Unit Still Photography equipment / Photo Credit Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History Science.tamu.edu
UNIT STILL PHOTOGRAPHER… (In the
Entertainment industry. What does Unit still photographer do?)
Unit Still Photographer
A unit still photographer, or simply still photographer,
is a person who creates film stills, still photographic images specifically
intended for use in the marketing and publicity of feature films in the motion
picture industry and network television productions. Besides creating
photographs for the promotion of a film, the still photographer contributes
daily to the filming process by creating set stills. With these, the
photographer is careful to record all details of cast wardrobe, set appearance
and background. The director and assistants review these images frequently for
continuity and matching of all stage aspects.
Cornel Lucas, a pioneer of film portraiture in the 1940s
and 1950s, was the first still photographer to be awarded a BAFTA, in 1998, for
work with the British Film Industry.
Uses in the industry
Using individual frames from film or recorded video
material is not practical due to their relatively low quality. Much higher
resolution images are therefore used. Typically, the end uses of these still
photos include the film's theatrical release poster, DVD box artwork, the official
web site photos, billboards, bus stop adverts, point-of-purchase displays, key
art image sets released to the press and media, and other printed and online
collateral materials.
Unit still photographers are also responsible for creating
"photo props" and "set dressing images", the photos and
images used on-camera to create various illusions such as forensic photos,
crime drama booking photos, character driver's licenses, passport and I.D.
photos, on-screen family photos, surveillance photos, computer screen displays,
and any other image a producer may require in the course of a production.
In North America in particular, and some international
locations, a unit still photographer must be a member of IATSE Local 600 International
Cinematographers Guild in order to perform services on union productions and
union studio lots and locations. The most prestigious of these unit still
photographers are members of The Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers,
an organization which promotes the work of those within the industry.
While often perceived as a "glamour" job for
photographers, the reality is often long hours (70-plus hours per week) on
remote locations under difficult and often extreme conditions. The unit still
photographer often coordinates with the unit publicist, but physically works in
close proximity to the film's camera crew, director and actors, and also in
close proximity to the film's boom microphone operator. Unit still
photographers go to great lengths to muffle the sound of their camera's motor
drive and shutter to avoid distracting the actors, and to remain inaudible on
the film's recorded dialogue soundtrack.
Typically, this is accomplished using a sound blimp, which
is a sound-absorbing, foam-filled metal case in which the still camera body is
fitted with a proprietary remote operation cable. This allows the camera to be
activated and operated from a two-button (activation, focus and shutter
release) exterior control. Limitations exist once the blimp is closed around
the camera, as one can no longer access the cameras controls (f-number, shutter
speed, ASA/ISO settings) or menu displays directly. The LCD display for
reviewing the images will also be obscured in the closed position. This
requires the photographer to make control selections in advance, and use with
those settings until the take in progress has been "cut", making
adjustments only between takes or set-ups. Unit still photographers in this
field typically produce over 2000 marketable images per week for their
major-studio clients. Still photography involves the use of alignment,
positioning, and other techniques to capture the "money shot".
Still-life photography is the depiction of inanimate subject matter, most
typically a small grouping of objects that are either human-made or natural.
Since 2010, high-end DSLR cameras, which can be remotely
controlled with mobile apps on smartphones and tablet computers, using the
built-in 2-way Wi-Fi radio-controlled interface between the tablets and the
DSLR camera, and offer internal active noise reduction technologies, have
increased the ability of the unit still photographer to work quietly on the
set.
Film Still
A film still (sometimes called a publicity still or a
production still) is a photograph taken on or off the set of a movie or
television program during production. These photographs are also taken in
formal studio settings and venues of opportunity such as film stars' homes,
film debut events, and commercial settings. The photos were taken by studio
photographers for promotional purposes. Such stills consisted of posed
portraits, used for public display or free fan handouts, which are sometimes
autographed. They can also consist of posed or candid images taken on the set
during production, and may include stars, crew members or directors at work.
The main purpose of such publicity stills is to help
studios advertise and promote their new films and stars. Studios therefore send
those photos along with press kits and free passes to as many movie-related
publications as possible so as to gain free publicity. Such photos were then
used by newspapers and magazines, for example, to write stories about the stars
or the films themselves. Hence, the studio gains free publicity for its films,
while the publication gains free stories for its readers.
