Need advice on colorful backdrop for corporate video studio

[Mark Suszko]

What you see there is a combination of a mottled muslin like what you can get from Denny mfg., plus patches of colored lighting on top of it.

If I had to suggest one curtain, I would say, get a medium “dove gray” or “CBS” gray. Because, depending on how much light you throw at it, that gray can read as anything from white to black, PLUS, whatever color you gel your lights, the gray is not THAT color. Many colors of Photographer’s paper rolls are also cheap, around 60 bucks for a 6-footer (width), and you can hang that from your rails with chains and a length of conduit.

Of course if you shoot greenscreen you have infinite choices of backdrops in post. But sometimes, all you need is a good, crumpled-up muslin and some lighting with a pattern over it, for a classic look.

[Mark Suszko]

My favorite instant pattern for background lighting, is to take a sheet of black cinefoil and stab it randomly with a ballpoint pen to get random sized holes in it. Some of the holes, I further distort and expand using my fingers. I place that in a tota-frame gel frame holder, in front of one of my Lowel Omni lights, and that becomes my “gobo” or “Cukaloris”. It can be combined with a color gel as well.

Another trick is to use a video projector, fed by your laptop or phone/ipod to throw a patterns, either still or in motion, onto the wall or photog’s paper backdrop behind a person. This is handy for projecting corporate logos, campaign slogans, and such, and some of the inexpensive, tiny “pico projectors” that are available today, are bright enough to make this work in a well-lit room.

[Joe Knapp]

Not to change the subject, but why can’t I see this thread when I go to the “Corporate Video” category? I stumbled on this discussion somehow, but can’t find it normally. Odd….

Btw, interesting thread. I may have to use that black cinefoil idea myself. 😉