“You’ve got to create an illusion of intimacy [between actors] and to do that, you’ve got to be comfortable in the space between them.” – Miranda Harcourt Actress and acting coach Miranda Harcourt has joined not one, but two Stills Soirées at the Unit Stills Directory community to share her wisdom on how to direct actors on set. Miranda has worked with directors including Jane Campion, Peter Jackson and Taika Waititi. She has coached actors such as Juliette Binoche, Dev Patel, Brooklyn Prince, Sunny Pawar, Timothy Spall, and Nicole Kidman. Unit stills photographers capture eye-catching images ..read more

The world of unit stills can be a mysterious one, especially if you are new to the craft and want to become a stills photographer. Most people tend to think that images they see promoting a film are taken from the footage, but that is rarely the case. A unit stills photographer, or sometimes called a film stills photographer, is on set specifically shooting images of the highest quality in order to best market the film or tv show. Still from Women You’re music video by Dress Thèque (Julia Firak) It’s a dynamic, exciting role on a movie set, but unlike other departments, where most people start ..read more

The world of unit stills photography can be a mysterious one. Most people tend to think that images they see promoting a film are taken from the footage, but that is rarely the case. A unit stills photographer, or sometimes called a film stills photographer, is on set specifically shooting images of the highest quality in order to best market the film or tv show. Still from Women You’re music video by Dress Thèque (Julia Firak) It’s a dynamic, exciting role on a movie set, but unlike other departments, where most people start out as runners or assistants, there’s no such thing in stills photog ..read more

Nicola was interviewed by 007.com for their series celebrating 60 years of Bond. Nicola chats about how she got into stills photographer, and specifically onto the Bond film, as well as letting us know her favourite images from the movie, as well as more info on her kit. Read the full article on the 007.com website. 007.com ..read more

This is a blog post written by a student of the Film Stills Fast Track course shortly after completing the Film Stills Fast Track course – Neil Buchanan-Grant Lockdown was for me, like many others, a catalyst for change. Along with half the country it seems, I bought a bigger television and became a prolific consumer of ‘content’. I’d always been a movie fan but the explosion in quality streaming not only filled in the hours but sparked my imagination. After an award-winning career making travel and portrait photography I decided to retrain to become a unit stills photographer with the help of ..read more

The question I get asked the most is how to get started in this industry. What does it take? How can I break in?  My simple answer is you need two things – patience and persistence. Actually, you need a few more as well, like a great sense of timing and composition, ideally a calm demeanor and a thick skin. But let’s start with patience and persistence because even if you have the other qualities, you won’t make it unless you stick at it.  I studied photography in Wellington, New Zealand, where I learnt all aspects of photography – portraits, documentary, studio, landscape, commercia ..read more

Part photographer, part ninja, part psychologist The irony of being a film stills photographer, is that your images can be some of the most widely published on the planet, but hardly anyone even knows that your job even exists.  The most common response to the question of what I do when I explain it to people, is “I thought those pictures just came from the film?”  Nooo! They come from a photographer on set, taking photographs of the action both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. The images are used to market the film, tv show, documentary, short film. They are used in art ..read more

1. Good ear protection is a necessity. Obviously on a Bond film there will be explosions and guns, and even without them being loaded they are still extremely loud. I used two layers – one ear plug that you squeeze and it reforms in your ear canal, plus proper ear muffs which are often provided on set when there are loud weapons during a scene. I only have one ear that works, so I really have to look after it. 2. Scottish Highland ticks are to be avoided at all costs. Sometimes as a stills photographer you need to lie on the ground to get the best angle, or to stay out of a shot. Well, in the ..read more