Project 4: Re-Creating Film Stills

In this project, I had to produce three translations of the film still I have been assigned.

1. My translations must show the subjects in the same compositions.

2. My background/backdrop should be creatively reconstructed.

3. It is important that I recreate the lighting is, use of the frame and depth of field used in my film still.

Project 4: Re-Creating Film Stills-Final Prints

Contact sheet

Filter:4

Aperture:4

Time: 1.5 Seconds

Filter:4

Aperture:4

Time: 1.5 Seconds

This is my first final print. In this shot, I used the soft box as a prop and this caused some problems. The first time I shot, I didn't have any other lights except the soft box and so, the subjects were not lit up at all. So the next time, I used another light lighting up the two of them in general. Even though Heather is darker than Barbara in this picture, she is supposed to be.

Filter:4

Aperture:4

Time: 1.5 Seconds

Just like the one above, I used the soft box as a prop. It did not only light up Heather's face, it acted as a prop. Before, I couldn't see Heather's face very well as I could not even see the outline. Now, I lit up another light facing Heather and made it lighter. I guess the composition of this picture is wrong as there is too much space above the light and Heather.

Filter:4

Aperture:4

Time: 1.5 Seconds

In this picture, Barbara had to be in place of a man. However she was the shortest one so she was in the middle and the second shortest was on the front. I lit up Barbara and Josh in general as they were the ones with light. Fabrizio was the darkest and so did not need much light. I do not think the composition of Josh is bad as the original still also had the front person cut off.

Project 4: Re-Creating Film Stills-Printing Compositions

This is a test shot of my first final print. On the original screen shot, there were four men, three on one side and one on the other side. However since there were limited number of boys in our class, I had to ask Katlynne to be one of them. I also prepared the setting in the way that the tallest one is to the closest and the shortest one is in the middle. It is also like that in the screen shot. I had Fabrizio holding a paper because the man in the picture also had a paper in his hands. I also wanted Fabrizio to be speaking and catch him in motion because the man's mouth also seemed like he was talking.
In the original picture, the overall lighting was very blue, and so I had quite a hard time figuring out the right light setting. However I realized that the focus of light was mainly on the first two people at the left. The man on the right was very dark and in shadow. So I turned one of the lights at them and left the other two unlighted. Even though they were not lighted, the light on the top helped.

This is a test shot of my second final print. In this shot, there are one girl and one woman. I wanted Heather as the girl because she had the similar hair color and style. I also wanted Meghan in the place of the woman because of her hair color and her black clothings. I tried to have a table in front of Heather so it resembles the girl with her hands on the table. However Heather trying to hold her hands up in the air seemed useless and just painful. So I got rid of that and instead put the light prop at the back. I realize that the distance between the light and the models are too close, but if I had them apart, they would not fit in the same frame.

For the lighting, I had a dim light in front of them to give a general light. Then I put the soft box behind them both as a prop and as a light source. In the original screen shot, the mirror has lights around it. I was aiming for this when I put the soft box in the frame.

This is a test shot of my last final print. In the original screen shot, there is a woman facing her back to the viewers. She is looking into the mirror with lights in front of her. I had Heather as the model because she had the straightest hair in the class. I had her lean back at the chair and put one of her leg up and rest it agains another chair, so we can see a part of her crossed leg. I also put the soft box in replace of the mirror, since the mirror in the original shot also had lights around it.

For the lighting, I only used the soft box. It did not only act as a prop but also as a light source. It brightened the model's face and darkened her backside.

Project 4: Re-Creating Film Stills-Image Bank

MIRJANA VRBASKI
Mirjana Vbraski is a Serbian photographer, who currently lives in Den Haag, the Netherlands. She was born in Canada and grew up in Serbia since 2008. She studied English literature at the university of Guelph, Canada. Now, she works at the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague, the Netherlands. She has won many awards including, national portrait gallery and best four entries at shortlist.
I chose this image because it was one of the main pictures that she talked about that day. She told us about how she got to cast this model and her general way of shooting. In this picture, you can see how she set the lighting from the shadows on the model's face. I really like how the portrait itself seems very mysterious, yet very original.

