SINGLE SHOT CINEMA

Since I first got started in photography, I have had a fascination with creating portraits that bore what I liked to refer to as "Cinematic Style." I tried to incorporate lighting and camera angles used in Hollywood to create photos that looked less like traditonal portraits, and more like the client / subject had been photographed on the set of a blockbuster movie.
Now comes the next step in the development of this style: "Single Shot Cinema." Not just portraits that use movie techniques, but images that are stand-alone narratives themselves. Single image movies, for lack of a better euphamism. The concept of these shots is not just to capture the subject, but to incorporate them into a 'story.' A story that the viewer creates in their mind. Complete with titles and a treatment that dupicates the look of a movie shown on the silver screen at the multi-plex, Single Shot Cinema really does let me '...Put You in Pictures!'

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The Lighting Tells The Story, and The Story Tells The Lighting

T hose who have studied lighting - especially for theater or motion pictures, know well the mantra that "The lighting tells the story." Simply put: No matter what kind of camera or lens is used, who the actors are, or who wrote the script, it is the light that ultimately creates what we see. That is the cutting edge of the knife. However, the more I think about this, the more I would change it a bit... " The lighting tells the story - and the story tells the lighting. " It is a reciprocal thing. The way something is lit does create emotion, and makes the viewer feel the story through their eyes. We draw conclusions and fill in details based on the way what we see is illuminated. But that moment itself must also dictate the lighting: What quality of light is needed to do the telling? Where would it be coming from? What color is this light? Is it one solid wash, or should it be broken up in mottled shadows? All of these things are going to be determined by wha...

The Light on The Street is...

I love night photography. Something about a photograph made at night embodies the Cinematic. Traditional still portrait photos are shot in airy, well lit studios. Movies have night scenes on location. I want my images to look like movies. For me, that often comes down to creating the look of night, rather than capturing it using only whatever light is available and adjusting the camera accordingly. Over the last few years, I have noticed a number of films where much of the action takes place in a night-scape lit by the orange/amber glow of sodium streetlights. While I had never been a fan of that light in real life, I decided to try my hand at creating the look for a photo project. Since using real sodium streetlights would mean either a very high (and grainy) ISO, or long, long, long shutter speeds, I determined pretty early on that I would be using flash. I will spare you all of the technical details of why using flash to repli...

Playing With Dramatic Light

I have this image that keeps recurring in my mind. It involves the cold blue feeling of a dark winter and the glowing orange of a firelight. So far it seems to keep eluding me, although I think this is largely because every attempt I have made to capture this "mood" has been done in a hurry, or in the rain, or some other situation that forced me to run through it rather than walk it out. This shot is one such version. I may need to go back with a slightly different lighting setup and try some more. Perhaps in a different location.

C. M. Franke | Photography

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