If You Could Star in a Film....

For many of us, the idea of being in a motion picture - in either a small part, or a leading role - is something dreamed about since childhood. For most, that dream may never happen. Or at least, not until now... If you take a few moments and read through the posts on this blog you will see that I have been honing and fine tuning a specialized type of photography with a very cinematic approach. The newest development is something called Single Shot Cinema. What is it, and why should you care?

Have you ever wanted to be in a movie? What would it be? Western? Action film? Romance? Comedy? Single Shot Cinema creates an image that looks like it came straight off of the silver screen. The lighting, the props, the locations... Whatever it takes to make it look less like an ordinary 'picture' and more like a frame-grab from a film. When someone comes into your house and sees one of these shots on the coffee table, I want their first reaction to be: "Hey what movie is that from..? Wait... This is YOU? Whoaaa..."
Not just a traditional portrait - a SCENE. You can even act out something dramatic with a friend or family member. This is Single Shot Cinema! Let's see a story! And let's put you in PICTURES!

"Casting Calls" begin for some sample work that will be 'broadcast' on the website. Your image can be the one that tells people what this is all about! Contact us at www.seefranke.com for more information.

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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.

It's Not The Light, Its What You Do With It.

Standard soft-light shot with umbrella Snoot light for that film-noir look T his past weekend I had the opportunity to shoot with a very talented East Coast makeup artist, and an amazing model (!) S ince I knew that I would be working in a relatively small space, and did not want to set up lots of plugged in lights, I used a Vivitar 285-HV speed light and bounce umbrella. Once we got the images we were after, but before we wrapped the shot and struck the set, I dropped a snoot on the light, swiveled it around, and tried my version of a "noir / vintage album cover" look. These are just quick samples of both styles, pretty much as they look straight from the camera. The refined, polished, edited versions will be coming up later - but it is nice to see that even a small and often overlooked "old-school" flash unit can still create pretty impressive light!

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...

C. M. Franke | Photography

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