pytka-Glenn.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1130},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841\",\"name\":\"John Pytka - Przyborski Productions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-27T03:49:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-12T16:04:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8b1bf8eeff802b08a405a65eae96a112\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/?p=2841#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"John Pytka\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8b1bf8eeff802b08a405a65eae96a112\",\"name\":\"Glenn Przyborski\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.przyborski.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/74939a978272e6e1022545e250338119?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/74939a978272e6e1022545e250338119?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Glenn Przyborski\"},\"description\":\"Glenn Przyborski has directed and photographed TV commercials since '71, but he's been shooting movie film most of his life. 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