13.11.09 - Photography and Film Stills

On the day of filming I brought my own personal Digital SLR to take still images for use in the film poster and magazine cover. Although only 2-4 photos will be used in the final products it as important to take a number of them so then there is a large selection to choose from in the production stage. I not only took posed shots for promotional use, I also took shots to act as stills from the film and can be used for other aspects in the marketing campaign. Some examples of the photography can be seen below and the full set of images can be seen on the Shock Studios Flikr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/shockstudios/sets/72157622920620336/

Although this shot was not used in the actual production work, it was intended to show character and the characters role in the film from their positioning in the frame. I was careful to consider body language and levels when staging the photograph to make this clear. Their levels depict a hierarchy in character to indicate some more confident or powerful then others but unlike conventional staging where the females tend to hide behind the males, we have the females closer to the front with the males behind them. This is because in this film, the females are less amoral than the males and as the killer is female, we decided that the majority of victims need to be male - reversing the conventions of a slasher horror. There are also three females to two males therefore showing a dominance of the female gender. The long shot clearly shows the graveyard setting which is symbolic for the horror genre. 

This shot was staged to look like a film still rather than a posed promotional shot. I have incorporated a medium-long shot to show the mysterious tour guide and the students reaction to him through body language. The male on the left stands directly facing the tour guide, with hands in pockets suggesting unawareness in contrast to the female who takes on a more defensive stance. This could indicate that the female is more cautious and wary of the tour guide whereas the male is less aware and through this framing, differences in personality is displayed.