Green Screen with still image background at DVinfo.net

Alex Butterfield · December 17th, 2005, 09:46 AM

Does anyone know if this can be done to look good?

I don't see why not, and in close shots (where actors are not actually touching anything that is int he background it would be easy, just match the lighting and get the colour correction right- I'm assuming) but for wide shots...

is it possible to film someone against a green screen so that they look like they are walking down a street then match a still image of a street behind them?

our film is going to be shot as much as possible in a green screen studio, and then composited together with location footage, or with location stills if that works easier.

Does anyone have any advice, or is there a definitive post on how to shoot for compositing, here or anywhere online?

Thanks

Alex

Carl Jakobsson · December 17th, 2005, 10:14 AM

With a lot of lightning work it is possible to make a still position look quite good, as long as the light, shadows and colours match with the background.

Taking a wide shot with people walking on a street will be very hard. Probably harder to do than the classic "driving in car"-fake. I can see a lot of reasons for this. When working with green screen the actors have a very limited area to move around in. So they can't walk around. The alternative is to have them standing still, maybe stomping on the same spot. The problem with this is that light and shadows would be fairly static.

I believe that you can only make this look good if you want a fake-surrealistic look.

Luke Brown · December 17th, 2005, 11:22 AM

Large scenes are very difficult. Lighting for nighttime or any thing other than direct light will be extremely difficult.

So tough in fact that I think even a pro studio who pulled it off could probably still have the footage easily identifiable enough for any trained eye.

The more real items you have in front of the foreground the more real it will look...but then again the lighting will just be a nightmare. Also keep a large distance between the actors and the screen (at least about 8 feet, more depending on the situation) or else you'll get bleed from the screen.

December 17th, 2005, 09:46 AM	#1
Alex Butterfield Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 33	Green Screen with still image background Does anyone know if this can be done to look good? I don't see why not, and in close shots (where actors are not actually touching anything that is int he background it would be easy, just match the lighting and get the colour correction right- I'm assuming) but for wide shots... is it possible to film someone against a green screen so that they look like they are walking down a street then match a still image of a street behind them? our film is going to be shot as much as possible in a green screen studio, and then composited together with location footage, or with location stills if that works easier. Does anyone have any advice, or is there a definitive post on how to shoot for compositing, here or anywhere online? Thanks Alex

December 17th, 2005, 10:14 AM	#2
Carl Jakobsson Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lund, Sweden Posts: 122	With a lot of lightning work it is possible to make a still position look quite good, as long as the light, shadows and colours match with the background. Taking a wide shot with people walking on a street will be very hard. Probably harder to do than the classic "driving in car"-fake. I can see a lot of reasons for this. When working with green screen the actors have a very limited area to move around in. So they can't walk around. The alternative is to have them standing still, maybe stomping on the same spot. The problem with this is that light and shadows would be fairly static. I believe that you can only make this look good if you want a fake-surrealistic look.

December 17th, 2005, 11:22 AM	#3
Luke Brown Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 31	Large scenes are very difficult. Lighting for nighttime or any thing other than direct light will be extremely difficult. So tough in fact that I think even a pro studio who pulled it off could probably still have the footage easily identifiable enough for any trained eye. The more real items you have in front of the foreground the more real it will look...but then again the lighting will just be a nightmare. Also keep a large distance between the actors and the screen (at least about 8 feet, more depending on the situation) or else you'll get bleed from the screen.