I had an Aphrodite shoot this weekend with Gina. She was incredible - she has the ability to switch from laughing to smiling to not smiling with no difficulty. And her not-smiling looking is amazing. With probably 60-70% of people, when I tell them to not smile, I get something between a frown and a look of hostility, but with Gina there was all kinds of nuance - some smoking sensuality, some looks that asked, "Oh, really?" some simple, frank looks. We shot for about an hour, getting 130 frames or so, and on first edit, 34 of them are good. This is one that's good, but won't make the final cut, because while I like the beatific look, her eyes will blow your doors off.
I bet you're wondering why, if I only have a 30-40% success rate, do I ask people to not smile? It's worth it for that .350 batting average. Besides, it's only film or memory. Gina's rare in that she looks great with all kinds of facial expressions. Others only look good when they're smiling or laughing or not smiling.
