Vol 2 Chapter 901: Absolutely not

The firing of still photographers is just a trivial matter for Duke. In the past, his crew did not have a special position as still photographer. This time, this position was specifically created because Sophia Coppola introduced an independent The well-known still photographers in the film industry have only proved once again that people who can handle independent films may not be competent for positions in commercial films.
After the still photographer named Jack left the crew, Duke again delegated this aspect of the work to John Schwarzman's team.
In fact, the stills are to let the potential audience of the movie see "Wow, there is something I like in this movie, I want to watch it!" to achieve this goal. The still photographer generally does not have this function to determine what content is of interest to the audience and has news value. Therefore, the work of the still photographer must carry out some rigid rules.
Before filming the next day, Duke specifically called John Schwarzman over.
"John, the publicity of this film is different from before." Duke looked at the director of photography opposite him and said straightforwardly, "While we pay attention to the news of the stills, we must also take into account the principle of confidentiality."
"I understand." John Schwarzman nodded.
Duke added, "I only have four requirements for stills. First, there are no less than 3-5 stills that can be used in each scene; second, no less than 10 stills can be used every day; third, The total working time is no less than 80% of the filming time of the crew, and no less than 300 stills can be used after retouching; fourth, the stills must be horizontal and meet the requirements of news pictures."
These are all quantitative requirements. Each scene, or important scene, must have 3 to 5 still photos that can be used. Because sometimes when shooting, the actor's expression is not good for an instant, and there is room for selection, but there must be stills for key scenes.
John Schwarzman was an old man who followed Duke, and he naturally understood what he meant, "Don't worry, Duke. I'll be watching these jobs."
Afterwards, John Schwarzman found a very ordinary photography assistant to take care of this work. Compared with the reputation of Jack who was fired by Duke in the independent film circle, this person can be said to be an unknown person. Newcomer.
Such things are not uncommon in Hollywood.
The producer asks to find a stills photographer, and of course he will find a good candidate for still shooting, but sometimes, when the filming begins, the producer and the stills photographer talk about work and suddenly find out. The still photographer was far away from his request, and almost half of the photos were not available.
At this time, the producer will be very surprised and very angry, feeling that the stills photographer is not careful, and the stills are also very angry, thinking that their work has not been respected accordingly...
In fact, it is also simple. Just like Duke and the still photographer, everyone's understanding of the film may be very different.
Many still photographers from independent film circles. Sometimes I think of myself as a photographer who creates works, which is absolutely unacceptable. The still photographer is not a photographer who takes artistic photos. The still photographer is more like a news photographer.
Also, the still photographer should not be managed by the film crew, but by the publicity team and marketing department.
Unlike art photography, stills are largely used for film marketing. It is one of the most powerful tools for film marketing.
In the film industry, the crew is usually understood as "tasting".
The so-called "materials" such as stills, posters, and trailers are all the means of dissemination of movies, that is, the audience does not know how a movie is, what it is about, or its quality. By looking at these materials, you can get a preliminary understanding and impression. If you are interested, you can learn more about it, or you can go to see it and you can buy it.
The crew should make the stills of the film arouse the viewer's sensation and feel that it is right for him.
Of course, the quality of the things you tried was exactly the same as the authentic ones, but it was a specialty of a restaurant. In fact, there is a marketing concept here that the movie should attract audiences who like this kind of film, not, you are a Chinese restaurant, and the sample you have to try is Western food. If you are satisfied with the taste, you can go in and order. When you eat dishes, you find that it’s not the western food they want to eat at all, but viewers who like to eat Chinese food won’t even enter the western food you try here. This means that marketing must conform to the characteristics of the product.
These materials, such as movie stills, are as important as the first impression of knowing a stranger. The quality, important content, and performance of the actor in the stills will leave the audience with the most real first impression, which is largely determined To see whether the audience is interested in watching.
Sometimes this first image is a poster or a trailer, and now in this era of image reading, there are certain conditions for viewing videos. Posters and stills are the most widely spread, the least restrictive on the spread of conditions, and the highest utilization of picture formats. In fact, If still photos are compared with posters, the spread of posters is even greater. This is why audiences often see a poster of a foreign movie at a glance, and even if they don’t know a foreign language, they will recognize the movie.
