|
Forums >
General Industry >
Shooting through the language barrier
I'm shooting someone tommorow who doesn't speak the same language as me, there husband will be there as an interpreter and general assistant on set, but it is only his wife I will be shooting. I know that I'm going to have to spend alot of my time acting out poses and mimicing positions myself (deep joy!) so she can see what I mean, but I guess that has to be done! what I want to know is.... 1) have you ever done anything like this, and how did it work out? 2) any tips for directing someone in a different language!!?? thanks Jon Roberts www.jonroberts.co.uk Nov 24 06 11:51 am Link You need some example material... how about two photos of the same model, one dressed and one nude. Show her the first one and point to the picture then to her; then show her the second one and point to the picture then to her. Learn to say "just like this" in 16 languages. LOL Studio36 Nov 24 06 12:06 pm Link hehe, not quite the answer I was looking for........ but the sample material is a good idea, show them the poses rather than having to act them out for them! Nov 24 06 12:08 pm Link Jon Roberts wrote: Tommorow I'm shooting someone who doesn't speak the same language as I, her husband will be there to interpret and generaly assist on the set, but it is only his wife I will be shooting. Nov 24 06 12:08 pm Link bad photographer lotus, go to your room, you can't have fruit cup.. Nov 24 06 12:16 pm Link lotusphoto wrote: Cannibal! Nov 24 06 12:19 pm Link Been there done that. I speak English and have a hard time making myself understood. It must be something I am saying. bs Nov 24 06 12:21 pm Link I used a model once who was from Turkey, didn't speak a word of English, and was profoundly deaf, too. It was a very interesting experience. Lots of silly gestures and waving of hands, pieces of paper with pictograms on them, a big stack of sample pictures, and great fun. Nov 24 06 12:31 pm Link lotusphoto wrote: It is the same as her second, but she hasn't been speaking English very long at all. I was just after some tips. Maybe it was foolish of me to post a thread looking for some help on this site. Nov 24 06 01:16 pm Link RED Photographic wrote: Yeah. Nov 24 06 01:19 pm Link Dona wrote: We couldn't pass notes, because the model didn't write English, either! Lip reading was no good, and the only sign language gestures I knew are very rude, having been taught to me by members of a deaf school outing group on a railway station platform while waiting for a train with the teachers looking on. I know British sign language differs from American sign language, and I never had need to use them, but it did occur that it might mean something different in Turkish, possibly even an invitation, so I decided to stick to silly gestures and pictograms. Nov 24 06 01:30 pm Link I shoot models who's first language is not mine, and mine is not theirs all the time, as I do a lot of shooting in foreign countries, often of models who are foreigners to that country. I speak several languages remedially, which helps, and many of them speak or understand English if only remedially, which also helps. Someone there or in the team who can translate a little helps, but can also be a pain in the ass and things are never visually understood well in that fashion (anyone remember the TV commercial shoot sequence in Lost In Translation?) The best way is a friendly smile, body language, a few refried words and phrases in their own or a neutral language, a few simple phrases in English (no need to speak ultra slowly, loudly, and omit all your syntax, that's usually insulting). Just get the rapport going and a lot of things tend to work themselves out fairly well. Nov 24 06 02:06 pm Link Thanks for all of suggestions and help so far! Special thanks to Lotus for proving that internet sites are still riddled with people with nothing better to do than try to annoy others. *bump* Nov 24 06 02:24 pm Link Jon Roberts wrote: Something tells me that, save for the husband, you could have come out of this as a cunning linguist. Nov 24 06 02:50 pm Link Jon Roberts wrote: sorry, figured you'd realize i was kidding Nov 24 06 02:54 pm Link lotusphoto wrote: Just getting fed up of asking for advice and getting pointless responses on this and other sites. I guess I just expect too much Nov 24 06 03:12 pm Link Jon Roberts wrote: been there done that numerous times. i don't find it annoying to have to mimmick the poses for the model to copy, but i guess if that's not your thing it could pose a problem Nov 25 06 01:13 pm Link if you're a shooter who gives a lot of direction, it can be disconcerting and might wear on your patience. yes, you'll probably have to demonstrate and also rely on some form of sign language. plan on spending more time than usual as the communications process will eat shooting time. it will also mess up any sort of shooting rhythm you might generally get into. the lack of a common spoken language shouldn't effect the final results. it might just take a bit longer to get there. Nov 25 06 02:40 pm Link eye contact and 2 fingers to follow with her nose tp place the head and angle of the head then flat hand to mean stay there and another pointy finger for the eyes only then hold again she needs to know ''HOLD THAT'' and the flat hand signal and ''great!'' for encouragement and ''go on'' for slow changes in pose 'ok' or ''thats it' for when the pose is over - you want to try something else if there is a clock, a tree, her bag or any other landmark you can orient her from teach her the word for that / those things or you learn one or two words from her good luck! Nov 26 06 03:52 am Link I did that a few times, having lived in many countries. Generally I had a week or so notice, so I would go learn the language. Call me crazy, but at least I would learn enough to point, left, right, this and that, also arms, legs, eyes, lips, love, angry, hate etc. Simple phrases. Remembering 100+ phrases is easier than you think. Of course, other suggestions up there are all helpful. Illustrations are great, always great. Another way I do it is with music. I sing, and I would learn a few songs from their countries, sad, love, happy...you wouldn't believe the smile that comes out of their faces. Nov 26 06 03:59 am Link *My* problem is I met this absolute stunner of a girl on the bus a couple weeks ago as I was goin around town. She is going to college to be a elementary school teacher. I missed my stop by abou 2 miles because we were talking so much about the project she was doing that she happened to be taking home with her, a collage. She`s 100% blind. I hope I see her around again. Nov 26 06 04:01 am Link Since no one has suggested this, I will. If you're able to have a computer hooked to the internet around, there are some decent free translators out there. http://babelfish.altavista.com/ this one doesn't list turkish, but it is also likely that she has a grasp of one of the other major european languages as well as many europeans often do. Its one of my favorites as I used to use it to translate my german homework when I wasn't sure what the heck they were asking  The best way to use it is to only input single words at a time, like someone else suggested, eyes, lips, head, arm, hand, etc. Maybe when they arrive you can spend a little time with them together and get sheets of paper and write cue cards for her that have the words in both languages. Heck, she and you could turn it into something fun by writing the words in both languages and then each of you get to practice it while you're shooting. That sounds like fun to me anyway. I remember as a child while visiting Germany we met a family that my dad worked with, and I sat for hours with the little girl who was my age trading words and drawing scratchy pictures in the window. Hopefully you can turn it into something fun and look forward to the opportunity to learn a few new things! Nov 26 06 09:06 am Link Primal Lens wrote: not if she see's you first! Nov 26 06 02:08 pm Link |
