actor dressed as pirate

Pirate Character Portraits For a Film Prop

When life gives you pirates in the studio you make character portraits! Film director Marc Price needed to create a prop for a feature film he was making… Mia and the Dragun Princess, which is currently in post-production and due out later this year.

The prop in question is a painting of pirates in battle on the deck of a sailing ship. The painting hangs in one of the main locations for the film.

character portraits of pirates

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth

So, when a film director arrives in your studio with a bunch of actors, some great costumes and very real-looking swords, daggers and pistols props… You take some pictures of them and sod the money side of things. I quickly set up a backdrop near the studio shutter door and took some simple character portraits of actors when they weren’t being photographed on the white set. This was to prove a good investment, as of the back of these photos I got hired a few months later to take character portraits of the main actors on the film set.

character portraits on bridge of sailing ship
The final composite image. Photography by Pablo Brown-Jennett. Digital artwork created by Daniel Liles

The light by the main door into my studio is wonderful on either sunny or cloudy days. I also finally I got to use a painted backdrop I’d bought. The brown rustic texture fitted perfectly with the costumes. A simple reflector bounced light up into their faces. Sometimes studio photography doesn’t have to be complicated!

Pirate Character Portraits

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