Studio backgrounds for small studio

[Peter Stedman]

Years ago, when I ran a photographic studio, I possessed several 9ft wide paper backgrounds on rolls. I also had a couple of painted canvas backgrounds also on rolls. All these were disposed of many years ago. Occasionally I have the need for a background for video projects, mainly in my lounge, which will take 9ft, but also at the local club. I have some nice plain blue curtains but sadly as soon as they are put away they get creased and a way of satisfactorily getting rid of the creases has never been found.

I am wondering what other clubs or video photographers use for backgrounds up to about 8/9ft wide and why they use them and the various pros & cons.
Pete

[edin]

Hi - It has taken a long wait to get a response. We have not set up a fixed background but set up a blue/green chroma key background where subjects can be video/photographed and the necessary background superimposed during the editing process. There is an excellent publication called "Greenscreen Made Easy - Keying and compositing techniques for indie filmmakers" by Jeremy Hanke and Michele Yamazaki. Website - www.mwp.com that expands on this subject and is not too pricey!
Good luck with your filmmaking

[Peter Stedman]

Hello Edin,
Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I had thought about using green/blue screen but a couple of clubs locally have tried this and the results were not as satisfactory as I would have liked. I appreciate the ability to have virtually any background wished for, but if the results leave some niggling technical points, then I would prefer a physical background that can be varied depending on how it is lit. Perhaps other would like to discuss this.
Pete

[Mike Shaw]

The effectiveness of Chroma keying depends on two things - the way the scene and subject is lit (trying to avoid green reflections from the chroma cloth onto the subject), and often ignored - the capability of the video editor being used. Some editors have rudimentary or basic chroma keying facilities (choice of colour range and strength of the mask's efectiveness - gamma), while others offer a number of fine tuning capabilities including the ability to further work on the most troublesome area - the edge of the subject.

Lighting: one of the tips I was once given by a pro lighting cameraman was to use a magenta filtered light behind the subject and onto the subject, to help kill 'green reflections' in, for example, the hair - which often causes the most difficulties.

[edin]

I agree that chroma key requires attention to detail to get the best results and several clubs have produced some good videos from green screen sets. The Bristol Film and Video Society made a dramatised documentary on John Cabot's voyage of discovery on the Matthew in 1497. The costume drama, shot at historical locations in Bristol and its surroundings, has a cast of 120 drawn from amateur drama groups throughout the area. The result is available from the IAC Film & Video library (tape V165). It is well worth a look and I think they have a article on the IAC site or their club site on how they went about it. Previously they made a video on Clarkson using green screen shoots and the links to it are shown below

http://www.bristolvideo.org.uk/clarkson/article.htm
http://www.bristolvideo.org.uk/clarkson/illusion.htm

Physical sets take time and effort to construct and set up and do not offer the flexibility of chroma key sets, but again it is the preferences of the video maker that count.