PR shots of Hollywood movies

[Karlbug]

Recently I've stumbled upon several Hollywood movies PR photos, that have full EXIF and they seem to be shot with DSLR or mirrorless cameras like 5DMIII or A7S. I always thought they would take shots straight from the movie, which I guess makes no sense to shoot with DSLR. Or does it? I've read interviews with several cinematographers who occasionally use 7D or 5DMIII for handheld shots or camera glued to a car shots etc., but I've always believed this is a less common practice. So possibly there are photographers on the set that just make the same shot as is being filmed? But what's the point? I guess that wouldn't work for scenes with heavy special effects or color grading. Maybe it's much easier like this for analog shot movies?

Does anyone knows how these promotional pictures are made?

Examples:

Star Wars: Last Jedi. Canon EOS 5D Mark III 50mm f/5.6 1/500 ISO 320

Star Wars: Last Jedi. SONY ILCE-7S 135mm f/4 1/160 ISO 1250

Star Wars: Last Jedi. FUJIFILM X-T1 30.2mm f/4 1/60 ISO 1000

Molly's Game. SONY ILCE-7SM2 90mm f/9 1/160 ISO 12800

Wonder Wheel. SONY ILCE-7SM2 40mm f/2.8 1/160 ISO320

Neighbors 2. Canon EOS 5D Mark III 35mm f/2.8 1/250 ISO 6400

 

[Mikehit]

Yep, There are photograhers who specialise in taking stills on set for publicity shots. Some are set up but a lot are during read-throughs and final pre-shoot sessions.

 

[Karlbug]

Yep, There are photograhers who specialise in taking stills on set for publicity shots. Some are set up but a lot are during read-throughs and final pre-shoot sessions.

Thanks for clarifying.

I've just realised why shots straight from the movie couldn't be possibly used: 24p = blurred motion. Should have realised that from EXIF shutter speeds. Silly me. I wonder if HFR movies like Hobbit could do that.

 

[ahsanford]

I'm live in the LA area and walking by a TV/Movie shoot is fairly commonplace. It seems like every set I drive/walk by -- fewer and fewer big blockbuster productions, it's more TV/Indie movie/commercial work in DTLA these days, as I'm told the big ticket work seems to be headed to Atlanta, overseas, etc. -- has an enormous/proper RED or Cinema EOS setup on a serious support gantry/crane/structure of some sort.

...but if you look carefully enough, someone else in the vicinity is packing an FF SLR and shooting with available (set) lighting for promos, raw shots of cast to be folded into marketing materials or thumbnails for IMDB, Metacritic, Fandango, etc. I don't know if they are snapping rehearsal shots prior to the final take, shooting silently during the actual movie takes or what not, but they are getting their shots from the talent right on set. TV will additionally get highly scripted and posed stuff independent of acted scenes, movie stars might get a dedicated photo shoot with a lightsaber to sell a toy, etc. I recall Annie Liebovitz grabbed a ton of the Thrones cast while on-set for a dedicated shoot in costume. That's mad promotional money at work there.

Then there are the times they pull talent off-set for more serious promotional materials from the large franchises. Those are studio / studio-to-go sort of efforts where it's not on-set. It's possible these are isolated character grabs in a generic environment and assembled in post, or they can be actual ensemble shots.
- A

 

[korf]

On set photographers are there to shoot stills for continuity purposes as well. They basically shoot everything to ensure they can reproduce the sets later exactly the same as they were.

 

[Pippan]

Yep, There are photograhers who specialise in taking stills on set for publicity shots. Some are set up but a lot are during read-throughs and final pre-shoot sessions.

Thanks for clarifying.

I've just realised why shots straight from the movie couldn't be possibly used: 24p = blurred motion. Should have realised that from EXIF shutter speeds. Silly me. I wonder if HFR movies like Hobbit could do that.

I don't know the answer to your question but I do know The Hobbit had a dedicated stills photographer because I met him. He was sponsored by Tourism Australia to come back to Oz during a break in filming for shoots of some tourism products, including those of my wife's tour company. Very good photos too but we had to wait months for them!