Alan Lloyd
Forum Replies Created
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AKG K240 series. Light weight, and big, soft, comfy over-the-ear cushions on the phones themselves. The cord is rather slender and lightweight, though looping it over the driver housing to make a strain relief will help with any fragility issues.
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I tend to agree with those who are concerned with the bounce of the rim light. If you can get enough kick from the China ball to avoid the “raccoon mask” look, can you do something with the overheads to provide hair/rim light?
That said, it’s looking a lot like a fun, crazy shot to pull off, and I hope once you do you’ll post a followup on how it went – and a production still or two!
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Are you using “scale to frame size” on your clips?
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This begins a complete other discussion.
First, make very certain the lighting on your green BG is even. A waveform monitor is your best friend in the world here. The zebra in your camera is a close second. I try to have my greenscreen BG nice and even (within 5-10 IRE max variation) at about 40 or so. If your camera zebra is set at 70 or 80, open up the iris about a stop or so maybe, until you see a zebra on the display – it should be even, without hot spots or holes.
Once that’s been determined, move on to your subject. Light normally. Make sure the talent is at a proper distance from the BG to avoid either shadowing the wall or getting green bounce. Maybe just a taste more hair/edge light, not too “butch” though. A tiny bit of warming on the edge helps, just don’t overdo that either.
Once that’s been done, we can move on to the software.
I’ve pulled OK greenscreen keys using different methods (chroma key, color key) in PPro, using Keylight in After Effects, and using Ultra, which I care less for.
They all work. Ultra offers a lot of adjustments but is less stable and will not output in an uncompressed format, which I prefer when making submasters. Keylight (in AE) has a lot of options and does a great job, with enough time for tweaking. PPro’s keyers work fine – if your lighting is right.
Why did I spend the time on lighting? Because the software only enters into it once the shot is in the can, unless you’re using a live keyer. And the critical part of getting a good composite out of a greenscreen setup is lighting it properly in the first place. And if you are doing a head-to-toe standup you’re going to need to light a good-sized area, including some green floor. My best advice is to find a studio space of sufficient size and make sure they have enough (and the right kind of!) lighting to make the shot as good as it can be first.
Vince’s trick of turning the camera 90 degrees is a good idea too, as you won’t be using a lot of the space on the side of the frame otherwise.
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Are you using the 4×3 presets or the widescreen presets?
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That’s possible, or they could have set up a mask where the subject walked “around” the picture initially, then removed it once he was in front.
Either way, you need enough floor space and enough lighting to make for an even exposure on your talent in front of something large enough for a head-to-toe shot – which also means green on the floor. And at least as important, an even exposure on the greenscreen wall behind the talent. You’ll also want that wall to be far enough behind the talent that neither spill nor shadows cause you trouble.
There are plugins to make the inverted reflection, but it’s also possible to do it with stock/standard effects and opacity.
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He either walks out from behind a greenscreen wall and stands in front of it or they did it with a mask and then removed it.
It’s going to require a decently-sized studio if you want a head-to-toe greenscreen shot in either instance.
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Storytelling above all.
How do you make a sculpture of an elephant? Get a block of stone and carve away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.
And as the others have also noted, learn the other parts of the production process as well.
Always principles over specifics – principles are portable, specifics rarely are.
And maintain your joy in it. If you stop loving it, you might as well be swabbing floors someplace.
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Glad to hear it. We can all use a few of these folks now and then.
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Well, yes, reflector placement would be critical. And how I think I’d do it, if I did it that way, would be to have a large reflector low enough that the light is coming straight across, and maybe place a “bottomer” such that I’d get the falloff to rake across the green right at shoe-top level. We’re talking a real PITA of a setup here, though.
Or maybe not.
Maybe I’d just try, if I was producing/directing this, to find a slightly more forgiving spot that still had sufficient natural beauty to work.
Seriously, I’ve had the good fortune to work with some very good lighting folks, and I’ve tried to absorb as much as I can every time. And I hope that never stops, no matter if it’s me or someone else wrangling the photons.
Golf – I think there’s a reason a certain Mr. Clemens referred to it as “a good walk spoiled” so very long ago.