Capturing the stars

(CNN) -- All the major film festivals are conducted at a frenetic pace.

You witness jet lagged film makers being dragged from one interview to another. Harassed agents and publicists can be heard delivering the bad news about a review with the diplomatic skills of a UN ambassador. And microphones and cameras clash on the red carpet as the press yell at the stars and each other.

It all helps to create a buzz around an event where deals are made and reputations won and lost.

During the throes of film festival madness, it's Fabrice Dall'Anese's job to stand back and capture a moment. He has snapped some of the globes hottest stars on the circuit for magazine Vanity Fair.

It's a job that seems glamorous on the surface, but let's face it, taming Jackie Chan or turning two minutes with Scarlett Johansson into something magical is not going to be easy.

The Screening Room spoke with the photographer about what it takes to create the perfect image while under pressure.

TSR: Festivals' schedules are very hectic for everyone; you often have very little time to set up a shoot. Do you know what kind of image you want create immediately?

Fabrice: It's a dialogue, and you never know how the person's going to respond. Two people have to be working in the same direction rather than one person dominating the other, which is something that happens very often in portraiture because you are photographing people who have a stature.

If you photograph a director who's used to directing a crew of 130 people and you're 30 years younger than him, there's an issue of power there. And so, you kind of have to see; does the guy react to this, does the guy let himself go, can he be directed or does he want to direct the shot himself... You have to see how the dynamics work.

TSR: How long did it take you to figure out this power dynamic was a recurring issue you would have to deal with?

Fabrice: Actually I started off with underwater photography and it's a different world. Underwater mammals, dolphins, sharks, that was my first passion. So, in the initial phase of my career this logic was something I didn't ever have to think about.

In reportage photography, you just take whatever is around. It's like being a documentary filmmaker.

I've done a bit of fashion. In fashion, you direct. You give the clear idea of the light, of the composition of the mood you want to create.

It's only when I started to do work related to cinema that I realized there was an issue of egos. I photograph people who are extremely talented and whose images are extremely controlled.

TSR: Is it important for you to have seen the film of the person you are photographing?

Fabrice: In situations like the Berlin Film Festival, we're shooting, I believe, 54 different people in seven days. If you do the math it's a lot of images every day, so sometimes you're just trying to get one shot which you know will work.

And then for some particular persons, in which you already have a crystal clear idea of who they are, maybe because you've worked with them before or you know their filmography better than for other people, you develop an idea. And this idea can either be of pushing the public image or of breaking it. Or sometimes it's inspired by a role.

I had seen Tilda Swinton in the morning at the press conference and I saw that she was dressed very formally, and I remembered this role for which I believe she's Oscar-nominated, and I said: "OK, instead of putting her in public, in front of George Clooney, why don't I put her alone, on a staircase, and try to get her in this mood."

And that was my original idea. And then suddenly she sat down, and she went for something which was even better than what I was about to ask her for. I don't even remember if I even mentioned it.

TSR: Do you prefer high stress photo shoots where you have very little time with the actor or director? Or are you happiest when you have more time?

Fabrice: The thing is, with those A-listers you often only get a very small amount of time. For the shoot with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, we're probably the only ones doing something like this in Europe.

It's so exclusive that if you have 10 minutes with the person, that's already a lot considering they're only here for 24 hours. And they're here to sleep, eat, see as many people as possible, spend an hour on the red carpet or in the screening room. So time is crucial, and the only way to get to as many people as possible is by reducing the amount of time that you need to extract -- to come up with an image that works.

I would love to spend more time, I would love to create images which are more studied, more elaborated, more precise, but I adore doing this because I think it's a very very good way to improve.

I think every photographer is on a quest to improve on a daily basis, and if you don't do that sometimes you'll die eventually, photographically, creatively. And so, it's a good thing to, I adore doing these festivals, because there's a lot of ups, there's a lot of downs, but in the end you look back and you say you've lived seven days of intense creative dialogue.

TSR: Do you always know when you've captured that perfect image?

Fabrice: You know immediately. Now I just do it instinctively... it's just a reflex. I press the shutter, and then see if its blurred, is it sharp, is it worth it, is it not... But definitely when you have a right image in front of you, you feel it immediately.

TSR: And do you have a person that you would love to photograph at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in May?

Fabrice: Sean Penn. One of the reasons why I do portraiture is I adore photographing people I have an artistic respect for. And Sean Penn is someone who's made some amazing films as an actor as well as a director. He has such a strong aura. I would be really fascinated to see how he would respond.

TSR: You might be a masochist, because I think he hates being photographed.

Fabrice: I know, but that's the fun part of it. And even if a person is image shy or hates to be photographed, I think you can still produce the most beautiful images. Daniel Day-Lewis is a good example of that.