Pulling Stills from Red Footage

So your client can't afford to have a still photographer on the shoot and is asking if you can just pull stills from the Red footage. After all, each raw 4k frame is around 12 megapixels, right? So we can just pull some stills and all our troubles are over!
Pulling stills from the red footage is relatively straightforward we'll just give you timecodes from the offline, and...

Of course, it's not that simple. The first question you should ask is: "What is the purpose of the stills"? For instance, if the answer is a newsletter, it's probably ok, because the low resolution required is tolerant of slightly soft images. If the answer is a billboard, it's most likely not ok, due to the huge format.

Secondly, motion is a huge issue. If you are shooting portrait shots for a hospital campaign, you are likely to get great results pulling stills. Likewise with interviews. However, if you are hoping to get usable shots from a fight scene, you will have a lot of challenges and it's difficult to promise something in that situation. If the shot lends itself to a narrow shutter angle, this is helpful as it tends to result in sharper stills. However you don't want to be forced to use a narrow shutter just because you are committed to stills.

Plus there is the issue that what works for motion doesn't always work for stills and vice versa in terms of direction and poses, composition (just try a vertical framing on the Red) and the fact that many post facilities are not accustomed to working with stills of this type.

So...can you do it? Yes, but make sure your client understands the limitations. We can do it, but in many situations it's probably best to have both stills and motion photography.

And as with everything, do some tests for yourself before actually doing it on a shoot.

I won't go into the mechanics of actually pulling the stills as there are tutorials available. That's the easy part. The hard part is how to manage the client or director expectations while still being a team player. Rehearse that in your head and you'll be ready to help everyone stay happy!

Good Luck!