I love my role as unit stills photographer. What I don’t love is the fact that there is very little information available on this important craft in film making. There are no specialised courses and little other available information sources, until now!
Here is a collection of my articles about how a photographer can make the most of every moment they spend on a film set.
Tech Talk Articles by Angus Young
- TT 01 Why you need to have a stills photographer on a film shoot
- TT 02 5 crucial on set relationships for a Production Stills Photographer
- TT 03 5 Mistakes made by on set photographers
- TT 04 Copyright and the Production Stills photographer
- TT 05 Three Important Publicity Shots for a Production Stills Photographer
- TT 06 Call Sheets. Why I love them, and why you should too
- TT 07 Delivering production stills to the people who need them
- TT 08 5 tips for working with actors
- TT 09 The best movie stills resources for the on set photographer
- TT 10 Film set jargon for unit stills photographers
- TT 11 Make the crew look good!
- TT 12 Getting work as a stills photographer
- TT 13 Q&A on shooting film stills
- TT 14 Choosing your projects
- TT 15 Sound blimp round up
- TT 16 3 More crucial on set relationships for stills photographers
- TT 17 After the show is done – after care for unit stills photographers
- TT 18 5 Great ways to spend your on set down time productively
- TT 19 Making yourself useful on set.
- TT 20 Inspirational Movie Stills
- TT 21 Film marketing pitfalls and great examples of productions avoiding them
- TT 22 Film marketing and publicity links
- TT 23 Book review: “Movie Photos” by Alex Bailey
- TT 24 tips for actors to get the best working with a stills phographer
- TT 25 Innovative use of stills in movie marketing
- TT 26 Camera Sound Blimps – An update
- TT 27 Run a film and TV “Specials Shoot” – Part 1, Planning
- TT 28 Run a film and TV “Specials Shoot” – Part 2, The shoot
- TT 29 Hollywood Unit Publicist Ernie Malik interview
If you have a question that you want me to address in my postings please drop me a line.
Video Resources
The magnificent Jasin Boland talking about his favourite gear and the joys of working alongside a talented DoP. Jasin is an amazingly engaging speaker, really knows his stuff and creates sensational movie stills. Jasin works predominantly on action films so talks about how lucky he is to often shoot without a blimp on film shoots. This interview was recorded during the making of Aeon Flux.
Baz Lurhmann and his on set photographer, James Fisher talk about the importance of the role of a photographer on a film shoot, in particular about the making of Baz’s epic feature film Australia.
Blogs, Articles, Interviews and other great resources for Film Stills Photographers
- Alex Bailey – Behind the Curtain PLINK’s 45 minute podcast Interview
- Alex Bailey – Movie Stills Blog Film set photographer and author of “Movie Photos”
- Angus Young – Want to work in TV Interview with Angus Young on shooting publicity stills in TV
- Brian Hamill – State University interview the joys of shooting stills for the likes of Woody Allen, Barry Levinson, Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack
- Chris Large – Digital Animate Interviews an in depth interview with th Canada-based film stills photograher
- Hanneby.com – IATSE photographer Job description and expected salary range for an IATSE (US/Canadian union member) unit stills photographer
- Hollywood Still Photography – Shutterbug Shutterbug magazine feature on production stills (US perspective)
- Hopper Stone – Nik Radio Interview LA based unit photographer talks through his career from photojournalism in war zones to on set photojournalism
- Jack English – Fuji Film Exposure Interview On being discovered and recommmended by Gary Oldman and working on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Fifth Element, The Transporter and many others
- Karen Ballard – The Digital Journalist Unit Stills Photographer on Stephen Speilberg’s “Munich” recounts her experience
- Kevin L Powers – Associated Content 5 elements to being a good on set photographer
- Larry D.Horricks – interviewed by Junsui Films On working on Coriolanus and trying to bring art and points of difference to unit stills work.
- Leah Gallo – Mizzou Mag Interview on joining the family. Working with Tim Burton on Alice in Wonderland and Sweeney Todd
- Murray Close – UK Professional Photographer Interview On working with Stanley Kubrik, sound blimps and sensitive actors
- Q&A – Cineformation Film Publicity & Photography Q&A with David Appleby & Susan d’Arcy
- The role of the Stills Photographer – Skillset thorough article on the role of the stills photographer
- The second most important photographer on set – Photopreneur On Set Photography article
- Van Redin – Digital Apple Overview of the role of s stills photographer
- Want to work in TV? Shu Richmond’s excellent great career advice blog
Blogs, Articles, Interviews on film marketing and publicity
- Alternative Magazine interviews Ethelmae Sylverster Stallone’s unit publicist Ethelmae shares her story
- Independent Fim PR – Jeremy Walker Excellent article on publicising independent films
- Movie Marketing – How Stuff Works Introductory article on the intricacies of movie marketing
- Publicity – Dov S-S Simen Independent film publicity beginning to end
- Q&A – Cineformation Film Publicity & Photography Q&A with David Appleby & Susan d’Arcy
- Sheri Candler – Film marketing and Publicity Expert This one is a must read for anyone interested in indy film publicity
- The Independent What does a publicist actually do?
- The role of the unit publicist: Skillset Interview with Susan D’arcy
- Want to work in TV – Nuala Giblin Experienced UK television Press Officer on the highs and lows of UK TV publicity
Know of other good resources? Drop me a comment or an email and I’ll include it in my list!
If you love it, show it!
Film publicity and marketing resources
Production Stills TECH TALK
3 comments
Looking forward to learning a lot from you and thanks for sharing…
Daniel Hagy
aka k a i t o o of kaitoodesigns
Thanks for the feedback Daniel!
You have some great resources listed here! I have used some of them on my site, and I also have some links that you may want to check out. Also, here is a good interview with Canadian stills photographer Chris Large, who has been very helpful in giving me tips over the last year or so:
http://digitalanimate.com/interviews/chris-large/