Location Sound: The Basics and Beyond

Get or make a 'Saddlecam' It's just a heavy duty canvas bean-bag, cleverly shaped to grip any type of camera. It makes a flexible camera base that may be set up in confined places, has limited angle work, but may be moved, slid on a smooth surface without a dolly. It can be fixed in all sorts of positions on just about any vehicle. We find it to be one of the most useful things in our inventory. You can use it on the tracking dolly instead of baby legs or a hi-hat. It’s also good as an aid to those shots where a tripod is too awkward or big to use, such as a quick tracking shot from a car, just place the Saddlecam on the window sill and hand hold. The store bought professional version is ridiculously expensive, we had a local canvas company sew our bags and got the filling at local fabric store.

Another dolly quick-fix is a simple wheel chair, bought second hand for as low as $30. It’s only good for smooth surfaces but if you mount a tripod or mono-pod to the back of the chair it makes a great little cart/tripod combo. Just load you light kit, gear bags on the seat and off you go.

Batteries - Always carry fully-charged extra batteries, otherwise you can bet that you will lose power halfway through the most important shot of your film. Bear in mind that batteries have a shorter life span in the cold. Hug them to keep 'em warm (and show them that you love them).

Gag your microphone - If you know you're going to be shooting in a windy place get a wind gag for your mike. Wind gags are basically furry things that fit over your mike (in the wild they can live up to 70 years), that cut down on the roar you will hear if filming in wind. The other day I stuck my camera out of a car window and the sound I got was like ground zero at a nuclear blast!

Protect your equipment - You've got to keep it safe from two things - the environment and from it getting nicked. Keep your gear clear from dust and dirt (use a cover to protect it from the rain) and screw on a skylight filter to protect the lens. Clean the lens/filter and viewfinder using blowerbrushes, air jets etc. Security! Keep your camera close to you, make sure its insured and know its serial number if it does get pinched.

Tape Care - Always use the best quality tape you can afford (usually metal evaporated). You can only capture an event on tape once. The great thing about tape is that you can record over stuff but be careful you may need footage again in the future. Remember, keep all your rushes!

Switch the camera on before you take the lens cap off - I don't know where I heard this, but apparently you can damage the camera's CCD chip if you take the cap off then switch it on - y'know, cap off, light streams in, chip gets frazzled. Equally don't point your camera at really bright lights i.e. the sun, nuclear explosions etc.

Try not to appear in your own film - Unless of course you are Hitchcock or your actor has called in sick and you're having to play the role yourself you want to try and avoid appearing in your film as...the camera operator! Avoid fingers near the lens or long hair draping into shot. Equally be careful when shooting through glass, mirrors or shiny objects not to catch a view of yourself. Use a polarizing filter to cut down on any reflection.

Remember to take the lens cap off. (Eh?) No, really, I'm being serious. In the rush of setting everything up for a shot you would be surprised at the number of people who set the camera recording with the lens cap still on. Even the pros can do it - a friend of mine had some footage that a Channel 4 documentary crew had shot the other day, there was a five minute segment with just sound, until the producer starts cursing when he discovers the lens cap is still on.

Leave that zoom rocker switch alone! See that button that rests just underneath your fingers when you hold the camera? That's your ticket to bad film-making. Its sitting there, nuzzling you saying 'Hey press me! Zoom in, go on. Now zoom out! Smart'. Unfortunately when you come to watch your film most of your audience will be sick because the zoom is constantly tromboning in and out. There are only two occasions when it is OK to use the zoom during a shot.

For your digital video product, imagine that you are a documentary filmmaker who is “on location.” In a short amount of time you must show/tell viewers what makes 4-H special.

Effective Communication
This means that you’re getting your point across in a meaningful way. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

· Know thy audience: Decide which audience you want to reach and speak to their skills and interests. You can choose a specific audience such as fellow 4-H members and educators; a broader audience such as teens or adults; or an audience as wide as the world.

· Tell a story: A film is only as great as the concept and story behind it. Plan your entire video segment by writing a script and/or developing storyboards (storyboards are a series of quick drawings outlining all shots in the video).

· Be Creative: Think carefully about what you want to say and how you can communicate the message in a unique way.

· Get to the point: Remember the point or focus at hand. Then answer it in the course of your video. Everything in your final product should support that answer, from the script to the background scenery.

· Show spontaneity: When filming people, try to catch your subjects in their natural state.

· Consider composition: Organize the elements of your video scenes in a balanced, eye-pleasing way. Use your hands or your camcorder viewfinder to help choose the best field of view. Who or what is your main subject? That subject should catch the eye immediately, so frame it accordingly.

