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Ghost Actor Effect – Suggestions
I will be doing a series of commercials where I need to create a “ghost” effect of a person walking around a college campus. My thought so far to achieve the effect is this: Shoot each scene twice with and without the actor, preferably with a locked down camera shot, and lower the opacity of the video track with the actor. Another thought was to rotoscope in AE but that seems really time consuming.
How would you guys achieve this?
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8 Replies
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I seem to remember an odl Magicians trick of shooting in a mirror or through glass at an angle to get the effect you are looking for.
Sorry I can’t remeber exactly what was done, but I hope this helps.
Steve Cohen
Editor
O2 Media Inc. -
Now that I’m thinking about it more.
I believe that you shoot thru the glass at the room or the place where the scene takes place and then have the actor at a 45 degree angle to the glass, so you are basically picking up his reflection in the glass, but it is at reduced opacity.I’ll post more if I can get my mid working.
Steve Cohen
Editor
O2 Media Inc. -
Ok I got it.
The glass is in between the camera and the room at a 45 degree angle to the camera and the subject is standing parallel to tht glass.
Kind of like this if (if it works)
Room
Glass/
Camera____Subject
Don’t forget to light the subject accordingly.
Steve Cohen
Editor
O2 Media Inc. -
That is an interesting technique…does it affect the entire shot?
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Honestly I have never done it myself, but I think you will need to overlight the room a little bit to compensate for the black opacity from around the subject.
This is the same or similar technique that the use in the Haunted mansion in Disney World The scene where you are going infront of a glass window and there is a ghostly ball going on below you.
The difference is that the glass giving you the reflection of the ghost below is pointing downard instead of to the right or left.
Do a little experimenting with it to get the look you want, you’ll be able to tell by looking at the image in the camera or a field monitor.
Steve Cohen
Editor
O2 Media Inc. -
i’ve not tried this but it might work….shoot the location on clean plates, then shoot the actor in front of a black curtain.
Colour correct to crush the blacks on the actors footage, and try comping the layers by experimenting with transfer layers and opacity levels. That would you you the option of adding other effects to one or more layers rather than being tied down to an in-camera effect.
Would be worth trying both methods if you have the time/budget.
adam
Editor/Mixer
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK -
Well if you’re gonna do that, why not just shoot on green screen…. Then you have total control. If not, I’d do the lock down thing and shoot it twice, crop the actor layer as tight as you can with out having to rotoscope too much. Then use a transfer mode like screen and lower opacity, maybe a blur or glow effect… depends on background and how cleanly the layer is composited.
Good luck and let s know how you fared!
Jason
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You were going in the right direction…shoot the scene twice and LOCKDOWN cam. Do 50% mix +/- to taste. The common elements will appear 100% opague and the talent will be as semi-trans as you like.
LOCKDOWN…Don’t even think about moving the camera even slightly. Remember you really only need a frame of the empty scene unless there is action like blowing leaves or curtains..which will kill you btw….shoot the set before and after shooting the talent, just in case of otherwise imperceptible physical camera shift.
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