How to
A peek behing the scenes at Shw!ng
18/04/10 10:34
Today, on this lovely sunny april sunday, we want to answer a question which we got from a lot of you out there. How does a shoot actually work ? Whats going on behind the scenes?
Well let us take you on a little journey through a normal day at Shw!ng. (Just for the records there are also days where everything runs absolutely NOT how you want it)
The very first step is to find a model that fits your idea for the scene. We were looking for someone that is naturally beautiful, with a slender figure, and a soft light skin tone. We also wanted a model that is professional at the same time and fun to work with. So normally that means that you need to look through portfolios from good agencies. There are quite some of them out there and thankfully we have good connections, so it is easier for us to find the models we would like to work with. Very important is to remember that not only the looks, but the attitude of a model and the fun she has working in front of the camera makes for a good picture in the end. A model can be the hottest ever, if she doesn’t like what she is doing or is bored, or unprofessional ... the end result will show it.
Next is the location, this can be anything, from small studio, an outdoor location or a beautiful mansion to a castle or even interesting places like old industry plants or building ruins. Basically depending on what your scene is you need to look for the matching location. Up to here it has all been designing the scene and getting the logistics right. Model needs to be found, location too, model booking, availability of location and own time schedule need to all match so that a date for the shoot can be found.
Once the date is set its a go. On the day of the shoot itself you have pre-shoot preparations, nothing can be left to chance.. because you only have a fixed time slot where all is available (and models are normally paid by hour or by scene). So cameras need to be ready and charged, lighting set up and tested, backgrounds and props prepared. Then the model needs to be briefed, outfits decided and the makeup artist needs to do the right makeup, fitting for the scene.
Sometimes the makeup artist is the model herself :-)
So for the scene described here we found Lena Cova, great figure, blonde hair, bright eyes, light skin tone and great to work with. Perfect.. we knew we wanted to make the scene as liite as possible so we decided for a small studio with a white background.. to get as much light color tones in there as possible. Well and then the shoot basically started. Here a couple of samples from Terri shooting Lena.
Now, the big difference between a video scene and a photo shoot is, that when taking photos each pose needs to be held still, so that all pics can be cristal clear. This means for the model to be able to move into a new pose and then stop.. move.. stop..move..stop.. and that is quite hard to do, even for models with experience. So sometimes the model looses “the red thread” as she needs to constantly stop the natural motion. In a video you can just simply let yourself go and keep moving.
Now if something like that happens, the photographers and team need to help out. We are the ones that designed the scene , so we need to know exactly what comes next. Down below you see Terri showing the start of the next pose to Lena first, and then Lena starts getting into position.. and we took it onwards from there.
When all is shot and done, depending on time, we relax, hang out, chat a bit have a drink.. or we just need to pack up and go. But oh no, the work is definitely not done yet. What comes next is ... Post Production !
Post Production is the part where the end product gets created out of the raw material you have from the shoot. Now the better you set up the shoot itself, from lighting to picture composition the less work you have afterwards. But there is always some work left. Everyone has his or her own workflow for post production, their little tricks and secrets.. and there own personal way to optimize the work. But basically what happens is that you need to get the pictures sorted, select the best ones, retouch them if necessary, cut, crop, color adjust etc. Here two examples from the finished sets : one left quite natural matching the casual young look.. and one more worked to match the strong, rich lady look. Click on the picks below to get to the sets :
Well, we hope you now have an idea of what goes into a shoot from start to end.. and be assured its a lot of fun...yes... but it is a lot of work for all people involved.
xxx Mark, Terri
Well let us take you on a little journey through a normal day at Shw!ng. (Just for the records there are also days where everything runs absolutely NOT how you want it)
The very first step is to find a model that fits your idea for the scene. We were looking for someone that is naturally beautiful, with a slender figure, and a soft light skin tone. We also wanted a model that is professional at the same time and fun to work with. So normally that means that you need to look through portfolios from good agencies. There are quite some of them out there and thankfully we have good connections, so it is easier for us to find the models we would like to work with. Very important is to remember that not only the looks, but the attitude of a model and the fun she has working in front of the camera makes for a good picture in the end. A model can be the hottest ever, if she doesn’t like what she is doing or is bored, or unprofessional ... the end result will show it.
Next is the location, this can be anything, from small studio, an outdoor location or a beautiful mansion to a castle or even interesting places like old industry plants or building ruins. Basically depending on what your scene is you need to look for the matching location. Up to here it has all been designing the scene and getting the logistics right. Model needs to be found, location too, model booking, availability of location and own time schedule need to all match so that a date for the shoot can be found.
Once the date is set its a go. On the day of the shoot itself you have pre-shoot preparations, nothing can be left to chance.. because you only have a fixed time slot where all is available (and models are normally paid by hour or by scene). So cameras need to be ready and charged, lighting set up and tested, backgrounds and props prepared. Then the model needs to be briefed, outfits decided and the makeup artist needs to do the right makeup, fitting for the scene.
Sometimes the makeup artist is the model herself :-)
So for the scene described here we found Lena Cova, great figure, blonde hair, bright eyes, light skin tone and great to work with. Perfect.. we knew we wanted to make the scene as liite as possible so we decided for a small studio with a white background.. to get as much light color tones in there as possible. Well and then the shoot basically started. Here a couple of samples from Terri shooting Lena.
Now, the big difference between a video scene and a photo shoot is, that when taking photos each pose needs to be held still, so that all pics can be cristal clear. This means for the model to be able to move into a new pose and then stop.. move.. stop..move..stop.. and that is quite hard to do, even for models with experience. So sometimes the model looses “the red thread” as she needs to constantly stop the natural motion. In a video you can just simply let yourself go and keep moving.
Now if something like that happens, the photographers and team need to help out. We are the ones that designed the scene , so we need to know exactly what comes next. Down below you see Terri showing the start of the next pose to Lena first, and then Lena starts getting into position.. and we took it onwards from there.
When all is shot and done, depending on time, we relax, hang out, chat a bit have a drink.. or we just need to pack up and go. But oh no, the work is definitely not done yet. What comes next is ... Post Production !
Post Production is the part where the end product gets created out of the raw material you have from the shoot. Now the better you set up the shoot itself, from lighting to picture composition the less work you have afterwards. But there is always some work left. Everyone has his or her own workflow for post production, their little tricks and secrets.. and there own personal way to optimize the work. But basically what happens is that you need to get the pictures sorted, select the best ones, retouch them if necessary, cut, crop, color adjust etc. Here two examples from the finished sets : one left quite natural matching the casual young look.. and one more worked to match the strong, rich lady look. Click on the picks below to get to the sets :
Well, we hope you now have an idea of what goes into a shoot from start to end.. and be assured its a lot of fun...yes... but it is a lot of work for all people involved.
xxx Mark, Terri
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Making of Foto Sets - A model's technical troubles ...
05/04/10 11:33
So.. I was working on this set we shot a short while ago. We went to a fancy hotel and were quite happy with the big windows providing lots of natural light. And as you photoshoppers out there know, then afterwards comes the whitebalancing, the contrast, the retouching etc. Anyway, after some time of arranging the right workflow and finding the perfect color and texture, I was very happy with the new action I created to automate it all. I started to put all in, and the computer crashed.. gone was my action :(
So while I now continue getting a similar automated action back together, any suggestions on how to retrieve old/crashed actions ? Any help is very welcome! Just put them in the comments field below here.
Here are some of the pics that are ready . xxx Terri
