13.08.10
Stills Movie Photographer Alex Bailey Speaks Out
As a world-renowned on-set stills movie photographer, Alex Bailey is in the perfect position to see how film making with dslr cameras is being seen by traditional movie makers. What he has to say may be cheered by some but anger many. Let us know what you think…
There is a term used in the film business that movies are illustrated radio. What this is emphasising is the importance of the soundtrack on a movie, and that doesn’t just mean the obvious spoken words on camera but all of the layers of sound that make up the soundtrack. Like so many aspects of the film-making process it is complex. So when I read articles about photographers becoming film makers and that this is the ‘next big thing’, it makes me angry. Let’s get a few things straight from the beginning, pointing an HD-enabled camera at a subject and shooting a few minutes of video is absolutely not film making. It’s just posh video, guys!
To make a film you need a story, actors, great lighting, camera and focus work, an excellent soundtrack, oh and let’s not forget the edit, where a film is won or lost – that’s film making. To do this you can use Super 8, 16mm, 35mm and 70mm film, video cameras or HD-enabled SLRs. The point is that just because high-end stills cameras have become video-enabled does not mean the person holding it is a film maker. The photography market is demand-led and that demand now dictates that in some circumstances live footage is required in addition to still images, mainly for web content. That’s understandable and very good, as it creates another market to cater for and all the opportunities that should bring.
From the work I have come across I do not see film makers, I see photographers holding DSLR cameras with a movie function. They squat in front of the action with their DSLR stretched out in front, recording a performance, desperately struggling to compose and focus the image on the wobbly screen. There is no way round it, you need to shoot off a tripod with a fluid head, whatever size camera you’re using. You can go hand-held for a while, but the novelty soon wears off. Basically, if you are not shooting fast-moving action then you need to be on a tripod, otherwise it looks like Auntie’s home movies, not a professional product. Sorry Mr Technical DSLR guys, there is no way round it; tripod mode, hand-held mode there is little or no difference. Staying on the technical front, let’s sort out a few other major issues with DSLR video-enabled cameras.
Firstly, you can look at the image only through the viewfinder on the screen at the back. Why? Because the shutter needs to be open to record the image, which makes composition and focus very hard off the screen at the back. This is overcome with real movie cameras as the viewfinder splits the image between itself and the film plane for exposure. This means the operator can compose the action and follow it while checking focus, nice and tightly, in a professional, well-composed frame. The DSLR answer to this is that there are lots of exciting products coming on to the market for HD-DSLR. That’s true, but these products are adapted from the film business, such as lightweight Steadicams for video-enabled DSLR bought from the big boys shooting movies.
Let’s move on to another major creative technical issue. If you are a film maker, or a pro photographer for that matter, one thing you really want to control will be your exposure, but in this new, wonderful DSLR video world that doesn’t matter – or does it? Well for the time being it better not, because in video mode all DSLRs are automatic exposure. You can buy a video camera for a third of the price that gives you control of shutter and aperture for creative effect and manual focus for that matter. I have one, a Panasonic, with exposure control, manual focus and an eyepiece to shoot through. I read on many blogs about weird and wonderful ways of controlling, or rather tricking, the camera to get control of the exposure of DSLRs, but none of it sounds very high-tech to me.
To finish this technical attack let’s go back to where we started – the sound. There is no way round it, if you want to make a film you need high-quality sound and the only way to achieve this is by using off-camera stereo sound recording on at least four tracks, which enables you to mix sound and background noise and get a decent voice track. Of course, you could ask all your performers never to turn their heads and to speak at one level directly into the microphone on top of the DSLR.
Let’s recap on our ‘film-making’ DSLR cameras. Focus via the screen on the back of the body is impossible for tight sustainable composition, so for focus it’s fingers crossed. Choose ‘wobbly cam’ or get a fluid head tripod, just like real film makers. You just cannot keep a hand-held camera still for any length of time, there is no way around it. Forget creative control over exposure for the time being. License plenty of lift music because you are going to need it for your soundtracks. If you are talking quality sound you will never get it from an on-camera microphone, trust me. Now, before I get off my soapbox let me tackle one last issue – the ‘death’ of the still image in favour of moving footage, to follow black and white, Polaroid and film photography. Why is it necessary to predict the death of image-making media? Surely we should open our minds and embrace new formats for expressing ourselves visually.
Let’s think of ways to integrate new ideas, perhaps combining still and moving images creatively and develop new platforms. I am in the ironic situation of working in an industry that produces a moving image and yet relies heavily on me to promote that product by using a still image. There has been no mention of my job coming to an end, in fact it seems a growth area, with more people requiring quality stills to promote their films and videos, so how is that for an irony? The discipline of shooting a still image is very different from that of telling a story in moving images. I know that for sure, having worked in the film industry for more than 20 years producing stills for movie posters that never appeared as a moving sequence. I have had time to consider in detail this concept and see the powers that be relying more and more on photographs to promote their moving product. The printed image is not dead, nor is the end near. Certainly, the newspaper world is changing. People rely increasingly on news bites from the internet before turning to periodicals for more contemplative observation. I cannot imagine a world with no billboards posters or magazines.
I am now working in Berlin where there is a huge cultural and artistic revolution going on and a massive free press created and read by the under-35s, full of photographic images. The still image is well and truly alive and vibrant across Europe. I admit that there are film makers I know using HD-DSLR, but they are treating it very much in the same way as they do 35mm movie film cameras – off fluid head tripods with follow focus and a separate dedicated sound engineer. The advantage for film makers is the range of lenses and the film look they get from a DSLR on a much cheaper budget, but they are all struggling with the creative control of exposure. I see the HD-DSLR like a new kid in the playground desperately running around trying to make friends. The fact is it has an identity crisis; I am sorry but pointing a DSLR at a subject is not film making, you’re just recording it. I accept entirely there is a real and growing demand for video and that photographers are well placed to fill that need. But photographers have a lot to learn about telling a story in moving images as well as editing and sound recording, which all require different skills that they will need to master. Please let’s forget the film maker title and perhaps start using a more appropriate one, like video short maker – work in progress.
www.alexbailey.com
His views will be controversial to some, so make sure you let us know what you think at:
feedback@professionalphotographer.co.uk
- Average Article Rating 5 Stars
-
Your Rating
Login Required!
Sorry - You must be a registered user & logged in to rate this.
Login | Register
Back to Categories