View Full Version : Apple behind the scenes white background question...
Michael LaHatte November 17th, 2009, 09:44 PM In this video: Apple - Pro - Profiles - Andrew Zuckerman - Behind the scenes (http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/wisdom/video4.html) ... they have the cleanest white background that rolls up. Where do you get that? All I've been able to find are the folded up ones that are always wrinkled... I did see a green screen with a foam backing that was really clean and rolled up but I've had no luck on finding a white one. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Michael
Richard Andrewski November 17th, 2009, 09:59 PM Its also possible they may have just used a roll of photographic background white paper. Thats common and you can just throw it away if its messed up and roll out a bit more fresh paper. Otherwise, steaming or ironing the others will work as well.
Michael LaHatte November 18th, 2009, 06:59 AM Its also possible they may have just used a roll of photographic background white paper. Thats common and you can just throw it away if its messed up and roll out a bit more fresh paper. Otherwise, steaming or ironing the others will work as well.
Thanks Richard! Yeah, he definitely used photographic paper. I went to Andrew Zuckerman's website and saw his other work. He had links to his other websites like Andrew Zuckerman: Bird (http://www.birdbook.org/) and you can go to Films>Aviary or Films>Behind the Scenes, etc. and you can tell its photographic paper. Very clean look. He also has a website Andrew Zuckerman: Wisdom (http://www.wisdombook.org) and you can go to the section Making Of>How It Was Made and he talks about how they needed to be mobile and it shows closer shots of their equipment.
Richard Andrewski November 18th, 2009, 07:04 AM Good to know. I'm confronting an issue right now about building a cyc for a test setup I want to do and am trying to decide on the best material so its been on my mind a lot lately too.
Dan Brockett November 18th, 2009, 09:30 AM Any photo store will carry that or be able to order it. It is known as seamless paper. If it is wide enough for your needs, it is a good way to go and not that expensive. I usually just suspend it between two C-stands
I recently shot a film, most of which took place in a white limbo with five kids. We shot on a stage with a freshly painted white three walled cyc and I exposed the wall so that it was blown out by about a stop over the kids. Perfect for that Apple look. We were joking that if we need some pickup shots, we could do them in the director's living room with a roll of white seamless. We probably could.
Takes some lighting horsepower though and you need to light the BG separately from from the talent. Think soft light. I used three 2k Mightys bounced into beadboard on the kids and three 2k space lights to light the cyc.
Dan
Richard Andrewski November 18th, 2009, 10:09 AM I say definitely light the background layer with separate fixtures for white limbo or green screen for that matter.
Brett Sherman December 19th, 2009, 09:03 PM I struggled with getting a portable white background and tried a few different things. What finally worked was going to a fabric store, getting a 5 x 10 ft piece of fabric (don't remember the kind, but it was wrinkle-free since it didn't have natural fibers.). Then I set up my 12 foot wide background frame and put tarp clamps on both sides and tops. Then I stretch one side to eliminate the wrinkles and sagging. It works great and is incredibly portable, it weighs about 2 pounds and rolls and folds up. It doesn't go to the floor, but for interviews you don't need that.
Here is a link to a video I did with it:
Billo Communications Single Video Player (http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid5189554001?bctid=40274897001)
I got these rope tensioners to make stretching it fast and easy:
Figure 9™ Rope Tensioners - Lee Valley Tools (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=57817&cat=1,43456,43460)
I got three sets of these clamps because they are cheap, light, and small
FREE SHIPPING 5 pcs Muslin Backdrop Studio Clamp Clamps - eBay (item 330336637010 end time Jan-05-10 14:12:49 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/FREE-SHIPPING-5-pcs-Muslin-Backdrop-Studio-Clamp-Clamps_W0QQitemZ330336637010QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4ce9991052)
Evan Heckert July 22nd, 2011, 02:57 PM Reviving this thread because it's completely relevant to something I'm trying to accomplish. I viewed that video linked above, and they're doing exactly what I need to do. I screen capped several frames of that video to try to emulate their lighting, but I'm wondering if anyone has advice or directions on how to emulate the same lighting on a budget.
Many thanks!
Tom Morrow August 14th, 2011, 02:04 AM That apple video was worth watching. Two things I noted:
- They use black curtains on the sides of the subject, presumably to "place shadows". I suspect this is key to getting the texture and interest in the faces; otherwise you just end up with a high key wash of light with no definition.
- They use fill lights below camera, and it looked like they use a ringlight for this purpose. I've recently gotten into noticing catchlights in the talent's eyes, and I'm surprised that more than half the time I will see a low (below-camera) catchlight but no main or high catchlight (probably because key lighting comes from the side or is so diffuse as to not make a catchlight). Anyway, experimenting with having one light below-camera is on my agenda.
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