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green screen setup! need some professional advice
hi guys! we are shooting a music video soon … there will be two artists performing in foreground and 2 graffiti artists drawing on a wall in the background … what we wann do is attach some graphics (graphic elements, typographie, …) to the singers … like moving the graphics in front and back of them … so we figured out it is much easier in to shoot the guys in a greenscreen instead of masking them out … what we want to do is first shoot the singers in front of a green screen each by each … and than shoot the graffiti artist seperately … finally composite everything together … so far so good … but the director wants to use no tripod … so heres my questions:
_does it work if i add some trackpoints on the greenscreen to composit the singers together and later composite them onto the bg?
_if yes, can the singers move bodyparts out of the frame?
_we want to shoot with a hvx200? is that cam cool for doing green screen?
_does anybody got some other advices what i should be aware of (the director kills me if i screw this up)thank you very very much!
best
florian -
7 Replies
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[firewireflow] “but the director wants to use no tripod … the director kills me if i screw this up”
The HVX is a good camera to use on greenscreen if you’re shooting either HD or DV50. But if your director insists on creating a train wreck by not using a tripod, then you’re really better off finding other work.
Do not take on this project. Plain & simple. Unless you’re being paid by the hour, and the director understands that you’re going to work 8 times as long to get half the quality.
By not using a tripod, he’s guaranteeing that nothing will line up or be even remotely repeatable. Your 2 singers will not appear to be in the same space as your graffiti artists, and you’ll have to track the floating graphics to match the motion of one or the other. And anyone who watches the end result will get seasick watching the 2 different sets of motion in the shot.
Tell your director to either use a tripod or another effects artist. Run, don’t walk!
Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog -
I couldn’t agree more. I know the handheld look is “in” right now but when you’re dealing with complicated composites it’s not worth the headache. You can always add camera shake and some moves in post, which would be much easier than tracking everything. Also make sure when you shoot it the camera is at the same focul length for each seperate shot that will get composited on top of eachother. As far as a dancer moving out of frame, don’t let it happen, unless you’re going for that decapitated limbs look. Good luck.
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I just finished shooting some green screen for Nissan, with the HVX200. We shot at 720p 24pn. the green screen was a Composite components digital green screen lit with green kino flos. It worked great no problems with the keying at all. To concur with the other posts unless you want to spend hours tracking every shot then lock off the camera and do post moves after the comp. Its just not worth the hassle unless you have a Discreet Flame and an experienced operator. Good luck.
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There’s nothing about greenscreen that says you have to use a tripod. Just watch a movie series like Lord of the Rings- there are handheld composites all over the place. That said- you cannot even contemplate a project with greenscreen and handheld unless you are expertly versed in the art of motion tracking/match moving. If your only compositing experience is with locked off shots- then yes this is a project to avoid like the plague.
But if you do know how to do motion tracking- setting calibration markers, getting camera reports and running a motion tracking application like Boujou, PFTrack, etc then you’ll be fine with the HVX. It definitely adds a massive layer of complexity to shooting though and you should plan and budget proportionately. More info on match moving here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_moving
-Noah
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Ask the director to do a test shoot of the elements to make sure he has proof of concept. If he can’t pull it off with a simple test don’t waste an entire cast and crew shooting footage that will be unuseable in post. He also has the option of using a motion control camera to record each pass with identical camera movement that will match up in post with NO TRACKING at all.
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Just shoot it both ways with and without a tripod.
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RE shooting without a tripod. My own experience after shooting many years is do not tell the director he doesn’t know what he’s doing, because he may have a much clearer idea of what he wants than you do.
Just try to suggest also doubling up with the tripod for security. There is no inherent reason why you need a tripod. It all depends on how he wants the elements to line up. Its a music video & can be as wacky as he wants. If he doesn’t want to that’s his problem. It will probably be fine. You’re his helper, but its his show.
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