Bodybuilder profile shot on HMC151 and SGblade

[Admir]

Hi!

I just finished the first version of a promotional video for one of the best female bodybuilders in Sweden.

I used my HMC151 and the SGblade adapter with 28mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.8 Nikons.
As lightning I used two 500w halogen build lights from the front. From the back I used two small DIY lamps (metal fruit bowls) with 80w light each as backlight to make her stand out from the background a bit more.

Would like to hear your opinions about the image and editing, and what I could do better next time =).

Thanks!!rogar-Happy(DBG):

 

[ASchear]

It was real nice! Personally I thought she was kind of gross looking, but beyond that, I thought it was sharp and your lighting was fine. Here's what I would change:

A lot of your shots were head on or center frame. For next time, I think you should try to shoot more angled shots, or even canted angles, and keep your focus on one of the 1/3 lines. You did have a few great shots to build on, and I bet you think they're your best shots already; the one where we see her from behind the machines at :30. If you use a longer lens for that shot, it can make everything very interesting because we have things in the foreground which is very nice. The shot is already pretty nice as is. Also, at around 1:05, we see two shots which I really liked; you filmed her at an angle. These were your best two shots in the video. They show depth and it's close enough to be interesting. I think the big obstacle for next time is to make those wide shots more interesting. If you do more videos like this, I'd suggest watching some really famous work out videos such as P90X and copy some of their shots! And don't be afraid to use canted angles for something so static like this...I've started to use them for events and like we learned from Battleship Potemkin, canted angles suggest motion and make otherwise uninteresting shots more interesting.

But very nice job! I'm sure she loves it! Congrats.

 

[Admir]

It was real nice! Personally I thought she was kind of gross looking, but beyond that, I thought it was sharp and your lighting was fine. Here's what I would change:

A lot of your shots were head on or center frame. For next time, I think you should try to shoot more angled shots, or even canted angles, and keep your focus on one of the 1/3 lines. You did have a few great shots to build on, and I bet you think they're your best shots already; the one where we see her from behind the machines at :30. If you use a longer lens for that shot, it can make everything very interesting because we have things in the foreground which is very nice. The shot is already pretty nice as is. Also, at around 1:05, we see two shots which I really liked; you filmed her at an angle. These were your best two shots in the video. They show depth and it's close enough to be interesting. I think the big obstacle for next time is to make those wide shots more interesting. If you do more videos like this, I'd suggest watching some really famous work out videos such as P90X and copy some of their shots! And don't be afraid to use canted angles for something so static like this...I've started to use them for events and like we learned from Battleship Potemkin, canted angles suggest motion and make otherwise uninteresting shots more interesting.

But very nice job! I'm sure she loves it! Congrats.

Thanks for the input!

Yeah I really wish that I would have had more angels on the wide shots. She was very specific that she wanted simply a whole image of her body, nothing strange or fancy (because her future sponsors want to simply see how she poses). And then she gave me some free hands to do some of my own, and that's when I went really close and started to focus on close shots of her body. So both of us got a bit of what we wanted =P.

Thanks a lot, I'll take your advices with me for the next time I shoot something like this!

 

[Greg Smith]

I frequently have this same problem when working with dancers and choreographers. Their first instinct is to always want all the shots to show the whole body, head to toe, all the time. This works for certain rather static purposes like audition tapes or documentation to archive the choreography, but it can totally kill the creativity in an artistic piece. I constantly have to convince them to trust my judgment and reassure them that once all the small close-up bits are assembled in editing, a picture of the whole will emerge that is more compelling than the wide shot alone would be. This seems like the same situation. It's appropriate to use full-body shots to establish the scene and introduce the character, but the close-ups and moving camera are what make it personal and powerful.

- Greg

 

[Admir]

I frequently have this same problem when working with dancers and choreographers. Their first instinct is to always want all the shots to show the whole body, head to toe, all the time. This works for certain rather static purposes like audition tapes or documentation to archive the choreography, but it can totally kill the creativity in an artistic piece. I constantly have to convince them to trust my judgment and reassure them that once all the small close-up bits are assembled in editing, a picture of the whole will emerge that is more compelling than the wide shot alone would be. This seems like the same situation. It's appropriate to use full-body shots to establish the scene and introduce the character, but the close-ups and moving camera are what make it personal and powerful.

- Greg

Yes I guess they just have to trust that close ups wont kill the production but make it more interesting... Bodybuilders are some of the most extreme when it comes to how they show themselves. Every little thing has to be correct on their body else they won't do it, at least not in front of a camera or on stage.

But she is extremely happy with the result, and that's the most important thing at the end of the day =)