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Removing Head With Green Screen
First off, thanks to anyone that takes the time to look at/answer this most. Your help is much appreciated. I only have pretty basic experience with after effects,so i expect i will have to do more research on terms people are using.
I’m hoping someone can describe to me how i would go about trying to remove a person’s head (while they are in motion) from green screened footage. I expect that I will have to use some kind of muslin hood that matches the color of my green screen behind it… however are there other things I should know while shooting or in post (keying)? What problems should I anticipate?
Thanks for any help.
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4 Replies
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Hey
I doubt whether the actor will play naturally with a hood on his head and the colors of the screen/hood will match for a good key.
You can watch the Assisted Suicide tutorial by Andrew Kramer.
If you have questions after that feel free to ask.
Note that in this tutorial there isn’t any use of a green screen, but you can do the same using a matte layer and invert alpha.Regards,
Elad -
Meryl Streep acted with a green hood on her head for “Death Becomes Her” when her character falls down some stairs and breaks her neck. That was motion tracked and replaced with her head on backward.
Ironically it was the day her mom showed up on set to watch her act, and there she was with her head totally obscured. It was all shown on a series called “Movie Magic” back in the 1990s.
OT: I wish that show was still in production!
One of the problems with doing a green screen removal of the head is you’ll need to replace the neck with something — or at least up to the point where the head is missing. Depending on the amount of movement, that replacement might have to be a CGI element in order to make lighting, highlights and shadow match the rest of the scene.
Dean Sensui — Hawaii Goes Fishing
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You’ll need to shoot the elements in two parts:
The ‘body’ actor (in the green hood)
and the ‘head’ actor against green.The biggest problem is the choreography of the two.
Be sure to put trackers around the neck and hands of the body actor.
Put the head actor on a turntable.First:
I would have the body rehearse the action with a dummy head.Second:
Then shoot the body plate.Third:
Rehearse the head plate while lining it up roughly with the body plate, spinning it to match the camera angle. Have the actor crouch to match the boom angle (up/down) as the head comes off.Fourth:
Shoot the head plate and do an on-set quick and dirty track and comp to make sure it’s working.Cheap tip:
If the head is moving his head around – it can help cover up mismatch in the action while the head is still on the body…Good luck!
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
–Emo Philips
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Thanks! That was really helpful. One more question that is particularly naive i’m sure: How to make the green hood? Just a peice of muslim that matches the green screen tied over my head that ends at the bottom of the neck?
Thanks!
Amy
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