Hollywood Movie Stills: Art and
Technique in the Golden Age of the Studios
by Joel W. Finler
Book review
by Bob Ignizio
If you've ever read a book on movies,
chances are you've seen movie stills. Whether you know it or not,
these often iconic photographs of movie scenes and their stars
usually weren't taken directly from the films themselves. Rather,
most of them were shot after the movie cameras were done rolling by a
separate still photography unit. These still photographers had
particular techniques developed for their brand of photography that
were utilized to make the movie stars shine even brighter, some of
which were adopted by the makers of motion pictures. Stills are also
of great importance as a record for how films were made in the early
days, since many “behind the scenes” shots were taken. And then
there are those films which have been lost to the sands of time, but
which live on in some way through still photos. All this and much,
much more can be learned by reading Jeol W. Finler's Hollywood
Movie Stills: Art and Technique in the Golden Age of the Studios.
