Film still

A film still, sometimes called a publicity still or a production still, is a photograph taken on the set of a movie or television program during production by a movie stills photographer, primarily used for promotional purposes.

Types of stills

Shots can be taken as part of the filming or separately posed.

Part of filming

Generally, a still photographer is present on the set, shooting alongside principal photography, using "Sound Blimp" to silence the noise of the SLR's shutter so that they do not interfere with the shooting.

Posed

Some shots are posed and taken separately from the shooting of the movie proper, and this was done particularly in the early stages of film – one of the most famous images in film, Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel, singing on a barrel, was a posed still.

External image
Original Still

This can be done to recreate shots from the movie, or create compositions that do not appear in the movie itself, but are part of the movie's world, featuring the dressed actors and set.

Captures

For stills from an animated cartoon, the original animation cel may be photographed or, in the case of a computer animation, the frame may be re-rendered.

Where the source material is no longer available, an image may be captured from a recording.

See also

• Movie stills photographer
• Sound Blimp