Alright, let’s talk about them movie pictures, the ones you see everywhere. Folks call ’em “popular movie stills,” I think. Don’t rightly know what that means, but I know a pretty picture when I see one. You know, like them old Duke Wayne pictures, always looked tough, squintin’ at somethin’ far off.
Now, they got all these fancy websites and whatnots where you can find these movie pictures. I heard tell of some places called ShotDeck, Film Grab, and somethin’ else, Frame Set, I reckon. Sounds like a bunch of hooey to me, but them youngsters, they love lookin’ at them pictures. They say it helps ’em make their own movies or somethin’. Helps them figure out how to make things look purdy, I guess.
I saw my grandson the other day, clickin’ away on that computer thingy. He was lookin’ at pictures from some movie about spaceships and laser guns. Said he was makin’ a “mood board” or some such nonsense. Kids these days, with their fancy words. Back in my day, we just watched the movie and that was that. Didn’t need no fancy pictures to tell us what was goin’ on.
- You got yer close-ups, where you see the actor’s face real big.
- Then you got yer long shots, where you see the whole dang scene.
- And then there’s them fancy ones, where they use the lights and shadows to make things look spooky or romantic.
They say these pictures, they can tell a whole story all by themselves. I reckon that’s true sometimes. I remember seein’ a picture from that movie, “Gone with the Wind.” It was just Scarlett O’Hara standin’ in a field, lookin’ all forlorn. Didn’t need no words to tell you she was heartbroken. That’s the power of a good picture, I suppose.
And now, get this, these folks are takin’ these pictures and puttin’ ’em on their walls, makin’ books out of ’em, and even usin’ ’em to sell stuff. I saw an ad the other day with a picture from some old cowboy movie. They were sellin’ boots, I think. Clever them fellers are, usin’ them old pictures to make a buck.
I even heard tell you can make your own movie stills, right from your own TV! My grandson showed me how to do it. You just push a couple of buttons on the computer, and bam, you got a picture. He said somethin’ about “Print Screen” and “hotkeys.” Sounded like a bunch of gibberish to me, but it worked. Got myself a picture of that fella, Harrison Ford, lookin’ all serious in that “Star Wars” movie. Gonna put it on my icebox, right next to the picture of my grandbabies.
They say these movie stills are good for learnin’ too. If you wanna make movies, you gotta study the good ones, see how they did it. Look at the way they set up the shot, the way they light it, the way they tell the story with just a picture. It’s like learnin’ to cook, I reckon. You gotta watch the good cooks, see how they do it, and then try it yourself. Only difference is, instead of pots and pans, you got cameras and lights.
And these websites, they got thousands and thousands of these pictures. More pictures than you can shake a stick at, as my old pappy used to say. They got pictures from old movies, new movies, even them commercials they play on TV. You can search for ’em by all sorts of things: the actors, the director, the year it was made, even the color of the darn sky! It’s a whole new world, I tell ya. A world of pictures.
So, there you have it. That’s what I know about them “popular movie stills.” They’re pretty pictures, they tell stories, and they can even make you some money, I guess. And if you’re one of them youngsters tryin’ to make your own movies, well, you better start lookin’ at ’em. You might just learn a thing or two. And if you just like lookin’ at pretty pictures, well, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that neither.
Just remember, a good picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say. Me, I prefer a good story, but a pretty picture ain’t bad neither.
Tags: [movie stills, film, cinema, photography, filmmaking, ShotDeck, Film Grab, Frame Set, visual storytelling]
