Photography — Posing and Positioning Action Figures
NOTE: Some of the tips and opinions I offer are related to the particular action figures I work with and most of them have at least six points of articulation — meaning body parts that you can move. Some action figures have less or more. And that will impact your ability to achieve posing success. Just work with what you have and know that even a subtle change can impact a pose and make it more dynamic.
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Years ago I made portrait and wedding photos in my studio and I learned the art of posing and how important it can be to a successful photograph.
The whole notion of posing subjects in photography is related to the fact that the original camera shutters used to have to stay open for minutes, not fractions of a second.
Photographers used a prop in their studio called a posing stand (see Figure 1.)
Fast forward to my action figure toy photography and guess what…posing is still important.
It’s interesting to note that some action figures sold today also come with posing stands!
But I digress…
There are many (if not sometimes subtle) similarities between posing people and action figures.
The main factor to consider when posing these toys is what style of image are you hoping for? If you want a basic documentary or vanilla pose, that will certainly be different than if you want the character to look like it’s in battle or at least ready for battle. Maybe you want the character to look intimidating or perhaps you want the character to appear friendly. This will dictate what you do next.
Since most action figures are based on human or humanoid forms, some of the same guidelines apply.
When I was photographing people, I used to have a set of poses for men and women and they were usually different.
Most of those ideas were based on old stereotypes of men and women based on their perceived roles in society.
Some of those stereotypes are gone or don’t apply to the notions of gender dominance. In fact, some action figures have no gender. But still, some of those notions persist and some are easy to translate to action figures.
Let’s start with male action figures…
You might want to highlight the jawline of an action figure by tilting the head away — this implies strength. You might want to square up the shoulders.
With women, unless they are super heroines, you might want more traditional feminine poses like looking back over the shoulder.
When posing two or more action figures you really start to see that the pose (and positioning that goes with it) significantly impacts the final image.
For instance, when you’re photographing male superhero types (Thor, Batman, Superman, etc.) you might want a pose that puts them (and their jawline) higher (taller) in the scene than any other character you are using because this establishes power and dominance.
Shoot up on a subject to give it power — shoot down on a subject to take its power away.
When I started photographing people, my instructor told me to buy books and magazines that features people photography and to study them. I was told to try to mimic what I saw in the magazines. When someone made a portrait of Clint Eastwood on the set of his Magnum Force movie, I was told to use that photo as a reference for strong, athletic, males.
You get the idea.
While some of that seems silly now, one thing is still true and helpful.
The best posing guide for action figure photographers is the original source material.
If you’re working with a Thor figure, look at Thor comic book covers. If you’re working with Superman, watch a Superman movie and note the way the actor positions himself then take cues from those poses.
You can use any search engine and type in “Thor comic book covers” and you’ll see hundreds of images that you can use for posing ideas.
If you just want something generic — say you want to put your action figure in a martial arts pose — use your search engine and look for “martial arts poses.” You will see thousands to choose from and these are all great starting points for your dynamic action figure posing.
And the beat goes on…
CONCLUSION
Be confident in your posing. It can be worrisome to twist and turn and push and pull your action figure around to get it into the right position. Just take it slow and research how many and where your action figure’s articulation points are located. You can usually find that information on the box your action figure shipped in.
Push the limits right up to the edge and think like a story teller. Better yet think like a child. How can you position the figure to make the story more clear? How can you pose that figure in relation to other action figures in order to tell even more of the story?
Ultimately — this all goes back to my common theme of having a beginner’s mind. If you have kids, watch them play with these toys. Listen to them talk to the figures or about the figures and jot down what they are doing. They are PLAYING and seeing what kind of imaginary world they can concoct. Be like them. Play, move your action figures around. Experiment. Have fun. That is the key to dynamic action figure posing.
Remember — toys are joy.
