Late May 2015, I was on set as a still photographer for half a day’s shoot on the production of “Die Attribute von Belsana.” Students from the “Applied Media with a Focus on TV Production” program at Hochschule Fresenius Cologne were filming, on behalf of the agency Medizin und PR, a promotional spot and a viral campaign for Belsana, a provider of support and medical compression stockings.
The film was also released on the day this article went live.
The Challenge of Set Photos
What’s exciting is quietly integrating into the shoot: not appearing in the frame with the camera, and not disturbing the audio recording by clicking, beeping, or clacking.
At the same time, it requires narrative perspectives that represent the shoot and connect actors, film crew, and location. A photo is not a film: it must tell a story in a single moment. What comes before and after remains to the viewer’s imagination.
A Cinematic Extract
The photos have a documentary character and were thus left unretouched. Only the crop was adjusted to the 1:2.35 aspect ratio, and the presentation was framed with a letterbox, as one would see from cinema films on a 16:9 TV screen.
This lends the shots a cinematic quality. Additionally, I very much enjoy this wide format.
