Masters Class: GI Joe

 Yo Joe! Here at the Masters Class we have been focusing a lot on styles and themes of action figure photography. While this has been highly beneficial, sometimes it is nice to take a step back and focus on specific characters or lines of characters in action figure form. Animals, space men, cowboys, babies, and super heroes have always been some of the most popular things in toy form to entertain children. The child inside every single action figure photographer has not forgotten this. While our toys may have become less about play and more about collecting, less about the immersion into imagination and more about nostalgic escape, we all still have our favored animal, baby, or super hero. 

For as long as there has been action figure photography, there has been badass GI Joe shots. Duke, Cobra Commander and their respective sides pitched in a never ending plastic war. Today on the Masters Class we have two amazing artist here to give you all the tips and tricks of shooting GI Joe action figures, @i_n_i_popcrazy and @plastik_pixelz! So grab your plate carrier and spare mags, because the Masters Class is in session. 

When shooting GI Joes, do you start out with an idea for the end result you’ll want? Or do you let the inspiration come to you just from handling the figure?

IN- “I’ll usually play around with poses for the figure and let the ideas flow from there. I wish I could say that I had and end goal but most times unless it’s a collab I’ll just shoot the fig that’s closest to me.”

PL- “Honestly I treat posing like sketching, sometimes I'll have an idea, other times I'm just posing in the sense of doodling when it comes to drawing. I have an art background and grew up reading a lot of comics and watching action movies with my dad and uncles so I always callback to those as well.”

What sort of tips and tricks can you offer the reader for how you establish the tone or mood of your shots?

IN- “I tend to like a darker tone to my shots so lighting for me is key, (you don’t have go out and buy the top of line lights) also I will always try have depth to my shot by having a foreground, middle ground and a background.”

I_N_I_Popcrazy’s shot is an amazingly structured composition of the GI Joe Classified figures. 

PL- “I would say put yourself in that characters shoes, like if I'm posing someone like Croc Master I'm thinking of a hot ,humid swamp ,gaseous smells and all of that pleasantry. As far as tone and mood I always think comic pages so colors that pop and lighting that accentuates the look and feel of the character or characters.”

When you shoot Joes, do you prefer portrait style shots of a single figure, or an action sequence involving many figures?

IN- “Given with my main stye I will usually focus on one character in a portrait style in many poses but I do like the occasional action pose with more than one character but I tend to like to draw in on all the details the figure has to offer.”

PL- “As someone who uses an android phone to do all my shots often times it's tricky to get a lot of characters in a wide shot that highlights detail and the things I like to focus on, so a lot of times it varies. I prefer action shots, being a fan of comics and action movies ,so motion in still pictures is something I always love.”

What is your go to lighting setup for shooting your action figure photography?

IN- “My lighting process is pretty simple it consists of 2 or 3 lights one in the top left , one in the top right and one in front of the shoot if necessary.”

PL- “Currently I use a generic ring light for overhead lighting, 4 e-mart LED lights , and two small square ULZANI RGB lights on flexible legs.”

The GI Joe brand features a massive collection of characters with literal arsenals of weapons and accessories. What are some tips and tricks you can offer for creating the appearance of the weapons in use? (gun flare, blood splatter, etc)

IN- “I will usually use flares in my post edits but it doesn’t always look good so a good tool to have especially if you’re using blast effects is to get a laser pointer it’ll save u time during the post edit.”

PL- “Museum putty is my go to brand for sticky tack I feel like it cleans up the best when using it for effects and cutouts, when I want effects to pop what I do is have a concentrated light on that effect as it helps "light it up" ...As far as creating effects like blood and muzzle flashes there's a lot of independent creators on eBay and Etsy to support , as well as tutorials on YouTube for effects.”

Plastik_Pixelz shot depicts Sgt. Stalker and Croc Master brawling in the water. 

While the Classified line has become the go too line for GI Joe photography, Joes have a long history of figure lines dating back to 60s. Do you have any other line of Joes in your collection that you like to shoot?

IN- “Unfortunately I don’t have any of my childhood joes. So when the classified line was announced I was so excited!!! If I’m being honest I was born in 82 so I never got into joes until 85, 86 maybe so I never owned any of the vintage figure that are out now in the classified line.”

PL- “I actually have a bunch of the 3.75 retro figures that I never opened that I'm planning one day.”

Lastly, what is your most favorite figure to shoot and why? 

IN- “My most favorite figure to shoot right now has to be storm shadow. Also as the year starts to wined He’s in line right now to bring my figure of the year for me personally.”

PL- “Alley vipers. They look great but their accessories are in really annoying spots and the lack of torso articulation as well as no place to store the shield on their back is very annoying.”

I would like to thank these gentlemen for taking the time to participate in this Masters Class collaboration!

Next week #uc_hecktober starts on instagram. As such, the month of October will feature four horror themed character Masters Class collabs. First up, HELLRAISER! 

Until then, Class is dismissed. 

~The Curator