A poster is a movie advertising painting, sometimes it can represent the movie, the main content, style, temperament, etc., but there is a very big difference between stills and posters, that is, posters can be post-produced, can be "made out of nothing", but stills do not can.
This is why Duke puts so much emphasis on stills during the shooting phase.
Stills must be news. Among the three materials, posters, trailers, and stills, posters and trailers can be "made", that is, they can be "re-created", but stills are basically not allowed. Stills Very similar to news pictures, but not the same as news pictures. The biggest function of stills is actually to introduce movies, and the release of stills is basically in the various news of the movie, or the official release of stills, so the biggest exposure of stills is through news, so the requirements of news pictures must basically match. For example, it cannot be oblique, crooked, severely ps, spliced, or "fake".
Since there is no way for post-production of stills, the stills are basically synchronized with the filming, and when the filming is over, the stills will be handed over to the marketing staff. If there are any problems, there is basically no room for maneuver, so Hollywood In marketing, we often encounter problems such as substandard stills, poor shooting quality, insufficient quantity, and missing key stills.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has a larger production scale than its predecessor, but Duke does not intend to take any of George Lucas's suggestions, but intends to return to the starting point and produce a new trilogy.
Duke wants the filming of this film to be far away from the aesthetics of the prequel, and to be like a continuation of the original trilogy, which is crucial. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has the purity of the first film, but in When appropriate, he should also have the drama, beauty and shadows in "The Empire Strikes Back". He hopes that the image quality is based on imax film and location, and it feels authentic and credible.
The art department of the crew also traced the roots and looked for inspiration, adhering to the look and feel of the "simulation" movie proposed by Duke. The shooting site used practical scenes designed and built by Hannah Serena, and some also used actual displays. , And enrich some scenes with cg holograms.
These scenes usually use 2d drive angles instead of green screen special effects scene expansion.
When the filming came to an end, Duke brought together the core crew members such as Anna Prinz, Hannah Serena and John Schwarzman, and once again emphasized the precautions during filming.
Several people gathered around the director's monitor, and Duke stood in the most central position.
"We know how to make the image gradually disappear, keep the background away naturally, and avoid unnecessary criticism." Duke's voice is clear and loud. "It is helpful to consider the design with depth of field. I asked for the texture and surface of the scene to be extremely high. Tolerance..."
Having said that, he looked at John Schwarzman, "The shots taken with imax must have the style characteristics of the original trilogy."
John Schwarzman is confident, "The two imax cameras of the Death Star and the Millennium Falcon are equipped with Panavision's special anamorphic lenses. I have designed many retro shooting methods based on them."
As he talked, he walked to the director's monitor and pressed the broadcast button. A shot previously shot appeared on the monitor.
When several people around were standing in front of the monitor, John Schwarzman explained the scene, "These lenses will have the film look of the late 70s, while retaining some of the modern characteristics we know and love. . I wanted to retain the high contrast of that era, so I added a layer of lens coating to Panavision. On the other hand, they also made the lens feel softer."
Some films in the 1970s used filtering to get a softer look. John Schwarzman was working as a photographer's assistant in the UK at the time. He
very well
knew that putting a stocking before and after the lens could help offset some of the film’s effects. Disadvantages.
Therefore, in the preliminary preparations, John Schwarzman asked people to prepare a large number of Dior 10# stockings, almost bought all the stockings of the Dior store in Los Angeles, and did a lot of field tests.
This small meeting didn't last long. When the meeting ended, Duke asked Tina Fei to give everyone an iPad.
Duke saved a digital booklet on the ipad, allowing everyone to see the characteristics and unique appearance qualities each lens needs.
In the past, photographers spent a lot of time matching shots due to the relationship between color temperature, contrast and other variables. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, computer previews can handle these issues.
Therefore, if the colors taken by different lenses do not match, it may have been a big problem in the past, but now that Duke is fully prepared, it is no longer a problem.
Star Wars has a large number of fans, many of whom are stars. During the filming process, many Hollywood stars participated in guest appearances, such as Charlize Theron. (To be continued.)
ps: Ask for monthly and recommended tickets!