POLLY CHANDLER
Polly Chandler is an American photographer, who is famous for her unique portrait style. Her pictures show "the personality of her subjects through selective backgrounds and the use of large formats." She began as a graphic designer but ended up with photography.

I chose this picture because all of Polly Chandler's photographs seem like they are film photographs. Even though I am not sure if they are actually film photographs, she edits her photographs to seem like black and white film photos. Unlike our project, this picture uses natural light and depth of field.

RICHARD MURAI
Richard Murai is a Japanese photographer, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He now teaches photograph in Northern California and he is known for shooting the world's sacred sites, such as Peru, Turkey, Egypt, Russia and Asia. Unlike the process for our project, he uses film as practice shots and turns to digital photography for final prints.

I chose this picture because from all of Murai's pictures, this seemed the most like a film photograph. I am pretty sure that this is a digital photograph as Murai uses digital photography as final prints. This picture also uses natural light and since it is black and white, it seems more moody.

DAVID BAILEY

David Bailey is a British photographer, born and raised in England. He became an assitant at the John French studio before being contracted as a fashion photographer for Vogue magazine in 1960. He rose to fame in the 1960s and since then, has shot for many magazines, such as Rolling Stones and GQ Magazine. He apparently prefers film photograph instead of digital because of the photographs' quality.

I chose this picture because I liked the composition of the picture. The edges look like this picture is lomo and the fact that it is sepia makes the photograph look more official. Just like the pictures above, I am not sure if this is a film photograph because it seems like a digital photograph.

Project 4: Re-Creating Film Stills-Theory Notes

This is a screen shot from the movie "Casablanca" from 1940's. This is similar to the one with four people. In this picture, one of the man on the left is much closer to the man on the right than the other two. This is one of the differences between this shot and my picture. Also the man on the right has a gun in his hand, which in my picture is holding a paper. Moreover the lighting in this picture is mainly on the character's heads, while my picture's lighting is mainly on the two people on the left. I don't think there were any limitations from the time period as it did not require any technological advancements.

This is a screen shot from the movie "Doctor Zhivago" from 1960's. This is similar to my picture of two women. In this picture, the models are male and the one on the right is more or less sitting. However in my picture, the two models were females and the person on the right was standing. Also, the lighting in this picture is on the right top that it is lighting the model's faces. However in my picture, the lighting is mainly on the models's backs with a prop at the back. Once again, there were no limitations from time period.

This is a screen shot of the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" from 1990's. Even though it was not from today, I still thought it belonged to more modern movies. The model in this picture is a blonde girl with her hair tied up. However the one in my picture is a brunette woman with her hair loose. Also in my picture you can see her leg crossed up. Moreover in this picture, you can see the model's reflection on the mirror, while on my picture, you can not see the reflection. One of the main similarities is the lighting. Both of the pictures have the lighting in front of the model beside the mirror, so that it lightens up their faces. Once again, there were no limitations but the model's overall mood are very different.

Project 4: Re-Creating Film Stills-Diary Entry

BAD
Today, I kept on printing my photos for the current project, re-creating film stills. I already had a hard time with printing them last class. I tried with the highest filter and different apertures, but everytime the test strips came out either too dark or too grainy. Since, ms.Dele was late to class today, I just followed her instructions on the email. Even though I tried every possible combinations with the color filter, it simply did not work. Even ms. Dele tried to work on it during her free time, but she decided that 3 other students and I have to reshoot. She extended the due dates for us, and we decided to do the re-shoot the next week. The four of us were very upset and devastated when we heard the news. I just hope that everything works out at the next shoot.
GOOD
Today, the other 3 students and I worked on our re-shoot. Even though we earned ourselves an extension for due dates, we thought it would be better to finish it earlier. Since Fabrizio and I needed to reshoot all three photographs, we went first. After he finished his, I worked on mine. Fortunately, we didn't have to reshoot with the digital pictures and so, it was easier for us. Since I already knew where the lights should be and which poses the models should be in, the re-shoot went faster than before and I finished them in one class.

Project 3: Lighting(pt. 3)

In this project, we had to produce three prints that clearly advertise hairstyles.
We had to produce
1. A print of two subjects.
2. Close up shot
3. Angle shot

Project 3: Lighting(pt. 3)-Hair prints

Aperture: 8

Filter : 5

Time: 2 4 6 8 seconds

This is a test strip for my first print of angle shot. I had to use the filter here because it came out very gray in the beginning. I also had to change my enlarger while working with this print because the model's hair came out bleached, which is not normal.

