An actor writes, directs and edits. The “AHA” moment!

Headshot Photograhper: Vanie Poyey

Guest blogger: Mark Sande

I recently worked with Mark Sande, a very talented actor (trust me I know from all the range I got) who has written a script that not only he directed, but edited as well.  I asked him to guest blog and share the lessons he learned from the experience.  What was interesting to me, communicated verbally, was that he discovered that if an editor falls in love with your take, he will edit around your take!

“The Friday I shot with Vanie was in the middle of a busy time for me.  I had a singing date coming up the following week, and I was organizing a shoot of a script that I had just written.  I remember thinking that if I’d known how busy things were going to be, I’d have scheduled Vanie a few weeks later.

That was four weeks ago.  With the club date and the video shoot behind me, I realize I’m no less busy now than I was then.  Being busy, it turns out, is no reason not to keep filling the calendar.

Vanie was really interested in the process of creating a short from start to finish and asked me to share some of the takeaway from an actor’s point of view.

Writing, directing and editing a script turns out to be a great exercise for an actor because it teaches you so much about the roles of those who will regularly judge and shape your work.  The jobs are distinct and often at odds with each other, so you have to be ready to go a little schizo. (File under: the price we pay for our art.)

The lessons I learned as a writer go to brevity, i.e., paring away at the script. Be brutal on yourself to edit those words down. Take shorter pauses.  The information communicated in a video clip is digested quickly.  Boredom, not irony, is the product of longer takes.

As a director, I learned that you must lean on your actors to be absolutely specific.  Generality of thought is absolutely fatal on the screen.  If there’s a joke or a specific moment written in the script that the actor is just not delivering on, the director needs to find a way to get the actor there.  If he doesn’t, the writer will come looking for him after the shoot.

My takeaway from the editor role was simply that in post production, the actor is competing for the attention of the editor.  At the end of the day, he will fall in love with a beautiful, specific moment and build his cuts around it.  If you are the actor who has been completely engaged with high stakes thoughts, if you’ve been consistent in your action from take to take, and if you’ve kept the acting out of your acting, the editor will want more of you in the finished product.  He wants to love you.  Get more screen time by making his job easy and giving him what he wants.”

Mark Sande as the charming professional!

Mark asked me to shoot something funny with the red strawberry against his blue striped shirt.  I think it worked rather well!

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Professional Headshot Photographer; Vanie Poyey

We love treating our clients to a day of fun when they come in for their session.   Here are a few people we had the chance to work with over the last couple of months.  Thank you all for making our days interesting!

George Fisher, a repeat client,  found me again after a ten year hiatus from the business.   He was just as much fun to work with this time around as he was ten years ago!  George, please don’t tell them about the “Vanie” from ten years ago.  Shhhh.

Occasionally, we have requests for Modeling ZED Card sessions.  We usually create four different looks for the back of the ZED Card.  Here is an example from Jose’s shoot.   Ladies check out those abs!

Jamie also needed a “body shot” for fitness.  As you can see, she really showcases her range in these photos.  Good luck Jamie!

Santino on the left reminds us of the “nice cop”  on Heroes.  Paul Vroom on the right looks like he just stepped out of an episode of Law & Order!

Thanks for making it a fun day guys.

Derek is the third member of his family to do headshots with me!  His brother and dad are both past clients.   Thanks Brent for starting the trend and keeping the tradition.  We wish Derek all the luck, not that he needs it!

These two ladies have a way of seducing the viewer!  Krystal on the left is showing some strong attitude, while Tiwana on the right, exudes confidence.

This was the second time I had the chance to work with Liza.  She needed a re-shoot since she recently became a brunette.  In the past, she’s  gotten a lot of compliments from her last shoot as a blond (see our gallery), and I’m sure the compliments will continue!

Courtney, the gal with the amazing blond hair, was so quirky during our shoot, she really made it effortless for me.  Teena came in and did a friend session with her mom!  These sessions are always a blast and as a bonus, we give a generous discount!

Dana has such an amazing range.  She went from a very warm, funny character to a hard edged persona in no time.  Slumber party Dana?

This beautiful red head is Samantha.  Perfect for the CW!  Good luck Samantha!

David Chung is a perfect example of male clients who use facial hair to vary up their look.  Clean shaven, he easily pulls off the young dad, while with some scruff, he becomes the edgier heart breaker!

Watch out Hollywood, here comes Nikki.  Check out that range!  She can destroy you and be your best friend at the same time.

It’s always a fun day when I have clients that make me laugh.  I had the pleasure of working with these two in the same month!  Allen, a very talented comedian had me laughing so hard, I had to put the camera down. Kyle reminds me of Seth Rogan.   He was so easy to shoot, the day was over before it started!

Shannon is another one with incredible eyes.  She just completely captivates the camera and demands your attention.

Markeia has so much range she looks like two completely different people here.  The secret? Great talent and a great wig!

You can just tell from these photos that Kelly is energetic and full of fun!  She really allowed for her creativity to come through. Say hi to our friends in Santa Barbara Kelly!

Coming soon, we’ll be comparing headshots before internet directories were born, and how they were different from today’s headshots.

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Headshots

Great Headshots

Today I had the pleasure of working with Amanda Dickson.  It was yet another half rainy, half cloudy, and half sunny day.  I can’t say the day was without challenges since we had many different marketing looks to cover and the weather to contend with.  Amanda was the queen of improv.  No matter what I threw her way, she came back with an equally clever line.  All this shows in her personality and in the different looks we accomplished!

 

 

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