Historical and Contemporary Photographers/Cinematographers

Historical Photographers:

Bob Willoughby has worked behind the scenes of various movies with many classic well-known stars such as; Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor etc. Willoughby's photographs were all taken in black and white film, being a historical photographer; I think this enhances a classic, bold finish. His photographs were taken through radio controlled cameras, and was the first time a professional photographer used this technique on a shoot.

Harold Rosson, a cinematographer known for his subtle and imaginative lighting, was born in Genaseo, New York. Rosson's most outstanding achievement with colour was for MGM's 'The Wizard of Oz', though again he modestly described his work as simply a matter of "controlling colour." After 1955 he working as a cinematographer for various studios. Rosson' photographs were taken in a way so that the subjects/actors were almost flawless, giving they're faces a subtle completion; I believe that this was created playing with lighting techniques such as soft light, images like this are now used for commercial purposes, for advertising. 

Contemporary Photographers:

Wally Pfister is an American cinematographer and film director, who is best known for his work with Christopher Nolan. Pfister has worked as a cinematographer on many films over the years, some of his most recent being the dark knight rises, inception, the dark knight, batman begins. Through some of these movies he has managed to receive 25 awards including a Oscar. Through working on such action-filled sets, he had to form photographs focusing on action, motion and dramatics, in which I believe he captures indefinitely through his use of lighting.

Ben Davis is a British cinematographer that began his career as a cinematographer shooting spots. His first major feature film as a cinematographer was the 2002 British film Miranda, then went on to photograph for many known films such as, Guardians of the Galaxy, Kick-ass, Stardust. He is also a member of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) Davis' photography style works incredably well with a fanasty/action theme in mind. I works well with theatrics and motion.  

Portrait Photography and Photographers

Lighting for Portraiture:

When portraits are taken in the studio the photographer has complete control over the lighting. There are many techniques and ways in which to light the subject’s face some of these are:

Three point lighting uses three lights to fully light the subject from three different angles. 

Key light/ main light in light that is usually placed to one side of a subject face (just above eye level) the purpose of this technique is to emphasize or give shape to a person’s face. The depth of shadow can be controlled with a fill-light.

Fill-in Light is used to control the contrast in the scene. The fill acts by lifting shadows. 

Accent-light are there to accentuate a subject, typically this lighting will separate the subject from the background.

Butterfly lighting uses two lights one directly in front of the subject, just above the camera and the other in a rim light, which is often a reflector placed below the subjects face. 

Portrait Photographers:

Jason Bell is a British, London and New York based editorial photographer, though looking at his editorial work I found his portrait photographs to be of interest. Bell’ photographs have appeared in many publications starring many famous actors, singers etc. These include; Johnny Depp, David Beckham, Emily Blunt, Helena Bonham Carter, Kate Winslet, Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman etc. 

I find the portraiture created by Bell to be at such a diverse range regarding lighting and colour. It’s his black and white images that I think are most captivating and inspiring; these photographs are both dramatic and powerful, due to the light that have been provided by the photographer. 

Ash Kingston is a British, London based portrait and commercial photographer; working with clients such as, Adidas, Adidas Originals, ASOS, CLASH, DAZED, GQ Style, i-D, LOVE, Miss Vogue, MTV, Novembre, NYLON, Optology, Rollacoaster, Wonderland, The Beat, Topshop, VICE, V Magazine and Y-3. 

I find Kingston’s photographs to be both powerful and well composed. He uses the light around him to create shadow, giving his images further depth. 

Film/s Research

Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is the movie of my choice as I wanted to use a film that requires a dramatic theme. The movie as a whole has a futuristic theme that I was interested in experimenting with regards to photo practises and lighting.

Marvel's newest addition features a group of intergalactic criminals that are forced to work together to stop a fanatical warrior from taking control or destroying the universe. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits-Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand-with the galaxy's fate in the balance. 

Characters:
The Guardians:
-Peter Quill/ Star-lord
-Gamora
-Rocket
-Groot
-Drax
Villains:
-Ronan
-Nebula
-Thanos

The Dark Knight Rises:

The Dark Knight Rises was chosen my be with regards to one character only Selina Kyle/Catwomen, In which I though would be an interesting character to recreate.

The finally of Nolan's batman trilogy. When Bane, a former member of the League of Shadows, plans to continue the work of Ra's al Ghul, the Dark Knight is forced to return after an eight year absence to stop him. The film introduces Selina Kyle (Cat Woman) a sly, morally ambiguous cat burglar. 

Characters:
- Bruce Wayne/ Batman
- Selina Kyle/ Catwomen
- James Gordan
- Bane

Editorial Research

Editorial 1:

The title is the second largest thing on the double page spread, immediately grabbing the readers attention. The font is large and bold, being coloured with a galactic theme, holding a great connection with the editorial piece as a whole. The heading is written in a plain black text as if not to overpower the title. 

The article is a brief summery of the movie with accreditation to the actors. The article 
Imagery:take space of half of a page. 

This editorial piece consists of only one main photo, that takes most space and focus in the two-page spread. This photograph is a profile shot of all the main characters from the film.

In the lower half, middle of the photograph, there is a quote from the article giving the viewer and taste of what they could read. 

