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Author Topic: Actors and DSLRs  (Read 1789 times)

tom b

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Actors and DSLRs
« on: August 14, 2011, 05:17:39 am »

It's happened again, I was watching another TV program and the actor was holding the DSLR the wrong way. Is it only me who has noticed this trend? It now seems the exception rather than the rule that we see actors holding a camera correctly.

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brianrybolt

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Re: Actors and DSLRs
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2011, 05:07:40 am »

It's not only you, I see it all the time.  Also, they usually use flash units that are completely out of date plus when used with hammer-head style flash, invariably the flash head would be below the lens.  I used to work as a film extra when business was slow and a few times I would try to engage the props master about the correct use of still cameras and flash units.  In response I only received a riveting glare of disgust.

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Brian

tom b

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Re: Actors and DSLRs
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2011, 01:48:55 am »

It's been a while since I've seen a flash bulb. I think it's a competition with props guys to get the worst gear possible on screen.



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Jeremy Roussak

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Re: Actors and DSLRs
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2011, 03:38:13 am »

It's happened again, I was watching another TV program and the actor was holding the DSLR the wrong way. Is it only me who has noticed this trend? It now seems the exception rather than the rule that we see actors holding a camera correctly.
A few weeks ago The Sunday Times (in England) printed a lengthy article in its magazine about new methods of teaching music in schools. It was illustrated with a photograph of three comely young ladies in school uniform, purportedly playing musical instruments.

The clarinettist's mouthpiece was the wrong way up and had no reed. Her right hand was so far up the body of the instrument that she couldn't support it and wouldn't have been able to reach several of the lower keys.

The alto saxophonist's hands were the wrong way round (right hand top, left bottom) and she had no neck strap, which would have made the thing jolly difficult to hold.

One might expect that cameramen making films or TV shows would better know how its actors should pretend to take photographs than a photographer taking snapshots of models pretending to be schoolgirls would know how to make them look as if they were pretending to play musical instruments, though.

Jeremy
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Jim Pascoe

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Re: Actors and DSLRs
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2011, 06:00:51 am »

I'm glad you raised this - it always make me laugh/cringe.  Films and dramas that are made currently seem to have all the press guys running around with old film cameras and ancient flash units.  It just looks comical to us photographers.  Of course the general public would be blissfully unaware.  I'm sure it must be the same for surgeons watching medical dramas or technicians watching anything done in labs etc.

Jim
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Robert Roaldi

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Re: Actors and DSLRs
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2011, 10:02:41 am »

I don't mean to go off on a tangent but I have a related question. I haven't watch CSI in years but it seemed to me that when they took pictures, it sounded to me like the shutter was going off twice. I could explain seeing the flash twice because of pre-firing, but hearing a shutter twice didn't make any sense. I wondered if it was an old-time practice to shoot two frames back in film days, and that this carried over in the program because of a belief in that (possible) older tradition.

I have heard of people firing off 2 or more shots when using slide film in other contexts to have more than one copy. I used to do that when shooting slides of my wife's art work.
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Robert
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