How to direct actors as a photographer: tips from Hollywood acting coach Miranda Harcourt
“You’ve got to create an illusion of intimacy [between actors] and to do that, you’ve got to be comfortable in the space between them.” - Miranda Harcourt Actress and acting coach Miranda Harcourt has joined not one, but two Stills Soirées at the Unit Stills Directory community to share her wisdom on how to direct actors on set. Miranda has worked with directors including Jane Campion, Peter Jackson and Taika...
How to Start a Successful Career as a Unit Stills Photographer
The world of unit stills can be a mysterious one, especially if you are new to the craft and want to become a stills photographer. Most people tend to think that images they see promoting a film are taken from the footage, but that is rarely the case. A unit stills photographer, or sometimes called a film stills photographer, is on set specifically shooting images of the highest quality in...
Tales of Babylon
This is a blog post written by a student of the Film Stills Fast Track course shortly after completing the Film Stills Fast Track course - Neil Buchanan-Grant Lockdown was for me, like many others, a catalyst for change. Along with half the country it seems, I bought a bigger television and became a prolific consumer of ‘content’. I’d always been a movie fan but the explosion in quality streaming...
Interview for 007.com
Nicola was interviewed by 007.com for their series celebrating 60 years of Bond. Nicola chats about how she got into stills photographer, and specifically onto the Bond film, as well as letting us know her favourite images from the movie, as well as more info on her kit. Read the full article on the 007.com website. 007.com
What is a film stills, or unit stills photographer?
Part photographer, part ninja, part psychologist The irony of being a film stills photographer, is that your images can be some of the most widely published on the planet, but hardly anyone even knows that your job even exists. The most common response to the question of what I do when I explain it to people, is “I thought those pictures just came from the film?” Nooo! They come from...
How to become a film or unit stills photographer
The question I get asked the most is how to get started in this industry. What does it take? How can I break in? My simple answer is you need two things - patience and persistence. Actually, you need a few more as well, like a great sense of timing and composition, ideally a calm demeanor and a thick skin. But let's start with patience and persistence because even if...
7 Things I learnt from 7 months filming on a 007 film: Notes from the No Time To Die unit film stills photographer
1. Good ear protection is a necessity. Obviously on a Bond film there will be explosions and guns, and even without them being loaded they are still extremely loud. I used two layers - one ear plug that you squeeze and it reforms in your ear canal, plus proper ear muffs which are often provided on set when there are loud weapons during a scene. I only have one ear...