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Surreal Dreamcore

One impossible thing, photographed as calmly as a landscape

Surreal Dreamcore aesthetic photography reference
Photography referencesurreal dreamcore
Shoot Brief · Call Sheet● TC 00:00:00:00
AestheticSurreal Dreamcore
Roll038
Status0 / 5 Shot
LightLow even daylight about an hour after sunrise, sun behind and…
WardrobeAlmost none. If a figure appears they are small, plain and…
Location / first setupSalt flat or dry lakebed with standing water
Palette#6FC8F5
Director’s note“Nothing in the frame may react to the impossibility. No one looks up, nothing casts a wrong shadow, the water…”

Shot list

Tap a frame to mark it shot · grease pencil, saved on this device

FR·01A
A single monumental domestic object standing alone on a salt flat, shot from ground level so the horizon cuts low and the sky takes two thirds of the framesetup50mm
FR·02A
The same subject mirrored in a centimetre of standing water, framed so the reflection is the lower half of the compositionsetup50mmthru glass
FR·03A
A freestanding doorway or curtain opening onto a landscape that cannot be behind it, shot square-on with no context either sidewide24mm
FR·04A
Wide shot with the subject small against an empty horizon, scale established only by a distant figure or a set of stepswide24mm
FR·05A
Detail of where the impossible object meets the ground or water, holding the join that the eye wants to checkdetail100mm
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Roll
00 / 05
⌁ LightingLow even daylight about an hour after sunrise, sun behind and… full brief ↓

low even daylight about an hour… ✦

⌁ WardrobeAlmost none. If a figure appears they are small, plain and… full brief ↓

almost none. if a figure…

Director note
Nothing in the frame may react to the impossibility. No one looks up, nothing casts a wrong shadow, the water stays flat. The calm is the whole effect: as soon as the picture acknowledges that something is strange it becomes dreamcore, which is anxious, rather than this, which is lucid
All 79 director’s notes, printable: Director’s Briefs →
Locations
Salt flat or dry lakebed with standing waterShallow tidal flat at slack waterEmpty beach under overcast skyAny unbroken horizon with a mirror surface
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About this brief
How do I photograph the Surreal Dreamcore aesthetic?

One impossible thing, photographed as calmly as a landscape.

Nothing in the frame may react to the impossibility. No one looks up, nothing casts a wrong shadow, the water stays flat. The calm is the whole effect: as soon as the picture acknowledges that something is strange it becomes dreamcore, which is anxious, rather than this, which is lucid

Director's note

What shots should I get for a Surreal Dreamcore photo shoot?

Leave with every frame on this list.

Shot list

  1. A single monumental domestic object standing alone on a salt flat, shot from ground level so the horizon cuts low and the sky takes two thirds of the frame
  2. The same subject mirrored in a centimetre of standing water, framed so the reflection is the lower half of the composition
  3. A freestanding doorway or curtain opening onto a landscape that cannot be behind it, shot square-on with no context either side
  4. Wide shot with the subject small against an empty horizon, scale established only by a distant figure or a set of steps
  5. Detail of where the impossible object meets the ground or water, holding the join that the eye wants to check
What lighting works for Surreal Dreamcore photography?

Low even daylight about an hour after sunrise, sun behind and slightly to one side, then everything softened. Shoot into light haze or add it: a promist or black promist filter, or real atmosphere from pool steam. Edges should round rather than resolve, and every highlight should bloom into a halo, brightest on chrome rails and the water line. No hard shadow and no studio key. The light has to feel like weather rather than equipment, because the moment it looks staged the calm goes and it becomes an advertisement

Light

Where should I shoot Surreal Dreamcore photography?

Scout these before anything else.

Locations

  1. Salt flat or dry lakebed with standing water
  2. Shallow tidal flat at slack water
  3. Empty beach under overcast sky
  4. Any unbroken horizon with a mirror surface
What wardrobe works for Surreal Dreamcore photography?

Almost none. If a figure appears they are small, plain and turned away, dressed in one flat colour so they read as scale rather than as a character with a story

Wardrobe

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