the easy way: chroma key or back projection? at DVinfo.net

Jan Pirouz Poulsen · September 4th, 2006, 12:40 PM

I'm new to filmmaking and would like advice on how easiest to shoot the following scene (I have 24 hours for setup and shooting in my private home):
In the foreground I will do 3 interviews with 3 brown women. Their position will be fixed. In teh background, behind the women, I would like to have some lively video shot. Actually it will be video shot on a amateur DV camera and refilmed from a TV screen. I'm considering the following options:
Either try a filming with a green cloth background and do a chroma key process.
Or backproject the video on a white screen behind the women.
The camera I will use will be a PDX or PD100, I plan to set a 3-point lightning and it must be edited in Pinnacle Plus 10,5.
It is not important that the backvideo looks "realistic" but it is important that there is seperation between foreground and background.
I'd appreciate your advise

Nick Jushchyshyn · September 4th, 2006, 04:08 PM

Dark skin and hair tend to key very well against a good greenscreen.
The key advantage (pun intended) to the greenscreen approach is you have greater control of you lighting at the shoot, as well as greater flexibility with the treatment and timing of the background video.

With back projection, you'll have more setup time, be required to balance the lighting to fit with the projection image and whatever you end up with in-camera is what you will be locked into using in the edit.

September 4th, 2006, 12:40 PM	#1
Jan Pirouz Poulsen Tourist Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denmark Posts: 4	the easy way: chroma key or back projection? I'm new to filmmaking and would like advice on how easiest to shoot the following scene (I have 24 hours for setup and shooting in my private home): In the foreground I will do 3 interviews with 3 brown women. Their position will be fixed. In teh background, behind the women, I would like to have some lively video shot. Actually it will be video shot on a amateur DV camera and refilmed from a TV screen. I'm considering the following options: Either try a filming with a green cloth background and do a chroma key process. Or backproject the video on a white screen behind the women. The camera I will use will be a PDX or PD100, I plan to set a 3-point lightning and it must be edited in Pinnacle Plus 10,5. It is not important that the backvideo looks "realistic" but it is important that there is seperation between foreground and background. I'd appreciate your advise

September 4th, 2006, 04:08 PM	#2
Nick Jushchyshyn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Posts: 548	Dark skin and hair tend to key very well against a good greenscreen. The key advantage (pun intended) to the greenscreen approach is you have greater control of you lighting at the shoot, as well as greater flexibility with the treatment and timing of the background video. With back projection, you'll have more setup time, be required to balance the lighting to fit with the projection image and whatever you end up with in-camera is what you will be locked into using in the edit. __________________ Nick Jushchyshyn Matchmoving, Compositing, TD imdb