Film
6 min
What a film crew adds to a stills day, and what it costs
Adding motion to a stills shoot is cheaper than a second day, if you light for both from the start.
Written by
Inès Varo, founder and photographer
Clients often ask whether to add a film crew to a stills day. The honest answer is that it adds about 40% to the day’s cost and saves you most of a second shoot.
Lighting for both
The trick is lighting for both from the start: continuous light, bright enough for stills, soft enough for skin in motion. Strobes and film do not share a set well.
We alternate takes between the two teams and share hair, make-up and styling, which is where most of the saving comes from.
Journal
More from the set
All notes
Lighting
6 min
How we light skin so it still looks like skin
Beauty dish, V-flat, two strips: the setup behind most of our beauty work, and why we retouch so little.
Production
4 min
The call sheet we send before every shoot
One page, sent 48 hours before call time. What goes on it, and what we have learned to leave off.
Process
5 min
Why we still shoot tethered
Every frame lands on a calibrated screen as it is shot. It slows nothing down and it saves reshoots.
