ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

8 years, 5 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Hi Klim,

The photos on your site are very impressive, and look like they've been very carefully set up.

Behind the scenes shots in the film world will be very much more making use of ambient circumstances and quickly diving in to get some shots just at the end of a take. You won't get much opportunity to pose anyone as the most expensive part of a shoot is time. You simply won't get 5 minutes per setup to grab stills as over a day that could become a whole hour, and an hour is a huge amount of time to lose when productions are scheduled so tightly. The 1AD will move you on, and producer will back them up and fire anyone holding things up!

To counter this, professionals use some huge boxes that muffle the camera sound and you look like you're back in the 1910's, but can grab shots during a take, maybe from a secondary angle. You can also get the usual clichéd "director pointing" photo and other crew "moments". If an actor isn't in a scene, but is still on set, you can maybe do some nice headshots for them, always nice to have, although you need to ask the AD if they leave their trailer. You may be able to get the AD to give you a few minutes here and there for "publicity shots"/stills which will be very posed based on action in the script, or at least a script pose against a plain background for easy compositing, then get some plates of each set/location. You will invariably work hardest during lunch and breaks.

Where to get work doing it? Look for productions and ask if they want any stills for cheap/free. You'll need a solid portfolio of the right kind of stills before anyone will pay big cash, but the most important thing is learning set etiquette and what stills people need from you. On a smaller feature you might be in 3 days a week where they'll try to pick the most attractive locations and combinations of cast. Some days are money days, other are relatively cheap studio days. On a large feature you may be with the unit more than that, but you may find you're a local hire, and not travelled and accommodated - most likely if you're London based, that's where you'll get all you work unless you drive yourself to extend your range. Unlikely to be hotelled on anything other than the biggest shoots.

Is any of that any help? Your fashion work looks great, so I'm sure you'll do well as you learn a different set of skills :)

8 years, 5 months ago - Mark Wiggins

You are really good! Just thought I'd say. :)