What should we pay attention to when shooting portraits with a sense of cinema? We think that most portraits look indifferent and tasteless, except that the models in them can hardly show anything. Portrait shooting is different from portrait photography. Its key performance is not the model itself, but the model and the environment in which the model is located. The environment provides the possibility of a story, making the overall picture look like a movie picture, and shooting a portrait with a sense of cinema is the best.
For cinematic portrait photography, we should pay attention to not only the light and composition, but also the lens selection and post-processing.
To tell a story in a movie, cinematic portrait photography should also express the story through the performance of the environment, so that the viewer can think of things about the characters in the picture, so the choice of elements in the environment is particularly important. When taking pictures outside, it is impossible to encounter a perfect background. If there are elements in the background that affect the expression of the subject, try to remove them from the background by changing the shooting angle. After all, the expressive force of the subjects we are facing may not be strong enough to tell the story in the picture through expressions or body language without background assistance.
In order for the subject to express the story we want to express, the choice of the lens is also very important. Many cinematographers like to use telephoto lenses, which can compress the space and allow the content in the background to appear in the picture to a limited extent. In other words, telephoto lenses can make blur more easily.
But not all blur is meaningful. Sometimes we need to find a balance between complete blur and partial blur, so that the background can not interfere with the expression of the subject but also express the meaning of the environment to the subject. When the environment is not so abundant, a 35 mm lens will be a good choice. First of all, it can bring us closer to the subject, and the characteristics of 35 mm can be substituted into more scenes, while 35 mm can still partially blur the background on the premise of being close to the subject, so that complete blur will not deprive the background of its meaning.
In the process of shooting, look for more different angles. The first angle you can usually think of will be the angle that most people will try. Imagine what angle a director will use to express a story-telling picture.
For light, different rays of light can express different emotions, and the feelings expressed by the angle at which the light is projected on the subject are different. For example, the front light can highlight the positive image of the character, and the top light or bottom light can make the subject more mysterious and highlight the horrible atmosphere.
Not only the direction of light, but also a single light and multiple lights, and even different colors of light can create different emotions in Chancheng. Clever use of lighting styles can also increase the characteristics of the story.
The style of lighting you choose depends on what kind of story you want to express, with a high-contrast black and white lighting style that makes the portrait more dramatic, while softer lighting creates a more romantic feel.
Finally, the most important thing is to shoot more and think more, look for inspiration in the process of shooting, and find settings suitable for the current scene and current characters. Different photographers will have their own styles, such as Du Kefeng's hand-held perspective, Shinoda Sheng's strong colors, and Vittorio Storaro's use of light to shape characters. These are all worthy of our reference and learning.
