Be More Chill photo-call getting ready to start, Penn State University, Fall 2016.

The tradition of a photo-call goes back quite a while, and stories abound concerning directors-turned-dictators and three- to four-hour calls lasting well into the small hours or until an already-exhausted cast finally collapses. These stories have resulted in a pervasive fear of photo-calls, often leading the producers to insist on one of several less-than-satisfactory options. I have had directors and producers make ALL of the following suggestions related to the documentation of my or my spouse’s design work. I offer them up to you now with the rational arguments I have made against such suggestions:

1. Can you just take pictures during the tech?
   1. No, because it takes me away from the tech table, and my work isn’t really finished yet until Opening Night.
   2. I can’t stop the performers and stage a setup in the middle of a run because it’s too disruptive for the performers who are still getting used to the integration of the technical elements.
   3. The producer has hired me to work on the design right now, and that comes first.
   4. I don’t think the other design areas would like pictures of their work under lighting that isn’t finished yet. Many people forget the fact that the sets, props, costumes, paints, and projections are often in a far more advanced stage of completion than the lighting during the early stages of tech.

2. Can you take pictures during the run of the show?
   1. No, because the box-office people don’t want me standing in the middle of the seats, blocking patrons’ views of the performance.
   2. Back in the film days, my 1969-era motor drive sounded like a small chainsaw. Even today, modern DSLRs often still have a shutter that must move and make noise. My DSLR on five-shot auto-bracket mode makes a very noticeable racket, which would also distract the patrons.

3. Can you take pictures without the performers?
   1. No, and this goes for all the design areas. A production is a synthesis of many diverse elements, and if you remove one, the entire look is now substantially different from what the audience experienced.
   2. Without people on stage, there is no energy, scale, or balance to the shot.

4. Can you take pictures of the costumes on mannequins instead of the performers?
   1. Again, no, because now the costumes aren’t draped properly, and you don’t get the intensity of performers’ faces and body lines.

5. Can you take pictures of the costumes on the performers in the basement hallway?
   1. No, for all the same reasons as I cited in 3a.
   2. The lighting in most backstage areas is often overhead fluorescent, which casts unattractive shadows and does awful things to the colors of fabrics and makeup.

6. And, finally, in a last-ditch effort to avoid a full photo-call for costumes for a ballet my wife had designed, the producer asked if we could just have the stagehands wear the costumes for the photo-call! Other than the obvious problem of convincing a tall, muscular stage-hand to attempt to wear a tutu designed for a 105-pound, 5’6”-tall prima ballerina, I felt that it would be asking too much to try and get the stagehands to recreate the final poses of each of the dance numbers. Without a doubt, this was the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard from a producer.

As a designer or technician involved in the creation of a theatrical event, you have every right to document your process and the end result for use in your portfolio. There are other legal considerations concerning the use of these photographs beyond “archival” purposes, but this rarely is an issue when it comes to a designer photo-call. Many theatre companies will also do a “media day,” which is a short photo-call designed to capture an image or two for use in the media, usually to accompany announcements about the run of the show, or for posters and programs. Broadway productions, which enjoy long technical rehearsal periods and even longer preview runs, are able to take these media pictures at a time when far more of the design elements are nearing completion. For most other production situations, this is usually done in a way that allows for the fact that much of the design isn’t yet complete. There may be a few characters in more of a close-up shot, wearing costumes that are nearly complete, and sometimes in front of some available scenic elements. More often than not, however, these are done under work light, and not in a finished “light cue.” They are fine for what they are used for, and necessary for the promotion of the production, but usually they are not of much use to the designers who are looking for portfolio-quality images.

So, at the risk of angering producers and other theatre administrators, let me reinforce the most important point here. You, as an individual who has poured time, effort, heart, and soul into some aspect of a production, have the right to take actual, staged pictures of the real actors, in the real costumes with correct hair and makeup, in front of the real set and in the right light cue. It is a recognized right, although some producers are more willing than others to make this happen. Surprisingly, I find that many colleges and universities seem to be the most reluctant to allow photo-calls to happen, which is a disservice to all the students who need good-quality photographs for their portfolios. In the non-professional world, there are actually less rules to abide by, since there are less professionals involved. Most professional theatre does tend to involve performers and backstage personnel who are members of the various unions that oversee theatre work. Actors’ Equity, which governs performers and stage managers, has the clearest set of rules for their members when they are involved, found in the Actors’ Equity Association: Agreement and Rules Governing Employment in Small Professional Theatres. I’ve provided a web-link in the Appendix if you would like to review the full text of Section 42, which governs photo-calls. To sum up the more important points, Equity requires the

• Call not to exceed 90 minutes.
• Call to occur right before or after rehearsal or show.
• Photos only to be used for advertising the show.
• Notice of call given a day in advance of the call.

