shooting old people
 

I have a client that's in her 60's and she wants to make a commercial for her beauty salon. She wants to look like the models in Oil of Olay commercials... wrinkle free and flawless.... basically the airbrushed look.

I know we're not god, and a face lift for her is not possible..

is there any tips to soften her up? if not on the camera, then in post to get the porcelain look? (considering the make up is good)

Too many jokes that could be made from the thread title.

In the old days they use to put very thin layer Vaseline on the lens to get a soft effect. I would not do this on the primary lens but if you have a UV filter you might consider it.

Keith

Try a pro make-up person in conjunction with pro lighting. Any budget for test shots? Maybe just use stills via photoshop.

Try and shoot it so she can be replaced if she doesn't like her appearance. Don't use her voice, that'll be a dead giveaway. Lay it all out for her beforehand, not easy this one, good luck.

Cheers.

You need to get a makeup artist who uses an airbrush, just like they do on the big shoots. Otherwise, I'd say it won't work.

Reduce the detail level in the camera. Use a pro mist black or warm filter. Make sure the lighting is diffused (a good softbox) and close to the camera's line of sight.

I wonder how they do it on Sex and The City.

.... They might want green screen too so I might have to shoot this on HDV. *eek*

I've never done the movie quote game but here goes:

[Dorothy Michaels' screen test]
Rita: I'd like to make her look a little more attractive, how far can you pull back?
Cameraman: How do you feel about Cleveland?
Rita: Knock it off.


(The close up is NOT your friend here.)

I'm all for it, when it's their time it's their...er... wait.. nevermind.

Tootsie - Wikiquote

Just remember that the secret to shooting old people is to not lead them as much.

Seriously, hire a great makeup artist, get out the Matt box and pro mist filters, hire a gaffer and turn on the skin detail. Or use the "Tootsie" method and zoom out.

Kubrick is rolling in his grave!

please define "old".
Although the Op said something about '60s', I must take umbrage to that as one who just tasted his 62d birthday cake. OLD!!!! That sounds like my grandkids talking. Now 80 or 90 yeah I could understand but 60?
Of cousre I do remember when 30 was 'old'.
Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind it don't matter!
Plus now I have a great excuse for shooting my age for 9 holes of golf!

O|O
\__/

Don

BTW, I'm acutally kidding about taking umbrage (new word of the day) I really find the post somewhat amusing.
Tell the lady to get a facelift. That'll take care of the wrinkles. I'm proud of my wrinkles, I've earned every one of them and have grown accustomed to them. So much so I have names for each of them. ;-)

See I have a sense of humor about getting "old"

Don

Still photography model shoots are often lit very flat and somewhat overblown, almost like old TV show studio lighting. Any off center angle you put the light at will hit those wrinkles and cause shadows, which will pronounce it. I'd have my key light right next to the camera or behind it and then some backlights and kickers to rid of any casted shadows on the background. I'd avoid close-ups, especially if you're shooting HD. As stated before, a good make-up artist will do the job of hiding aging much better than anything that can be done in post.

And the best advice, when the client sees the shot for the first time get the crew and everyone involved to say how great she looks. It's obvious vanity is apparent here and just a few words of compliment will surely get her to go along with it as well!

Easier to have a sense of humor about it if you're a guy. Not the same playing field for women :-/

HD is not an old person's friend. In fact it's not a friend to most people over 30, or anybody with blemishes or less than perfect skin. IMO the old makeup tricks are not as effective in HD, especially with close ups.

re
 

Sheffield Softworks Plugins for Final Cut Pro


try this , the woman in the demo is old

shooting old people
 

A lot of great advice has already been supplied on this thread and probably any commercial photographer, DOP and make up artist can help with tips.
However, something to consider in making one feel younger and more refreshed is some basic positive reinforcement.
I'm younger in age than your client or some others that have made suggestions but working in the Arts you learn that many performers ( unless they're heavy smokers) usually can keep themselves quite youthful looking by doing certain exercises.
Just look at some dancers or yoga instructors and when you find out their age your jaw may drop.
The effects sample used in the provided demo of Lauren Bacall is a great tool but though she was referred to as "old" Lauren looks to have maintained some pretty good natural presence considering how many decades she's bee around. Definitely way better than her late husband Humphrey Bogart looked in the latter part of his life.
In the long run you can only do the best you can with the circumstances you are given..
If your client doesn't have the personality of a wretched prima donna and you can help her make the production process a positive experience then, along with the technical provided tips her facial expressions should take on it's own kind of organic quality and she should be happy with the outcome.
Unless someone is commenting on themselves no one really likes to be called old. If the client got wind of this thread I'm sure she wouldn't feel great about it and it may say more to her about the maturity of who she is hiring. I once worked on a series called 'The Elders Project' combining student dancers with seniors and even that term received
mixed comments from the participants. The term "Shooting maturing or mature people" may not receive the same negative connotation.
If the client really does call her place of business a "Beauty Shop" (which is a pretty vintage term) then she may be marketing for a mature clientele anyway

Thanks for all the tips..

I'll check out the andrew kramer tutorial and get a couple of kino's for this shoot...
I'll also have to find myself a good airbrush artist.

Sigh...

When I say old, I mean compared to what she want's to look or what she think she still looks like.

I found age to woman is like hair to men. I don't want to be the one that tells her how old she is and I don't want her to tell me that I'm loosing hair!

*skindetail* when it's ON, does that mean it's more defined?

The makeup, light and diffusion filtration are going to be the key to getting a great look. You'll want to investigate fashion or beauty lighting as much as possible. Here is a place to start Photoflex Lighting School | Lighting Lessons | ADVANCED LIGHTING and DV Enlightenment at DVcreators.net

Adding light slightly lower than eye level will fill in a few more shadows if you're used to lighting from above. Lots of soft light will be your friend as hard light is what will bring out skin detail. I've used a Litepanels Ringlite mini on the camera lens to get that flat look with a nice eye light. That thing rocks! I think that's why you see its big brother, the Ringlite cinema used in a lot of music videos. If you want to see what the Ringlite does, take a look at this vid...it wasn't really meant for public consumption, but here is the URL, use the password "fashion" This is a password protected video on Vimeo

Tiffen makes some great diffusion filters. For the Z7U, that's a tough one, as it will depend on if its a CU, MS, or WS. A Tiffen Soft FX 3 has been my go to diffusion filter. Tiffen Filters

Page 40 of your manual. "ON" means the skin is smoother, with less definition. Try the different levels to see which works best without making your picture look like a cartoon.

Thanks for checking out the manual.


I've got 2 x Kino Divas and with diffusion in the front, hopefully that will do. I really need to do some test shoots. The shots will likely be MS.

I've seen the ring light used on a lot of photo shoots as well... and might give that at try.

GuyC, great video and great advice btw, very informative.