Types
Shots can be taken as part of the filming or separately
posed. During the course of filming, the still photographer takes shots of
on-stage scenes. These photographs are called production stills. Another type
of still generated during filming is the off-stage shot. The photographer takes
these while actors are between takes, still in costume. Separately posed stills
include a wide variety of shots. Many of these have self-explanatory
designations: seasonal gag shots, leg art, fashion stills, commercial tie-ups,
poster art, clinch shots (special posing for print advertising) candid’s (done
normally with one source lighting—think snapshot) and in-costume studies (most
economically done off-stage in a sound stage corner or more formally in a
studio setting). By far the most popular of these many kinds of film stills are
those portraying glamour, menace or gag interpretations.
Other separately posed images include “set” stills,
make-up stills and wardrobe stills. These stills are used for matching from
scene to scene, or for recreating a scene later for a re-take. All details of
the set, the costume and the cast make-up have to be exact, and these stills
serve as a useful resource to get that accomplished. Background “plates” or “stereos”
(not a reference to stereoscopic 3D, but to large-format stereopticon 2D slide
projection), another type of still, enable the studio to create location scenes
without leaving the premises, thus reducing the ultimate cost of production.
Still Photographers
Movie still photography is considered a separate branch of
movie making, that of marketing: "a still photographer usually works on
set but is not directly involved in the making of a film. His role is to
publicize, through his pictures, film and actors on magazines, newspapers and
other media." Film producer and cinematographer Brian Dzyak explains that
the group of people who work on a film are referred to as the
"company" or "unit." Among the professionals who are
assigned to the unit, one is a "unit still photographer," whose job
is to take still photos that the studios will later use for marketing. They may
take photos during rehearsals or while standing next to the cameraman during
filming of takes. For glamour publicity stills, given out to the public and
press to promote a particular star, "special shoots" are made in
separate studios, containing controlled lighting, backgrounds, clothing and
furnishings.
Although the still photographer shares a number of skills
and functions with the cinematographer, their work is essentially very
different. The cinematographer is concerned with filming short scenes that will
later be edited into an entire movie. The still photographer is primarily
concerned with capturing dramatic photos that will draw attention when used on
posters, DVD covers, and advertising. Studios would therefore assign a still
photographer to a production, and in some cases as many as five still
photographers worked on the same film.
Purposes
The major and minor film studios have always used still
photos of stars, typically in a posed portrait, to send to the media to create
"a buzz" for both their stars and any new films they were appearing
in. Studios "sent out tens of thousands of scene stills and portraits to
newspapers, magazines, and fans each year. Such photographs were rarely marked
with the photographer's name or with a credit line."
Accordingly, the studio publicity departments used the
stills "to sell a product," namely, a "particular film or an
individual actor or actress." The distinction is relevant: "While the
scene stills and on-the-set candid shots would be used to sell the movie, the
portraits could be used to introduce a would-be star to an international
audience. . . . The portrait photographer's function was to create and sell the
image created by a publicity department around the life and look of a real
person." The photos portrayed a star "without a role to hide behind.
. . [and the photographer] had to recognize the image which would serve as the
essence of a lengthy publicity campaign, capturing it in a fraction of a
second." The glamour close-up would become "Hollywood's principal
contribution to still portraiture."
Beyond basic publicity purposes, film stills were given to
the actors themselves to send, signed or unsigned, to their fans and fan clubs.
At various special events, stars might bring along a stack of these studio
photos to sign in the presence of admirers, much like book signings by authors
today.
In addition, directors and casting directors involved with
placing appropriate actors in the film roles still rely on film stills to help
them recall the detailed looks of actors. This is similar to the way magazine
or TV advertisers rely on stills taken of professional models. Typically, a
film still included a separate profile sheet describing the physical details of
the actor along with a brief bio. The directors would then collect their best
choices and schedule interviews and auditions.
Sources,
References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked
In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The
Balance, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Media Match, Quora, Creative
Skill Set, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, Daily Variety, The Film
Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Career Trend, Producer's Code of
Credits, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Entertainment Careers, Adhere
Creative, In Deed, Glass Door, Pay Scale, Merriam-Webster, Job Monkey, Studio
Binder, The Collective, Production Hub, The Producer's Business Handbook by
John J. Lee Jr., Honathaner, Eve Light. The Complete Film Production Handbook, Brian
Dzyak (2010). What I Really Want to Do on Set in Hollywood: A Guide to Real
Jobs in the Film Industry, Larry Goldman (1983). The professional photographer:
developing a successful career, Finola Kerrigan (2009). Film Marketing, "Still
Photography in the Motion Picture Industry" by Ned Scott, Andrew Dawson; Sean
Holmes (2 August 2012). Working in the Global Film and Television Industries:
Creativity, Systems, Space, Patronage, IATSE Local 600 International
Cinematographers Guild, The Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers
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