It is important to be aware of these rules, even if you are in an educational situation, since many colleges hire guest performers and designers, and their union regulations follow them. If you are in high school, or another situation where there are no union contract concerns, it’s still a good idea to use these parameters so that everyone gets used to the idea of a carefully organized and time-limited photo-call. The following list of items is a good starting point for setting up a photo-call:

1. Several days in advance, the stage manager should request a list of desired shots from the director, the various designers, and other production personnel.
2. The stage manager should then compile the list, eliminating duplicates and combining similar shots to get down to a list of 12 to 16 “setups.” In the old days of film, we would shoot three bracketed shots of a single setup, and could then do a total of 12 setups before running out of film. You wouldn’t want to waste film, so you would try to stick right to that number so that you used up the whole roll. Going over wasn’t an option, because then you would have to change to another roll, taking time, and then the second roll might be partially wasted. Now, you are only constrained by the size of the memory card, but don’t let this trick you into thinking you can take as many shots as you want. There is a law of diminishing returns here, given the fact that most photo-calls are scheduled after a performance, and your performers are justifiably tired. Keeping them longer than the usual Equity-mandated hour is generally a waste of everyone’s time. They are too tired to give you the energy you need, and your pictures will show this. If, on the other hand, the photo-call is scheduled for a time prior to a performance, or even more rarely between a matinee and an evening performance, you need to be sensitive to the fact that the performers need time to get into character and complete their usual pre-show routine. In the region of 12 to 16 setups are usually possible within an hour, and if well-organized, can be accomplished with little to no rush or panic.
3. Once the list is compiled, the lighting designer can attach the appropriate cue numbers to each shot, and the stage manager can plan the shot order. It’s easy to jump around in the cue stack, so the order is least important to the lighting and/or projection designers. Depending on the show, however, the order may have a very distinct impact on costumes or scenery. Quite often, when the photo-call begins after the show, the call will be run in reverse show order. The set is already in the last scene, and the actors in their final costumes. Work backwards through the show, and you will end up with the set in the first scene, ready to go for tomorrow. While this is how many photo-calls go, there are times when you may choose to go completely out of order. If you are doing Noises Off, for example, Act I and Act III are the same set, but Act II is the other side of the revolve, and takes a bit of time to get to, whereas the costumes are mostly the same in all three acts. Here, you might shoot all of Act III and Act I, and then change once to Act II. Alternately, you might have a set that gets totally trashed through the show, requiring a great deal of clean-up. This might require a split photo-call. Shoot for 30 minutes on the clean set before the show, and then 30 minutes after the show. Changes in makeup or major props usage/breakage might drive the need to alter the order. One year we were working on a production of The Nutcracker, which calls for a large cast of young children, almost all of whom are only used in Act I and are dismissed at Intermission. We didn’t want to ask the parents to keep the kids through the entire second Act, and then wait even longer as we shot the second Act, so we did Act II after a Friday evening show, and then Act I before the Saturday matinee. Splitting this call over two days also allowed us to fold the set restore back to Act I into the end of the Friday call without going overtime for the union stagehands, which also kept the producer happy.
4. If there are scenes where the lights are not static, for example, F/X chases, strobes, or other moving effects, then the lighting designer should capture a static snapshot of the dynamic cue, and record it specially for the photo-call. If my cue stack runs from Cue 1 to Cue 173, but Cue 52 is a chase effect, I might “freeze” the chase at a point that is visually attractive and appropriate for the planned photo, and record that as Cue 952. I then just note that as the cue to go to for that shot on the photo-call sheet.
5. If you are doing a show where there are props or costumes that get destroyed or altered during the run, you will need to have doubles arranged for. This is important to think about very early in the production planning process, to allow for extra purchases to be made, or other logistics to be sorted out. Several years ago, we did a production of Sweeney Todd, which involved quite a number of costumes getting soaked in stage blood. In order to accomplish the planned photo-call, we had to have an extra set of the white shirts worn by some of the characters, and also organized the call to take pictures of the costumes that were bloody right away, so that the wardrobe crew could get the bloody white shirts in the laundry, and clean the rest of the jackets and pants so they could have them ready for the shots from the start of the show.
6. Once noted with cues and organized as efficiently as possible, the stage manager should distribute the list to all involved, and post copies backstage.
7. Before the show, the stage manager should remind the cast that there will be a photo-call afterwards, and make sure everyone knows not to leave until dismissed. More than one carefully planned and scheduled photo-call has been derailed because one major character forgot, left the venue, and was unreachable for the rest of the night.
8. In my world, the stage manager has always been the one empowered to run the photo-call. They are best prepared to recall the blocking associated with the moment you want to capture, or the line that defines the moment you are looking for. They will tell the cast when the call will start (usually giving them some time to meet and greet after the show, take a short break, and otherwise prepare for the shoot). I have always, however, reserved the right to talk to the cast before we get started, in order to lay out some ground rules. I explain that this is my one chance to document the work that I’ve done on the show, and the quality of my portfolio depends on good pictures. I ask them to please listen closely to the stage manager, and be prompt in making costume changes or finding props. I make every effort to get them on my side, so that they understand how important it is that they don’t goof off, make funny faces, or try to get each other to laugh while holding a pose. If you demonstrate to them that you respect the fact that they are tired and that you are very organized and ready to work hard to get them out as quickly as possible, then you will find that they are very willing to participate in a positive way. If you are disorganized, or your equipment isn’t set up, or if you don’t project an air of professionalism, who can blame the performers for not doing the same?
9. Often friends and family want to join in the call. As much as I am happy to accommodate these requests, I always tell them three things:
   1. No flash may be used.
   2. Shoot what you want within the listing of shots that we are doing, but we aren’t going to add shots or wait on you. (Often family can squeeze in quick shots of performers while we are waiting on a set or costume change, and this is fine, as long as it doesn’t delay the overall call.)
   3. Feel free to stand wherever you like, as long as it’s not in the field of view of the “official” photographers.

