{"id":2029,"date":"2012-02-25T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress\/?p=2029"},"modified":"2015-06-19T14:41:54","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T14:41:54","slug":"interview-still-photographer-hopper-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/interview-still-photographer-hopper-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Still Photographer Hopper Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who shoots production stills from the movies we see? How Hopper Stone went from a career as a photojournalist to a movie still photographer.<\/p>\n

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\nPhoto by Hopper Stone\/Courtesy of 20th Century Fox.<\/p>\n

\nBoston-born photographer Hopper Stone began his career as a photojournalist, traveling and living abroad, and covering corporate work. After living and working in Helsinki, Rome and Mexico City, Stone became unhappy with the direction of photojournalism as a profession.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI was at the movies one night and I was watching the credits go by and I saw a credit that said \u2018still photographer\u2019 and I literally plunged at the screen and said \u2018I want that job!\u2019\u201d Stone recalls.<\/p>\n

\nStone enrolled in an intensive set photography workshop taught by Kerry Hayes of Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine before relocating to Los Angeles to follow his dream. After learning the ropes, Stone slowly broke into still photography, a notoriously difficult niche to establish oneself.<\/p>\n

\nUnlike the solitary work style of photojournalism\u2014which stifled Stone\u2019s naturally social nature\u2014the bustling atmosphere of a film set was a refreshing change. Stone was able to maintain the same level of self-sufficiency he was used to, while working in a team environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I get to lunch, my mouth will not stop moving because I\u2019ve just spent the last six hours on set being incredibly, incredibly quiet and not talking to anybody and I have to get it out,\u201d says Stone. \u201cIt\u2019s not like you stand around on set gabbing all day… but still, on your off-time, there are people to hang out with and, especially if you\u2019re on location, that\u2019s kind of nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his career, Stone has shot stills for a plethora of action film\u2014like Spiderman, Route 666, and Daredevil\u2014as well as TV shows like Monk and The Middle. Today, he regularly shoots stills for the award-winning TV series Modern Family.<\/p>\n

\n\u201c[Modern Family is] as much fun to work on as it is to watch,\u201d says Stone. \u201cI am thee most fortunate TV still photographer in Hollywood that that is my regular gig. Right now it\u2019s my favorite thing that I am shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nStill photography allows room for independence (no one is directing Stone on how to shoot a particular scene), but requires stealth maneuvering and fast reflexes.<\/p>\n

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\nPhoto Credit: Hopper Stone\/Universal Pictures.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBeing the set photographer is a little weird in the sense that [the actors] are there to make a movie\u2014not to be in a photo shoot\u2014and we\u2019re there to document this and help with marketing and publicity. So there\u2019s a very diplomatic line we have to walk about getting our job done, while not getting in the way.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou have to be kind of stealthy,\u201d says Stone. \u201cNobody goes, \u2018Yay, hooray, there\u2019s someone here to take pictures!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nGenerally, one photographer is assigned to shoot all stills on set; and Stone\u2019s workload is dependent upon the size of production. Television is a smaller production, involving coverage of 75 percent of filming days, while feature length films may require shooting every day.<\/p>\n

Here are a few other differences between shooting stills for television vs. shooting stills for feature-length films:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Television:<\/td>\nFilm:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eight-hour workdays<\/td>\nTen to 14-hour workdays<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Responsibility: Obtaining key scenes<\/td>\nResponsibility: Shooting action sequences<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Photographers are given a scene summary and are solely responsible for themselves<\/td>\nPhotographers receive a copy of the script and are in contact with the studio photo department<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tentatively planned with tight deadlines<\/td>\n\n

More time to shoot, more difficult gig to acquire<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\nSince still photography is a work-for-hire position, the network or production company owns the rights to every image shot on set. Most networks don\u2019t want the photographer to retouch their images or make any changes whatsoever.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI need permission from the network to use [images I\u2019ve shot] on my website,\u201d says Stone. \u201cThere are also pretty strict social media policies as to what you can [and cannot] post on Facebook and twitter… which is why some of my Facebook posts are a little bit cryptic like \u2018I\u2019m on an undisclosed location on an unnamed show\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIn both television and feature films, confidentiality is either implied or required. Still photographers are often asked to sign confidentially agreements to ensure plotlines and spoilers remain unknown.<\/p>\n

\nStone\u2019s work is used for marketing and publicity materials, which include: ads for magazines, newspapers and websites; the back cover art of the DVD case; the stills gallery found in bonus features on a DVD. Posters are usually shot by a studio photographer, but still photographers are responsible for photo props\u2014any visible \u2018outside\u2019 images\u2014like family portraits and crime scene photos.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe character who had been killed on a cop show I was shooting was the lover\/subject of a gay photographer. So I had to shoot this photographer\u2019s work and it had to be black and white, artsy, and sort of homoerotic-but-suitable-for-basic-cable,\u201d Stone says. \u201cIt was an photo shoot and they blew these photos up to 3×4 feet. They featured them very prominently [on the show], so that was very satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stone uses a Canon 1D Mark IV<\/a> and Canon 24-70mm f\/2.8L USM<\/a> and Canon 70-200mm f\/2.8L USM<\/a> lenses, each enclosed in a heavy box called a \u2018sound blimp\u2019 that muffles the sound of the shutter. Stone also regularly uses tripods and remote shutters to capture multiple angles of a scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on what they are shooting, the still photographer\u2019s set up can be anything\u2014from two cameras, two zooms and two blimps\u2014up to a couple cases of equipment with underwater housings, long lenses, grip equipment, backups and bodies. You have to be prepared for anything that comes your way<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps to watch a little bit of television to know what\u2019s going on in different shows,\u201d says Stone.<\/p>\n

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\nPhoto Credit: Hopper Stone\/Universal Pictures.<\/p>\n

\nBuilding good rapport with the production crew and talent is crucial, since still photographers vie for space and some actors feel wary of their presence. Although still photographers are constantly in the presence of celebrities and witness television as it is being made, Stone insists there is nothing glamorous about being on set.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThere is no glamour behind the job. It can be fun, but there is a lot of waiting around. On set, you are a fairly low priority on the day,\u201d says Stone. \u201cEverybody understands your work is important further down the road, but when they are losing the light and you\u2019ve got a minor on set who has to [leave work] at a certain time, the priority is to get the show produced.\u201d<\/p>\n

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