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Shooting still photos
Hey guys,
I thought I’d seek some advice about a project i’m about to undertake. I’m throughouly comfortable video editing in Avid and creating effects in both avid and AE, BUT what i’m about to do is going to involve shooting a lot of still pictures.
I’ve heard of people using mirrors, and whatnot. I personally try to simply make it artistic or give it some movement other that the standard push in or out such as placing the picture in a bouque and using a fan to create the look as if a breeze is going through it. However, i’m running short on Ideas, i’m more of a story teller- and while i try to use that strength to create a good shot of a still picture, i just haven’t had the practice that i have had shooting moving people or scenics for my short films, etc. Any ideas?
Thanks a bunch!
John
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4 Replies
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A technique I really like is to project the 2-d photo or footage onto a 3-d scene. This is a handy way to make something more “artistic” when you’ve been handed a locked-down close-up of a talking head with zero cutaway material. You build a little tabletop still life of items related to the theme of what the guy is talking about, then project that so part of it laps over onto some of the objects. To this scene you then can add real or virtual dolly and crane moves.
You can do the projection thing completely in AE if you have the skills, or you can do it physically with a video projector on a darkened set. That way is a little cruder, but becuase the effects are all done “in camera”, it can be faster. Long as you don’t need to re-shoot to cover changes.
You can get really crazy and Dadaist with where the projections go. Take the guy for a walk, projecting him on buildings, vehicles, floors, doors, what-have-you.
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very interesting- i’ll be giving those a try for sure thank you i appreciate the help!
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Haven’t shot images to tape in years. Too many changes mid-edit have made doing so obsolete. For nonlinear editing, I use https://www.stagetools.com/ (Moving Picture). Shooting pix on a stand hi-res with digital still camera, 2 lights either side (45 degree angles) looks much better than scanning, and much less scratch removal as a result. It’s also 1000X better than Avid’s pan and zoom, and can be purchased for Avid, AE, FCP, whatever.
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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.
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I have always been impressed by the looks the guys who do ESPN Classic get. From metal shavings sprinkled around the frame, to the constructed backgrounds, to the iris changes done within the camera, not as a plugin… it’s an art. Makes it delightful to edit. It’s amazing how much turd-polishing we end up doing in post so when somthing trickles in that is beautiful on it’s own, it really stands out to me.
That’s what I’d do tho. Create actual little scenes out of a series of photos with relevant backgrouds, all lit pretty-like and shot with love.
Lots of fun to be had with this.
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