10. Once the call has started, the stage manager will announce each shot, and everyone involved should get their props and find their place on stage. Everyone else should be nearby, and not wandering off, unless the stage manager tells them they should go change costumes (if needed) for the next shot. Once everyone is in place, I will tell the performers to “find your pose and hold it.” Often, people want to run lines or try to run the scene blocking, but this doesn’t work for bracketing. You need to be able to take multiple still images of the same moment with different exposures to give yourself the flexibility to choose an appropriate image for your portfolio. If the moment is very difficult to hold, as is often the case in dance, you may need to stage several attempts. Big lifts in ballet are often candidates for this, or the pose shown here from a dance moment in Carousel:
    

    Figure 16.1: Carousel dance moment – Shot #1 in the auto-bracket series.
    

    

    Figure 16.2: Carousel dance moment – Shot #2 in the auto-bracket series.
    

    Ultimately, I didn’t get what I was hoping for with this shot, but I did get a great version of these two in a different moment later on (you may have noticed it elsewhere in this book). It’s important, though, that most of the time, everyone is holding that moment. This is where

    

    Figure 16.3: Carousel dance moment – Shot #3 in the auto-bracket series.
    

    your practice and preparation are critical to the success of the call. You need to be quick about capturing the moment, as it is fresh, before people begin to falter and sway. I generally take about three seconds to capture all I need with my new DSLR because of the availability of auto-bracketing. Those without that feature might take longer, and if you see people starting to sway and move, give them a break. I tell them to “relax for a moment,” let everyone take a few breaths, and then ask them to “find their pose again.” Performers will appreciate your attention to their physical situation, and will make a better effort to hold the pose when they know it won’t be for long. It is important, though, if you are giving them a break, that you are clear that you aren’t done, otherwise people drift away very quickly, which leads to longer calls while you get everyone back into place.

