Advice to becoming a movie still photographer
So if you’ve landed here I can tell you it’s a long road to becoming a unit stills photographer. What better way to spend your days going to a film set, meeting the worlds greatest cinema talent in front and behind the camera and then you get paid to photograph it!!
I receive a lot of emails asking for advice. In a nutshell, I am going to share what I have learnt in the last 5 years as a unit stills photographer working in London and the UK. This article is based around the London film industry but I believe you can apply the same principles to where you live. I admit, living in London has helped my ability to connect with a growing film scene as I know a lot of productions are shooting here. But if you live elsewhere, the same principles apply.
Just start and build a portfolio showing just your unit stills photography
Start today. Start reaching out to local productions. Local film schools. Send emails to producers and directors who are just starting out and offer to shoot stills for them. I found alot of work through indie film network www.shootingpeople.org - a great resource and worth every penny of the £40 sign up fee.
So I volunteered loads on short films shooting in and around London of varying quality. The only way you are going to learn is to do it yourself. And yes, this was all unpaid.
And please, please its imperative to create a website just for your unit stills work. Tailor and target the work you want to shoot.
Foxtrot One, One (2014) - A teaser trailer for a Television Series Pitch - This was a great little shoot. Experienced crew, 1960’s costume design and period cars. A perfect addition to the portfolio and at the time I needed to work on getting more cast group shots into my portfolio. The actors were great and we had time doing some on set portraits. Win, win!
2. Editing, refining and building a solid unit stills portfolio that resembles your competition
So now, you will have been doing short films for a few years. Hurrah. Somehow you are still able to house yourself and eat more than just porridge. From all those headshots and weddings you are doing on the side!!!
You will start to build a body of work that resembles what your competition are shooting and presenting to the networks and publicists. You won’t have those unit stills of a blockbuster explosion or a photo of Brad Pitt, but it is incredible what content you can achieve on a low budget film set.
And honestly, it’s all in the edit. Please, please only showcase YOUR BEST WORK!! I really think, having looked back, you have to keep refining your top images. You have to be super honest with yourself and say, is this image going to get me hired? Is this the type of image that would be printed in Empire magazine? Have you ever seen a budget camera BTS photo printed in a magazine for a big production? No? So don’t put this in your portfolio. It just looks like you’ve been on a student film. The rule to editing your images is deceiving the viewer into thinking you are way more experienced than what you actually are!!! It’s all about perception!
3. Hustle
You really have to hustle. For years. I would say it’s taken me 5 years to get to a point where I’m comfortable with my shooting ability. I’ve been on bigger film productions and really you have to go through that and come out the other side. Once you’ve jumped through the hoop of saying working on a household name of a television production or film, you have to use this to land the next one! And it really doesn’t stop. I believe this is even what the big movie stills photographers say is, nothing is guaranteed. It really is about timing and knowing who is booking the job at that time. It maybe that the director works with a particular stills photographer? Or the publicists use the same person over and over again. The trick is to not get upset by this and spin it around, and say ok this is blocking me from getting those jobs…but how can I connect with the next wave of people, so we can grow up and climb the ladder together? Which brings us back to short films and connecting with those directors and producers on the beginning of their journey. Now you can see why it really is the longest road to travel.
I think on a super serious note, you really have to want this career. It is far from easy. I always thought I was good at persevering and work so hard. You really have to adjust your mindset to the long term game. And we’re all in it together. Keep reaching out to other filmmakers, there are some talented creative people about.
4. UPDATE - 26.11.23
…for those of you landing here in 2023/24, I thought I would revisit this post and give you a little update. The biggest note I can share with you, is please stay on the path as you never know what is around the corner. I started this post in 2019, and I was in a very different place to where I am now. The truth is I almost gave up in 2018. It’s hard. I was doing alright….I had a couple of breaks here and there in the TV world. But the truth is….it’s exhausting. Not knowing when the next pay check lands….freelancing gig to gig…over years…it takes it’s toll. Your friends are working the corporate ladder…life is supposed to get easier….your circle are getting married, kids….you’re still stuck in the slow lane of your 20’s/30’s trying to make the dream a reality. I actually moved to Cornwall in the winter of 2018 from London. I was exhausted. Mentally exhausted. The hustle finished me off. Overwhelm of taking every gig to pay the bills. That £200 to cover a corporate event…a £1000 to shoot 10+ days on an indie movie….yeh….I did it. Because I had a dream…and you do what it takes. But let me tell you……take a break…..don’t quit….just take some time out and recoup. I went back to my old life and worked on a yacht for 6 months. Put down the camera and tech. Had a BREAK!! ……and you know what. Life…Karma….just not quittting but having a breather….was the answer. Which is why I think it’s important to tell you that here…..those who are reading this…..this is my story! And without that break….without quitting….and staying in the game and continuing…..I am here on the otherside…..telling you, it can happen. And it will. In time! As when I came home to the UK I picked up the Four Weddings and A Funeral Red Nose job, starring everyone under the sun….and it was the start….the start to making it. BUT….. I could have quit…..because it got tough. Really tough….like I hate photography and life decisions tough. But again…..why are you shooting stills. Why do you want to do this over everything else. Why stay the path if it doesn’t matter…….because it has to matter. To defeat everything that holds you back. So my best advice is if you really really want to do this….take a break…come back….and keep going. Because we, the world, needs YOU. We need fighters, artists who are willing to follow the path and do what it takes.
Stay in touch, Keep going!
Laura
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5. Update - 30.4.24
How is everyone doing? Hope we’re all staying optimistic and enjoying holding our cameras. As the bottom line is we are beyond blessed to live life paying our way through capturing images. 2024 is an interesting year for the movie industry. Reflecting back on my journey and this article in the spirit of helping one another through the good and tough times. It’s important to say the movie industry is experiencing a wave of great change. At this point I can say I really don’t know what a normal year looks like. From the covid pandemic, to the post covid boom of productions, into the WSA and SAG strikes and pause on productions….it’s relentless out there. I wanted to say to you all, it’s important to grasp the wider context of the economy and ebs and flows it is experiencing in real time. As we are living through such change. It’s hard to grasp when you are starting out why aren’t you getting an email back from said production, or why isn’t that stills photographer replying to my e-mail. Because 70% of people in our industry are out of work, and twiddling their thumbs just like you. Studios are practically halving their production slates. And moving shooting locations around the globe according to tax breaks and cutting budgets. I was lucky to get a couple of movies last year….will this continue? I simply don’t know. Were we experiencing a boom in UK filming? Do streamers want to continue making as much content as they once were? The only answers I have for you is to be aware, aware it’s a bigger picture out there. Like how we went from analogue to digital. We are currently going through BIG change. I’m just saying, this another reason for why do you want to do this? For where there are highs there will be lows. Can you stay the course?
I’m staying the course, here in Cornwall, UK. Learning to surf. Pursuing personal projects. If you are in Cornwall, come say hi.
Keep going everyone!
Laura
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