The Posing Series. Part 8, On Your Mark

For today’s post I wanted to take some time to talk about a simple detail called the “Mark”. The simple little mark is a very important detail on which all of the other details are built, let me explain. The use of a mark to place talent in a frame has been used for centuries. The mark is used as a placement reference so your subject know’s exactly where you want them to be. As simple as the concept of a mark seems, it is kind of a big deal.

Lets say you landed a big job to do a shoot for Vogue.  Maybe the shoot is with Lady GaGa or some other super famous person. There is going to be a huge crew, a ton of equipment and time will be at a premium, seconds will cost thousands of dollars. The talent, in this case Lady Gaga isn’t going to show up and hang out while you figure out the shot. This shoot will be extremely structured, you will be working from a specific vision. Everything will be on story boards, all of the details will be laid out clearly.

Working from a specific vision is a good thing because you can place a mark and build and light a scene well in advance of the talent showing up to the set. This is a must, as it saves time and money, most of all it makes you look professional. I use the mark with an assistant to set up everything. I set the light position, light ratios, exposure and props, everything is built around the “Mark”.

Sometimes I use a simple mark like a quarter or a penny. Sometimes I use tape to make a T in the floor. Look at this “T”, now imagine a foot on each side of the vertical line and the tips of the toes placed just to the edge of the horizontal line. All you have to do is place the “T” in the scene where you want, at any angle with respect to the camera position, then have your talent put their feet in the “T”. That’s it you have your talent roughed in position and you are ready to shoot.

Thanks for taking time to read my blog. If you have any questions please feel free to post them in comment section. I will do my best to answer them, Thomas Shue

An image were I used a quarter to place the subject.