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Last week we explored the world of Derek Travis's mutilated guts and the photography of toys with decapitated heads. Today we're diving into the moody action of action figure photographer Mike J. Marine. Marin chats with us about how game photography opens up whole new worlds of possibilities when it comes to staging scenes and bringing a single frame to life in a way that tells an entire story. We highlight some of our favorite game photographers and learn to crawl behind the lens, focusing on how individual artists' styles differ, opening up areas of possibilities.
What inspired you to get into shooting horror games?
My love of the horror genre and storytelling and my passion for collecting action figures are the perfect recipe that got me into the middle of AFP. I would say my skills improved a lot during 2020, when the pandemic was gaining steam. I am diabetic, so I stayed home most of the time to keep myself safe. That's when I started opening statues and I started shooting them. Oh man, I was doing up to 10-15 photos a day that year. Also, being a freelance filmmaker helped me make shots of the single-frame stories I was telling with AFP.
And horror action characters pick up the best shadow, you know? They are naturally designed to absorb and transform light in their malevolent detail, making the viewer feel the same sense of unease they might feel in a theater while seeing these characters on screen for the first time. This is what I'm trying to capture when setting up these particular characters in my studio. It is a tribute to the eternal kind.
Do you have anything on your to-do list that you're excited to shoot? Is it attainable for a particular, a particular setting, or something that is your own for one reason or another?
When Trick Or Treat Studios announced that it was doing in 1978 Halloween This Michael Myers 12" figure I knew would become one of the instant trophy in my collection. I had to get it. And it does not disappoint. As a person of origin Halloween As his all-time favorite horror movie, this was the number to get because, in my humble opinion, this number has the best movie-accurate head sculpting of all the characters made from the original Nick Castle Michael Myers.
When I got that number, I already knew what settings I was going to do, and they all came out exactly the way I envisioned it. I had to stay alert to this character because he's one of the most notorious lunatics in horror movie history. I had to do justice to The Shape. And Halloween It will always hold a special place in my heart because it is the first scary movie my dad and mom let me go see with my brother and sister at the little movie house down the street in 1978, although the case was that if we went to watch we had to go home in the dark afterwards!
Take a look at some of Maren's favorite shots below with some behind-the-scenes details to make these shots come to life, frame by frame.
"Imagination, an eye for detail, and a good phone camera are all you need to tell stories one frame, one shot at a time." - Mike J. Marine
I use a photo light box to set up my stereos before shooting. For some shots, like action scenes, I use clear plastic boxes of different sizes to support and secure my characters in action poses. They're easier to use than wire or plastic support stands with clamps, especially when you're cutting out your shape for a Photoshop mount. by Michael Myers Halloween Figure, I've put it in its standard "I'm watching you" form.
Lighting is one of the main aspects of AFP (Action Figure Photography). Lighting is so important, especially when you're working in awe of AFP, because it's all about capturing the mood and feeling the frightened dread, or alarm, in your settings. When I create horror shots, I always look to capture the best shadow effects with small dollar store push lights (pictured here) or occasionally by candlelight to get that warm, soft effect, which I call "storytellers light." It can take several shots to get the right shot for whatever story your photo is trying to tell.
When I'm outside, I always look for a scene that would make good background shots for AFP. I get some of my own wallpapers online, especially the ones that are free to use and high quality, and are the best for use in Photoshop. For this shot, in particular, I took pictures of my neighborhood one night looking like the deserted streets of Haddonfield, Illinois. After I took pictures of the shape of the figure, I superimposed the shape on one of my shots, making sure the lighting on the figure matched the lighting and atmosphere in the background.
See more of Mike's work on Instagram @theboneyardcollectibles and watch his award-winning short film "Unboxed: The Art of Action Figure Photography" on YouTube.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBStRMaeuRE[/embed]
#Photography
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