Film Stills Recreation

Diary Entry:

For this project, I had to re-shoot twice. The problems that I had with the first shoot was that the prints all turned out grey and were frustrating to work with. I was only able to get one final print out of my first shooting. So I, along with 3 other people re-shot. From there I had to work with filters. I started out with the most extreme: 5 filter and 2.8 aperture. From there I changed the aperture, filter, and time around until I could get a decent contrast in my pictures.
This was not one of my favorite projects. I’m not too fond of taking pictures with the set up lighting. I like dealing with natural light rather than for it to be set up. But, this was a good project in knowing where the light is coming from in the picture, how many light sources you need to use, and at what intensity.
My final prints were somewhat to dark, but it was the best I could get with the negatives. I used filters a lot in 2 of my prints. I am not fond of using them either, but it gave me a better understanding in how they work.



Theory Notes:

His Girl Friday – Howard Hawks (1940)

This film has Carry Grant and is from 1940. This picture is similar to the one I have with three people sitting down, two of whom are looking intently and smiling at the person on the far right. The same thing is happening in this film still. Some limitations with this movie is that it is in black and white. Not very many people were working with colored film, but they were past the stage of the “Talkies”, where the audio of the movie wasn’t there. But, the audio during this time was still going through development in technology and the clarity in the audio itself.

Marnie – Alfred Hitchcock (1964)

This film has the actress Tippi Hedren in it. This picture is similar to mine in that they both have one person in it. Also the light that is on them is similar. The light is lighting up the front of the face and the side of the face. The 1960’s focused a lot on cultural and social mayhem, going against the status quo of society. Also realism came into play, and directors worked with changing the movement of the camera.

To Save a Life - Brian Baugh (2010)

Though this film is not out yet, it is still a new film. This film in relation to the 40’s and 60’s is much more advanced than then. In filming, they can use green screens to dub in an intricate background that may be hard to film in. This picture is similar to mine with two people and the position of the two people. The first one has her head facing the person who’s face you can see.

Printing Compositions:

1. Light on his head and hair to show the light coming down.
2. Lighting from the far right side allows for light to appear like it is coming from the side, casting light more on the right side of the body.
3. Light also here (on his shirt). The light is coming down from the top right corner of the image.

1. Overall positioning of the three models is similar to the film still; all close together with a little bit of space in between each other.
2. The girls are positioned so that Katlynne, the older woman in the film still, is slightly in fromt of Jenny, the younger girl in the film still.
3. Soft lighting over all three faces. The light is somewhat harder on the man’s face, in this case Javier.

1. Light is coming from the back, behind the models. There is also lighting n the girl’s head; in my recreation, the girl is Barbara.
2. There is lighting here as well (on the man’s ear), you see a minimal amount of skin on the man, in my re-take, Fabrizio.
3. Light on the woman’s forehead and side of her face, due to the light coming from behind.

Black and White Prints:

My first contact sheet was only useful for my first print. The rest of the pictures were too grey to use. I also had to have different times and apertures for the negatives. The negatives with one person was 16 aperture and 11 seconds. The other two set of negatives had a time of 3 seconds with 4.5 filter and 5.6 aperture.

My second contact sheet was more in successful with my final prints. The final time was 5 seconds at 11 aperture. Though I didn’t need a filter for the contact sheet, I ended up needing one for each of my final prints from it.

This print was quite easy in developing and didn’t give me much trouble. The cropping may have been the only thing that was time consuming to fit the paper. The final time is 27 seconds with 22 aperture.

My second print came from my second contact sheet. The final time for this one was 2.5 seconds, with a 4.5 filter at 5.6 aperture. This print only took me one class to do.

My final print was my most time-consuming print. It was very gray, and the filter helped the contrast, but it was still difficult to get it at the right darkness. I had to work on this one, then go on to another one and come back to this one later. The second time, I worked with using extremes in filter number and aperture, and went from there. The final time for this one was 4 seconds with 3.5 filter ant 5.6 aperture.

Image Bank:

Strangers on a Train – Alfred Hitchcock

This movie was made in 1951, and Art Streiber re-created a film still of it for Vanity Fair. In this picture are Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy which portray the actors Farley Granger and Robert Walker. When comparing the actual still with the re-created one, the shadows behind both men’s heads are there. The lighting is very accurate, but the hand gesture of the second man isn’t there in the re-created still. Also not all of the props are there in the scene.

The Birds – Alfred Hitchcock

The new film shot for this movie was taken by Norman Jean Roy. Jodi Foster is taking the place of actor Tippi Hedron from 1963. In the second film still, there seems to be more light on the actresses face when compared to the first still. The lighting that is cast on the blue poles and the shadow that is on it looks quite accurate to the original one.

Psycho – Alfred Hitchcock

Mark Seliger took the film still for this Hitchcock movie. The actress that took Janet Leigh’s place in this picture is Marion Cotillard. Once again the lighting is right, where it is at the top left side of the woman’s head. Also, the water in the recreated still is going the same way as the original one. Also the facial expression helps it to look similar to the original film still.

Image Bank 2:

Mirjana Vrbaski -

Mirjana Vrbaski is a photographer that works at the Royal Academy of Art in Den Haag, The Netherlands. Her vision in a picture is that when someone looks at, it will take them back to a certain time in their lives. She doesn’t want her pictures to look too modern, but rather makes you ponder and think what time period it is actually from. Also, the picture should have a different meaning for every person. She mainly takes portraits. Before that in college, she started off taking pictures of abandoned buildings, but then turned to portraits. She has her boyfriend work with her, for she says he knows what she wants in a picture almost better than she does.
Her style is quite precise in that her pictures cannot look too modern or point to a specific date. Also for her backgrounds in portraits, she uses a bland tan looking color that doesn’t stand out too much. When taking pictures, she will first play around with the digital camera and get a look at the lighting on the model. Once she is satisfied with all of that, she takes her film camera and takes her final print. She uses 2 different film cameras. One of them can hold 16 negatives, and the other holds two, but is much larger. She uses the latter for large prints.
I was able to meet and work as Ms. Vrbaski’s model. I was very tense at first, but after her talking and explaining and just being calm, I was able to relax and feel comfortable with her. Her style is different in that again, it is very precise. One of her most famous portraits is named Girl and was made this year.

Mirjana Vrbaski is a great photographer and her preciseness and wanting her prints to be just so shows that she knows what she wants in a picture.