Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.

The Zelda Project is a Los Angeles, CA based group of friends who seek to bring to life the characters, settings, and overall feel of Ocarina of Time through photography and film. Our ultimate goal is to create the characters as they would appear in reality to the best of our abilities, placing them in beautiful sceneries true to their Hyrulean counterparts, and creating elaborate photosets utilizing art ranging from costuming to 3D CGI.

People view Singpoli Group's inaugural Rose Parade float as it undergoes its finishing touches in Pasadena, California December 30, 2014. The 126th Rose Parade will take place on New Years Day in Pasadena. (Photo by Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters)

Australian artist Polixeni Papapetrou trends the line between fantasy/theatre, mythology/reality, archetype/play, male/female, child/adult and animal/human. As with all her work the series The Dreamkeepers tells a story that includes her autobiographical relationship with her children, but it also says a lot more about the condition of childhood - its place in our culture and how we react to images of children in photography.

IT'S a relatively simple idea – set up a mirror so you can capture the reflection of a dramatic landscape in a single photograph. Photographer Daniel Kukla, from New York, created a spectacular series of artworks called The Edge Effect using the technique. He clamped the mirror onto an easel and placed it in various settings in the Joshua Tree National Park, California.

A performer is covered in chocolate sauce at the Notting Hill Carnival on August 28, 2011 in London, England. The annual carnival, which is the largest of it's kind in Europe and is expected to attract around 1 million revellers, has taken place every August Bank Holiday since 1966. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Revellers attend the 25th edition of the Sziget Festival on August 9, 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. The Sziget Festival, one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe, celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2017, taking place from August 9-16 on the Hajogyari Sziget in Budapest. (Photo by Laszlo Mudra/Rockstar Photographers)

South Korea's Black Eagles aerobatics team perform a maneuver during a preview of the Singapore Airshow at Changi exhibition center in Singapore February 14, 2016. The Airshow will take place from February 16-21. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)