11. Sometimes I have to be the “bad guy” at photo-calls, when people suddenly want to add all sorts of additional shots to the list. If it’s just one quick variation on a shot already planned for and is easy to accommodate, that’s one thing, but when the director comes in and wants six other shots, then we run the risk of destroying the well-made plan for the call. Depending on your situation, based on the ease or difficulty in fitting the extras in, and who is asking to take more shots, you will have to make a call on the fly about adjusting the list. One way to mitigate this issue is to get extra shots while waiting for a costume change. Often the costume designer or props master wants a close-up of one or two characters with a specific item they made, and this can often be done while other things are getting into place.
12. Plan your shots out in advance. You should carefully evaluate your list, and determine what row (or rows) you plan to stand in, and if you are staying in one place for the whole call or moving around. Once you have sorted this out, you can determine which lenses you might want to use. This is especially critical in thrust and in-the-round spaces, where you need to look beyond the shot and possibly deal with empty seats in the background. Many of the shots may need to be taken from different positions around the venue, depending on the dynamic nature of staging in the round. Proscenium staging often allows for the photographer to stay in one place, since the director is often staging the piece within the framework of the proscenium arch.
13. Once you know where you are shooting from, and if you are moving or static, you can make the call on using a tripod, a monopod, or just handholding the camera, as demonstrated in Chapter 6.
14. It’s a good idea to be aware of who is shooting with you at the call, and from where. I try to talk to the other photographers before the call starts, and find out what their plans are. We have a regular photographer on retainer for close-up publicity shots, and he often needs to be closer (and hence, in my shots), but we’ve worked out a method where he will shoot his stuff quickly, then sit down on the floor in the aisle, and I can take my shots over top of him without any issues. This of course depends on him being fast and there being some professional and open communication between us. During the shoot for our recent production of Twelfth Night, one of the other photographers got in my shot (Figure 16.4). You will also notice that his presence threw off my camera, which autofocused on him instead of the performers. I could have cropped him out of the shot if the focus was okay, but I had to wait and take another run at this with the focus on the right people. Photo-calls are very active times, and people get tunnel vision about getting the shot they want, and quite often will wander into your field of view. Sometimes they are still in the dark part of the house, and you don’t notice them until it’s too late.
15. Do you need multiple cameras? If you are not using a zoom lens, but need to get some long shots and some close-ups, you might need to bring multiple cameras, and maybe a friend to help shoot or at least hold. This is another situation where one on a tripod and one in the hand can work very well for you.
16. You must be prepared with all your equipment ready to go.
    1. Charge your batteries, and make sure you have more than one just in case.
       

       Figure 16.4: Unexpected “cast member” in my shot from Twelfth Night, Penn State University, Nov. 2016.
       

    2. Clean your memory card out so you don’t run out of space, or suddenly have to start deleting things to make room.
    3. Reset your shot counter, if you like, as we discussed in Chapter 14. Just be careful and organized about keeping each show in a separate folder, or batch-renaming them right away once you download them from the card.
    4. Ensure that your camera’s time and date are accurate so that you have a valid time/date stamp on the files. Very helpful when you are looking back through years of files. You can also get units that will location-stamp your photos using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. I know this is very useful in some professions, but probably not a priority for us.

17. I really like to keep the house at a glow during a photo-call. It won’t affect your photos if it’s down around 20 percent or so, since you aren’t taking pictures of the seats usually, and it’s great for making sure everyone doesn’t trip over each other, knock over tripods, or dump a camera bag over. You can always dowse it for really dark shots in smaller spaces if you find it is leaking on stage. Smaller spaces or non-proscenium spaces may be just fine with the house lights off, since the stage light may very well light up the seating areas.
18. If you are shooting in the round, it is important to keep all the actors who aren’t being used for the current shot out of the seating, but somewhere close by. I also walk around and clean up anything else that might be lying around in the seating if that section is going to end up in my shots. As you saw in Chapter 9, framing and planning out your shoot will alert you to unwanted things like exit signs, coats left in the seats, and extra coffee cups lying around. Sure, you can fix some of this in Photoshop, but why cause yourself the extra trouble?
19. I don’t take much to a photo-call, but there are some essentials:
    1. Spare batteries
    2. Spare memory cards
    3. Sync and power cables
    4. Specialty lenses needed for the shoot
    5. Lens hoods
    6. Lens cleaner and paper
    7. Canned air (be careful with canned air and DSLRs, check your manual)
    8. Small flashlight
    9. Shot list and Sharpie
    10. Small coil of Paracord for lashing tripods

Figure 16.6 is the shot list from the photo-call for Trouble in Tahiti, Penn State School of Music, Oct. 2016. Note that the specific light cue needed for each scene is noted, along with the characters needed, and what line or moment is being captured. This is a very clean and clear example. It was circulated by email in advance to all the artistic team, and posted backstage for the actors to reference as the night progressed.

Figure 16.5: The usual equipment and supplies found in my “go” bag for photo-calls.

I know that it seems like there is a great deal that goes into this, and all of these suggestions are the result of situations that could have run more efficiently. Also, I don’t want anyone to walk away from this chapter thinking that candid photographs aren’t good to take. Certainly, if you aren’t tied to the tech table, or maybe the show is ready to open but you still have a dress rehearsal, by all means walk around and shoot. Knowing the moments that you are interested in capturing in advance will allow you to be ready and waiting when they come about. I was actually in this situation during Luna Gale, in that I had a photo-call set for Tuesday night after the dress rehearsal, but was able to get up and roam during the tech and also try to capture some moments. The case can easily be made that you may catch some emotional energy from the performers during a candid that can’t be recreated during a setup shot. Hopefully a combination of those shots and a carefully planned call will capture everything you need for your portfolio.

Figure 16.6: Photo-call shot list for Trouble in Tahiti, prepared by Stage Manager Jojo Sugg.