Video Shoot Advice at DVinfo.net

Mike Cornett · February 1st, 2006, 01:43 PM

I'm going to be shooting a music video this weekend. I will be shooting the band against a green screen.

They want to be silhouettes against the green screen. The green screen will be different images from their abbum art and other images added in post.

I plan to shoot them from about 12 to 15 feet away from the screen. The screen will lite evenly. Will I be able to get this effect without much tweeking in FCP 4.5 and/or After Effects 6.5??

Should I also consider positioning lights directly behind each member?

Any advice before this Saturday (Feb. 4th, 2006) would be great.

Thanks guys.

Andrew Khalil · February 1st, 2006, 03:58 PM

I'm thinking it will be rather easy to achieve in FCP but I'm away from my Mac now and can't remember the exact settings. I'm thinking that once the background has been keyed out, it should be easy to make them into silhouettes by simply darkening them a lot. I also believe there is a matte that will do that somewhere in FCP.
You could also under expose them in the actual shoot, but I wouldn't since it gives you more freedom in post.
If I understand correctly, you want them to look like the people in the iPod commercials, right?

Marcus Marchesseault · February 2nd, 2006, 04:12 AM

Do they want to be dark silhouettes in front of the screen? If so, you could keep them unlit so there is greater contrast between the musicians and the greenscreen. You could also add negative fill in front of them to cut down reflected light from the greenscreen. If you go this way, you might be able to pull a key from the luminence channel instead of chroma where there is less data. I don't know if FCP or AE will work with both the luma and chroma channels for the key, but it could be even better than just chroma.

Mike Cornett · February 3rd, 2006, 08:23 AM

Thanks guys.

I just have this fear of not being able to properly key the background. We use ultimatte at work and it rocks. It's a pretty heavy render though.

I was hoping that FCP would be strong enough. It's only a 30 second clip, so I should be OK regardless. A.E. will be able if not.

It will sorta' be like the iPod commercials. They want it more moody...less cartoony.

Thanks again.

Cal Johnson · February 4th, 2006, 04:43 PM

It sounds like you have access to After Effects 6.5. If you do, I'd recommend just doing the keying and compositing in After Effects, as that's exactly the kind of use it was designed for. You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little off, i'm just trying to think this through by memory, but I think to get the effect you're looking for it should be a matter of bringing the footage in, keying out the background, then to get the silhouettes you're looking for, apply the keyed footage as a matte to a black (or whatever color you want the silhouettes to be) solid layer.

Shouldn't be to hard and will be a good little learning excersise.

February 1st, 2006, 01:43 PM	#1
Mike Cornett Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Dayton, Ohio Posts: 43	Video Shoot Advice I'm going to be shooting a music video this weekend. I will be shooting the band against a green screen. They want to be silhouettes against the green screen. The green screen will be different images from their abbum art and other images added in post. I plan to shoot them from about 12 to 15 feet away from the screen. The screen will lite evenly. Will I be able to get this effect without much tweeking in FCP 4.5 and/or After Effects 6.5?? Should I also consider positioning lights directly behind each member? Any advice before this Saturday (Feb. 4th, 2006) would be great. Thanks guys. __________________ -Mike

February 3rd, 2006, 08:23 AM	#4
Mike Cornett Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Dayton, Ohio Posts: 43	Thanks guys. I just have this fear of not being able to properly key the background. We use ultimatte at work and it rocks. It's a pretty heavy render though. I was hoping that FCP would be strong enough. It's only a 30 second clip, so I should be OK regardless. A.E. will be able if not. It will sorta' be like the iPod commercials. They want it more moody...less cartoony. Thanks again. __________________ -Mike

February 1st, 2006, 03:58 PM	#2
Andrew Khalil Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 424	I'm thinking it will be rather easy to achieve in FCP but I'm away from my Mac now and can't remember the exact settings. I'm thinking that once the background has been keyed out, it should be easy to make them into silhouettes by simply darkening them a lot. I also believe there is a matte that will do that somewhere in FCP. You could also under expose them in the actual shoot, but I wouldn't since it gives you more freedom in post. If I understand correctly, you want them to look like the people in the iPod commercials, right?

February 2nd, 2006, 04:12 AM	#3
Marcus Marchesseault Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,961	Do they want to be dark silhouettes in front of the screen? If so, you could keep them unlit so there is greater contrast between the musicians and the greenscreen. You could also add negative fill in front of them to cut down reflected light from the greenscreen. If you go this way, you might be able to pull a key from the luminence channel instead of chroma where there is less data. I don't know if FCP or AE will work with both the luma and chroma channels for the key, but it could be even better than just chroma.

February 4th, 2006, 04:43 PM	#5
Cal Johnson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 180	It sounds like you have access to After Effects 6.5. If you do, I'd recommend just doing the keying and compositing in After Effects, as that's exactly the kind of use it was designed for. You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little off, i'm just trying to think this through by memory, but I think to get the effect you're looking for it should be a matter of bringing the footage in, keying out the background, then to get the silhouettes you're looking for, apply the keyed footage as a matte to a black (or whatever color you want the silhouettes to be) solid layer. Shouldn't be to hard and will be a good little learning excersise.