Aperture: 8

Filter: 5

Time: 4 seconds

This is another test strip for my first final print. I chose this time because it had the most white in it.

Aperture: 8

Filter: 5

Time: 4 seconds

This is my first final print of angle shot. As I mentioned earlier, this one took awhile because I had to reshoot and change my enlarger.

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 10 12 14 16 seconds

This is a test strip of my second final print of two people. It was difficult to show the details in hair, but I managed to do it through adding more time.

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 10 seconds

This is my second final print of two people. I wasn't sure with this print, because I wasn't sure if the viewers would notice the hair of the model in the back. Since this is a hair shot, I wanted them to focus on their hair.

Aperture:5.6

Time: 10 12 14 seconds

This is a test strip of my third final print, close up shot. It wasn't hard to find the right time.

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 12 seconds

This is a test strip of my third final print of close up shot. I chose this time, because it had the most white.

Aperture:5.6

Time: 12 seconds

This is my last final print of close up shot. I realized it would be hard to crop this photo, since there are not free spaces around the model's face.

Project 3: Lighting(pt. 3)-Printing Compositions

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 9 seconds

This is one of my contact sheets and I chose two photos from here. One close-up shot and another one of two people. I couldn't use any other because they were either inappropriate or irrelevant.

Aperture: 5.6 Time: 6 7 8 9 seconds

This is a test strip for my second contact sheet. I didn't take that many picture because I only needed one more final print of angle shot. Therefore, all of my shots are angle shots.

Aperture: 5.6 Time: 9 seconds

This is my second contact sheet. In this one, I chose my final angle shot print.

Project 3: Lighting(pt. 3)-Image Bank

Akif Hakan Celebi


Akif Hakan Celebi is a Turkish photographer, currently residing in Miami, Florida. Celebi likes to experiment with new photography techniques and styles. He is usually inspired by Asian movies and cultures. His goal is to give the viewers a story and set an "athmospheric" mood within the images. Click here for more info.



I chose this photograph because it has an extraordinary mood to it. Even though this does not fit into any of the three photographs that we were supposed to take, I really liked how it focused on the model's hair. If a viewer just glanced at this photo, he or she would immediately notice her hair. Even though it was not black and white, it fit into our project.

Jim Crone

Jim Crone is a British photographer, who is well-known and respected for his hair and beauty shots. He specializes in traveling to salons and studios throughout UK and abroad. His photographs usually appear on Hairstyle publications, product packaging and advertising campaigns. Click here for more info.

This picture was good because it fit into the angle shot of hair. As everyone can see, this picture is taken from above, and it focuses on the model's hair very well.

Richard Miles

Richard Miles is an American photographer, who specializes in beauty, hair and fashion shots. He is also able to advise and direct at all stages of a shoot. He also works with post-production and re-touching with photography. His photographs appear on billboards, commercial brochures and many magazines. Click here for more info.

This picture also fit into our project, as it is a close-up shot of the model. The viewers would notice the model's hair immediately. The color of her hair also helps the viewers notice it. I also think this could count as a beauty shot. It was hard to crop this picture, because while I was cropping, the banner below the picture came popping up. Therefore there is a black line under the model's face. The picture's supposed to be bigger than this.

Project 3: Lighting(pt. 3)-Theory Notes

FLASHES

Flashes are devices used in photography to produce an instantaneous artificial light on a subject. It is used to lighten up the subject at a low-light shooting and capture quickly moving objects. A flash on a camera usually has a small battery, a gas discharge tube and a circuit.

There are different types of flashes and some are flash bulbs and flashcubes. Flash cubes are much smaller and modern and flash bulbs are much heavier.

Also there are two techniques for flashes and one is direct flash. Direct flash is an amateur way of lighting, used to supplement ambient light in order to lighten a subject close to the camera. The subject usually appears very pale and white due to the directness.

Another technique is bounce flash. Bounce flash is a technique in which flash is directed onto a white reflective surface to reflect the light onto the subject. The bounce in light creates softer, less artificial-looking illumination than direct flash. It creates more of a expanding and softer lighting.