· Use existing lines: Use the lines in nature or architecture as a framing tool. Again, creativity is encouraged. Your subject doesn’t have to be in a “box” to draw attention. Perhaps the branches of a tree fall diagonally across the video frame, with your subject off to one side. “See” the lines with an artist’s eyes.

· Be prepared: Make sure that you take your camera, tripod, lights, batteries and other gear and that it is in good working condition. Make sure your DV tape supply is adequate for the time of the shoot.

· Practice makes perfect: Don’t be afraid to experiment with camera settings and editing software. Your skills will improve with practice. It's a great idea to pay with your tools as much as you can on personal projects. When you don't have to make a client happy you can try things and learn skills that you can use in your professional work.

· Shoot for the edit: When you're shooting your video, be peripherally aware of how you'll be editing the story. You can save a lot of time in editing if you shoot the footage so it fits together to tell your story.

· Go easy on the technology: Technology should be used to enhance your video footage, not to fix or cover up mistakes. Make sure you aren’t recording too bright or too dark and that you can hear your actors. Make sure you are recording exactly what you want to use in your final production.

· Jazz it up: Capture a variety of angles and compositions in your shots. Try to film each shot for at least 15 seconds and then cut the length to about 10 seconds or less per shot in the editing process. Shots that are any longer tend to lose the viewers’ interest.

· Move with meaning: Pan or zoom only if you have a good reason. For instance, zoom in to highlight a feature that isn’t obvious in the wide shot, or zoom out to show the “scale” of your shot (such as the size of a building compared to the person standing beside it).

· Shade your lens: You can prevent “lens flare” – or the washed-out look sunlight can give your film – by using your hand, a lens hood or a flare buster to block the rays of the sun.

· Keep it simple: When editing your video, avoid using too many transition techniques. Though your software may feature a variety of transitions, using them in excess will give the video an amateur look. Stick with just one or two basic transitions, such as cutting from one shot to the next or using cross fades (cross fades: transitions where scenes fade from one to the next scene or from one scene to a black screen to another scene.)

Shooting Need To Knows

Now that you have the basics covered, it's time to tackle your next video project. No matter what you are going to film, if you address these basic questions and keep them in mind, your next video will be far more successful.

What am I taping this for?
Answering this question will help you identify how much effort you need to put in to achieve your goal. If this is a once-in-a-lifetime special moment that you can't afford to miss, you will need to take plenty of tapes and batteries as you will no doubt shoot lots more than you need. If you are just capturing another piece of family fun, getting the basics will be enough.

What kinds of conditions will I be shooting in?
Being aware in advance of the restrictions/details of your location can give you more time to think about overcoming problems.

What's going to happen?
If you can find out when and where particular action is going to take place, you will have a better chance of capturing the moment.

Where is the best vantage point?
Think about the action you will be shooting and make sure your position will give you good even coverage, not too far away and not too close. Think about the position of the sun and other light sources to make sure you choose the most even light for shooting. If you have this worked out from the beginning, you can quickly position yourself in the best spot when you need to.

Learn from The Movies

You'd be surprised how much you can learn about shooting video from the movies and watching commercials. Very often, we just sit down and let the movie scenes come at us without considering what went through the director's mind. Try it - for once, when you watch your next movie, consider how the director framed that shot or scene. You will learn a lot. The "Making Of" footage at the end of many DVD's can also be very helpful.

I've seen or heard so many people forgetting about the battery that I must emphasize it here. Please buy extra batteries! Preferably two extra batteries. Nothing is worse than shooting a video outdoors and having the battery die on you. Also, always bring the AC adapter too - so that you can charge your current battery whenever time permits.

Check The Sound

If you're a serious videographer, you'll have an external microphone, wear headsets when you are shooting and still roll the video back now and then to check the audio.

Shoot in Sequences

This is especially true when shooting B-roll such as crowd scenes or nature shots, rather than a static shot of an interview with someone.

Remember that you will be determining what the viewer sees and how the story unfolds, so try to shoot discrete segments that you then can assemble into that story when you're editing.

Here's an example:
Think of different scenes, as in a movie. Each of those scenes is made up of sequences. In each sequence, you need to follow the action, and shoot wide, medium and close-up.

Say you want to capture a person arriving at work in the morning on her bicycle -- that's one sequence. It could be made up of the following shots: the person pulling up to the building, getting off the bicycle, chaining the bicycle to the bicycle stand, taking off gloves, taking off her helmet, tucking gloves into the helmet, and walking into the building. Every little detail is important. You can't shoot enough details.