Editorial 2:

On this editorial piece the two page spread consists of mainly photography. The largest image showing the viewer the interaction with both actors and crew. The text is mainly a summery of the film without giving anything away, it mentions the lot and characters involved. I find that the yellow strips used on this piece extremely effective as it stands out drawing the viewer in.

Editorial 3:

This editorial piece consisting mainly of photographs/ stills from the movie. It's simplicity deems it easy to relate to. In this two-page spread there isn't a title only a heading (A quote) I think that the majority of the article being photographs telling the viewer just what they need to know in order to promote there movie.

Editorial 4:

This editorial piece is on the movie into the woods, this particular piece is used to introduce the viewer to the characters of the piece it is the Big Bad Wolf, The Red Riding Hood and the Princes. This majority of this piece is photography to give the viewer a clear image of what the characters look like, in the text it is giving you a brief profile of each character shown.

Studio Health and Safety

Studio Health and Safety:

In the studio there are many thing considered to put yourself or others at risk. Therefore it is important to taken through health and safety precautions and be aware that you are responsible for not only yourself but others involved in your time in a studio including; Models, wardrobe, make-up artists, hair stylists etc. Whenever using the studio you should carry out a risk assessment regarding props and models.

Some of the rules you should be aware of when entering the studio are:

-Coats and bags must be away/ hung up, to ensure that no accidents regarding trips and falls occur

- No food or drink are allowed in the studio, as there is electrical and expensive equipment that could cause serious damage 

- To guarantee no serious problems you must not be in the studio without a member of staff

- You must not touch any of the lights, as they reach hot temperatures and can also cause serious electrocution if handled wrong

- Make sure to walk at all times do not run.  

                                                                             


The lumisphere is there to take a reading of light that falls upon the subject. By sliding this you can get a reflective light reading.

The button on the side once pressed will take a reading of ambient/flash light.

The mode button changes from analogue to custom functions.

The sync cord leads/attaches when metering flash lighting.

ISO is there to change according to what ever you prefer. 








Risk Assessment:

Burning yourself on lights - to prevent this incident ensure that you do not touch them and if you are wanting to move them ask an experienced member of staff.

falling/tripping - to prevent incident from happening ensure all bags and coats out of the room and make sure the wires are covered correctly and safely.

Getting hair caught in light fittings - to prevent this incident tie back your hair in necessary.

Bump into other people - to prevent this incident ensure that you keep communication with others working around you in the studio.

studio lighting techniques

              Low Key             High Key

Studio Lighting Techniques

Both High Key images and Low Key images make an intensive use of contrast, but in a very different way. When approaching a shoot of a dramatic portrait, the decision of making it a High Key, Low Key or “just” a regular image has great impact about the mood that this picture will convey. While High Key images are considered happy and will show your subject as a tooth-paste poster; Low Key portraits are dramatic and convey a lot of atmosphere and tension.

Low Key Lighting is often used for photographing television or film. Low lighting uses only one key light and is controlled using reflectors. To create this effect it requires very little natural lighting, using only one light (softbox) I find that it creates a dramatic and powerful finish, as it exaggerates shadows. This type of lighting is frequently used in film noir and horror genres. 



Rick Nunn is a photographer that experiments with many different techniques, but a technique I particularly liked was his images taken using low-key lighting, I think that the images are powerful and bold.

High Key lighting is often used for photographing upbeat subjects such as for sitcoms and comedies. To create this effect you would usually use three point lighting to free the image from dark shadows. I find that this makes the photograph give of a positive feeling for the 
viewer. For high key lighting two foreground lights are faced towards the subject/background, and are generally soft-boxes so that the light spreads out evenly giving the image a clean finish.

Jack devlin working with using high-key lighting to make a idealistic, positive image for the viewer. 

  

A soft box is used to diffuse the light or to bounce the light of a bulb (the light) Soft boxes work by confining the light from a lamp into a closed chamber and releasing it through at least one layer of diffusion material. As the light passes through the translucent fabric it scatters, producing a very even and soft result. 

Beauty Dish

A beauty dish is a reflective lighting device that distributes light toward a focal point. It helps to create more contrast in an image. A beauty dish is bigger and creates softer light than an ordinary reflector. 

Snoot

A snoot is a tube that fits over a studio light or portable flash and allows the photographer to control the direction and radius of the light beam. A snoot helps to stop light spill and therefore isolate a subject when flash is used.

A reflector is a reflective surface that is used when transmitting light onto the subject.

Hard light cast shadows creating sharp contrast. Hard light comes from a direct single-point source of light. It is not interrupted, reflected or diffused in any way and falls directly on the subject. This light source causes the hard shadow-line. In a blackened room, one light bulb will cause this hard-light effect. The hardness of the shadow-lines is unaffected by the brightness of the light.

Soft light is not dim light but light that gradually changes from dark to light areas, to ensure there are no harsh or sharply defined shadow lines. Hard, sharp shadow-lines are not flattering in many different types of photographs; especially where people are in the shot. Our eyes are naturally tuned to a softened, rounded shape, especially in the human face. So where we encounter hard light our eyes next seek out the softer, easier light to help us interpret shape and form. 

                Hard light                             Soft light

Ambient lighting is natural light, from a natural source, such as sun light. 

Flash light is known as artificial lighting, using lights like a softbox, snoot etc. this includes the flash that is built into current electronic cameras.