Light Meter

A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light or a proper exposure for a photograph, in photography. It usually contains a screen that shows which shutter speed and aperture should be used.

HOW TO WORK A LIGHT METER:

First, you set the film speed on the meter, then activate it.

After activating, you hold the button in to make continuous measurements, moving around the subject. For more professional information, click here.


There are two types of light meters which are reflected-light meter and incident-light meter. Reflected-light meter measures the light reflected by the scene to be photographed. This is more widely and frequently used. Incident-light meter measure the amount of light falling on the subject using an integrating sphere. This one is less used and has a high chance of making mistakes.

Project 3: Lighting(pt. 3)-Diary entry

GOOD

Today, we started taking picture for our next project, hair. As always, we went outside, next to the blue wall, and took pictures of each other. Some was reluctant to take pictures, as they wanted new faces on their frames. However I thought I didn't have any time for that and so, kept on taking pictures. Unfortunately, I only had about 15 frames to take picture, as it was a beginner class's film. I developed them and this time, fortunately, all of them came out. I made a contact sheet and showed it to ms.dele. I hope I had more frames, but I am glad they all came out.

BAD

Last class, we continued developing our pictures. When I showed my contact sheet to ms.dele, she wasn't happy with my "about 10" frames. She thought most of them were "happy" pictures, and didn't have anything to do with hair. So I barely got two good photos from the contact sheet and was decided to reshoot. I was devastated at that moment, because I barely had any time. The project was due Wednesday and I still had to make one more print and scan them all. I hope this kind of situation never happens to me again.

Project 2: Lighting(pt. 2)

In this project, we had to produce three compositions of three different fashion categories using lighting to give an effect of our choices.

1. clothing
2. shoes
3. accessories

Project 2: Lighting(pt. 2)-Shoes

Aperture: 8

Time: 58 seconds

This is a test strip for my first shoes print. It seemed too bright.

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 57 seconds

This is my first final print for shoes. Since it was too bright, I opened the aperture to see which one suited.

Aperture: 8

Time: 43 seconds

This is a test strip for my second final print . It was too bright.

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 57 seconds

This is my second final print for shoes. Just like the first print, I changed the aperture, as it was too bright.

Aperture: 8

Time: 40 41 42 43 seconds

This is a test strip for my third final print. I couldn't see very clearly which time suited as it was overall too bright.

Aperture: 8

Time: 44 seconds

This is my third final print for shoes. I cropped the model's(meghan) face because I wanted the viewers to focus on her shoes, not her in general. I hope that worked.

Project 2: Lighting(pt. 2)-Accessories

Aperture: 4

Time: 60 seconds

This is a test strip of my first final print of accessory. It seemed a little dark so I did one less second on the final print.

Aperture: 4

Time: 59 seconds

This is my first final print of accessory. I had some spots on the print, but overall the time suited.

Aperture: 8

Time: 45 46 47 48 seconds

This is a test strip for my second final print of accessory. It was hard to see which time suited best.

Aperture:8

Time: 50 seconds

This is my second final print of accessory. The times above didn't seem to work, so I put it up onto 50 seconds.

Aperture: 8

Time: 38 39 40 seconds

This is my test strip for my third final print of accessory. 39 seconds seemed the best as it showed small details on her hand.

Aperture: 8

Time: 39 seconds

This is my third final print of accessory. At first I had some scratches on the print because I used the glass on top, but as I removed it and printed again, they disappeared.

Project 2: Lighting(pt. 2)-Clothing

Aperture: 4

Time: 55 seconds

This is a test strip for my first clothing print and it was still too light. So I had to add 4 more seconds.

Aperture: 4

Time: 59 seconds

This is my first final print of clothing. Except the fact that I had a little scratch on the print, it seemed dark enough.

Aperture: 4

Time: 60 seconds

This is another final print of clothing. I couldn't find any test strips for this in the box. I had to add more time to this because of the weather. It was very sunny outside and I had 2.8 aperture on my camera.

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 55 seconds

This is a test strip for my third final print. Even though this is a different picture, the overall composition was the same. I needed more time.

Aperture: 5.6

Time: 57

This is my third final print for clothing. This was a little unfocused but it looked fine.