Camera nerds unite!
Its time to indulge your collective love for the filmmaking process as well as your affinity for visual stimulation.
Over at The Black and Blue Facebook page, I held a mini-contest and asked people to submit behind the scenes production stills from movies they’ve worked on. In such a short time frame (about a week), I was pleased to see over 20 pictures posted to the page. Some were funny, some were impressive, and one was even sexy (you’ll see…).
So here are 10 of the best of them along with a few words from those who were there.
1. A Heavenly ARRI Alexa
Submitted by Colleen Mleziva
“Feature film entitled Old Fashioned. 1st AC Nathan Dewild pulling focus on the Arri Alexa.”
2. Russian Arm Hero Shot
Submitted by Francesco Bonomo
“I apologize for the lack of crew/camera department members in this picture. Just me trying to take a hero shot of a Russian Arm (almost 4 years ago, in Tuscany)”
3. Video Village in the Middle of Nowhere
Submitted by Francesco Bonomo
“Video Village in the middle of nowhere. Probably one of the hottest days of last summer in Rome, Italy”
4. Roll the Camera, Flag the Fog
Submitted by Jeremy Bernatchez
“Just before Christmas I was ACing on a show called Nothing Personal (season 2), which consists of both doc & dramatic reenactments. This was a shot from one of the drama days (thus the fog machine ;)”
5. Camera? What Camera?
Submitted by Alexandros Voutsinas
“No, it’s not a camera operator. The lady is a dancer and is ready to do a scene in the water for the needs of a Greek music video clip.”
6. On the Set of “Theatre of the Dead”
Submitted by Dallas Bland
“BTS Comp. Framing up a tracking shot in ‘Theatre of the Dead’. With Pat Gallagher and Patrick Gallagher.”
7. Rehearsing a Trampoline Kick Stunt
Submitted by Leo Kei Angelos
“I’m the director (in white sweater), testing out a kick stunt on a stunt man in midair from a trampoline jump! This is for a Dragon Age fan film!”
8. Got Any Hard Mattes for Your Long Lens?
Submitted by James Martin
“From my first theatrically released feature film as DoP, “Payback Season.” I had a bet with my AC’s that we could get our camera over 4 ft, and so we did – just. On this shot, it wound up at a slightly odd height… So, we decided to run with it and create this very dignified portrait. Photo credit to my AC Matt Choules and many thanks also to Jake Martin.”
9. Smiles All Around
Submitted by Jonas Vingilys
“Me and the talent racing on a dog racing track. We are supposed to be race horses, as you see the camera behind pointing to the crowd for reactions. Just happens I’m staring at the lens on this shot with the huge smile =D”
10. The Beauty of Underwater Isolation
Submitted by Jesse Lavender
“On our documentary shoot for “Mayan Blue”, we dove into a cenote of sulfur in Mexico. This is actually a shot of our photographer, taken from a screen grab from our underwater video camera. So I guess you could call this, ‘Behind the Scenes of Behind the Scenes’.”
Show Off Your Behind the Scenes Photos
Though I highlighted 10 production stills in this post, there were over 20 submitted for this mini-contest and all of them were great. What I loved about the photos is they were from real people working on real movies — they weren’t the over glamorized official pics from a Hollywood set.
Everyone of the pictures submitted was from the trenches of a real production.
So head on over to The Black and Blue Facebook page to see the rest of the excellent submissions and, while you’re there, upload some of your own — I’d love to see what you have!