Painting studio walls

[Charles Mercer]

I think I’d reached the same conclusion – once you’ve built the Cyc, you’re stuck with it. And in the last year and a half, we’ve never actually needed it. We like lighting backgrounds with cuckies, so a neutral, adaptable wall in our case would seem sensible. I think I’m beginning to favour a light grey, extending that down onto a floor, as well as leaving a corner for the green screen. Again, we’ve only used this to shoot waist-up, and nobody has complained. It would extend our range to get the green out onto the floor so we could use full body shots as we have the luxury of the space. I’m very much in favour of making the most profit from the least outlay, so it looks like the paint tin and roller are going to come into play.

Thanks for the comments.

Charles Mercer
Pearldrop Video Productions

[Mark Suszko]

Charles, you can have both, sorta. I’m a big proponent of using rolls of inexpensive sheet vinyl flooring for making coves. You use the back side, the side that usually gets glued down… it takes primer and paint very well. trap one end between 2×4 boards with weed screws, hang that off some c-stands or brackets on he wall, let the sheet unroll in a catenary curve to the floor. The vinyl is much more durable than photog’s paper, your talent can walk all over it and even put furniture on it, and you can wash it or touch it up with spare paint. When you don’t need it, you can roll it up and store it.

Prime the surface first, using Kilz brand latex (NOT oil-based) primer. Then paint gray or green or whatever.

[Charles Mercer]

I’ll check out our local carpet shop for the vinyl, sounds perfect. I have found a background mount with rollers and chains for free, so I was going to ship it into the new studio. Can you roll up the vinyl without the paint cracking or does it have to be left in a permanent position? I located some clearance masonry paint at the local DIY store at one third normal price, so I scooped it up – it’s mid stone in colour which is a grey variation. It’ll serve as an undercoat if we don’t like the final colour, but I think it will be OK.

Charles Mercer
Pearldrop Video Productions

[Mark Suszko]

You don’t roll it as tight as paper. If you use the right latex primer underneath, it will be relatively rugged. And pretty heavy. You don’t necessarily want to travel to locations with this. I think I would store it standing on end when rolled, because slumping from weight could make it take on a wavy look when again unrolled. It should eventually flatten out but better not to create the problem in the first place.

The vinyl need not be very expensive, indeed, the top color and design can be the ugliest thing you ever saw, making the stuff sell for cheap. This was the attraction for us: it was the only material in our budget that was that cheap and seamless. The only thing you want to watch out for is that you don’t want a vinyl that has any scultpturing in it carry thru to the backing or “felt”. You want that to be completely flat. And don’t use oil-based paints. Save out a quart of the top paint in a tight sealed jar for touch-ups.

[Charles Mercer]

Thanks for all the useful information. Our official get-in date is 1st July, but I can get access after 1st June. I’ll certainly try some of the ideas and I’ll post later when I have some results.

Charles Mercer
Pearldrop Video Productions