In fact, a good ratio to shoot for (literally) is 50 percent close ups and extreme close ups, 25 percent medium shots, and 25 percent wide shots.

It might break down like this: a wide shot of her arriving. A medium shot of her getting off the bicycle. A close-up of her pushing the front wheel of the bike into the bike stand. A close-up of her chaining the bike to the stand. An extreme close up of her taking off her gloves. An extreme close-up of her eyes as she looks at her hands while she's taking off her gloves. A close-up of her taking off her helmet and tucking the gloves into it. A close-up of her straightening her hair and looking at the building. A medium and wide shots of her walking into the building with the helmet tucked under her arm.

Here are some of the gems for your camera tricks bag:

“Spraying video” (when you take a camera out and just record everything, cutting it together with voiceover's) is not smart storytelling.
Video involves compressing time in pictures.
As with still photos, composition matters (i.e., rule of thirds, aesthetics).
If you are going to tell a story in 90 seconds, you cannot have a huge cast of characters.
Close-ups, close-ups, close-ups.
Always use headphones so you know if your audio is taking.
SHOOT TO EDIT (in other words, always remember to turn off your camera after every shot so capturing the video and working with it will be easier).
STORY MATTERS.
Long shots set the scene.
Let the camera run long, before and after the shot, so that you have handles of time for editing.
You’re gonna need 10-12 shots per one minute of finished video.
Watch out for your camera reflection in windows, and for background audio such as traffic.
People are more reticent to be on camera than they are to talk for a written story (in other words, get the hot dog owner on camera for the interview BEFORE she flees the scene for two hours, promising to come back in 10 minutes).

Make sure you untangle all the cords before you get to the scene.
Use a tripod, even a small one or a mono one, even if you are positive that holding it makes you a more spontaneous reporter; the shaking from all the caffeine WILL show.
You have to white balance your camera ALL THE TIME, after every new setting, even if that setting is only a few feet away but under different light (otherwise, your hot dog stand owner’s white shirt looks blue).
Even if you think you are hearing Nacho the Hot Dog Flipper reveal the Secrets of the Best Hot Dog Ever, the camera is only picking up the sizzling. Use an external mic. Always.

· People don’t really understand how to hold and use microphones, so you should always be the one to hold the stick mic. This puts you in control so you can get the best audio possible.
· Leave a little headroom at the top of the frame.
· Position your subject a little to the left or right of center and leave nose room to the opposite side.
· Use the LCD monitor on the camera to watch the interview at the same time that you look over the camera and make eye contact with the subject. This puts the subject at ease, gives her someone to look at and makes the interview more natural-sounding. But don’t, for any reason, make any sound at all when your subject is talking. Even the littlest laugh or “Ummm” from the camera person sounds awful.
· Don’t shoot your subject in front of a window or with the sun behind him, unless you want your subject to appear in silhouette; the best light source comes from behind the camera.

MAKE YOUR ON-CAMERA TALENT LOOK THEIR BEST
BY FOLLOWING THESE FIVE SIMPLE STEPS
by Brian Peterson, January 2006
Brian Peterson is Videomaker's Editor in Chief.

1. Mr. Make-Up?
It's true. When it comes to looking good on camera, makeup is not just for women anymore. Video producers often overlook this critical first step for several reasons. Perhaps they don't want to infer their talent doesn't already look their best; they don't want to take the time; or lacking a knowledgeable woman on the set, they simply don't know how to apply even the basics.

Put your talent, and yourself, at ease by acknowledging that even the best looking and blemish-free models, news anchors, and spokespersons (both male and female) always wear makeup on camera. Of course, good makeup will not (and should not) be apparent, so your only challenge is learn the basics and develop the confidence to at least apply a light amount of foundation or powder yourself. (Refer to our September 2005 article, "Wardrobe and Make-up," for details).

2. Get My Good Side
If you've been shooting video of people for more than a week, you've probably already experienced the shy subject requesting that you only capture their "good side." As a polite producer, you might sweetly insist they are both "good." What's the cost of a tiny little lie, anyway?

Actually, they are probably right. What makes all of us unique is a combination of greater or lesser asymmetry of our bodies (and faces in particular, especially when it comes to makeup.) You can relatively position the shape, size and skin qualities of noses, eyes, cheekbones and chins to the camera to highlight the most attractive attributes.
It's your job to set up the camera to feature the side most pleasing to the camera. Of course, just how honest you are about this "positioning" is completely up to you.

3. Fabulous Filters
You've probably heard of various tricks camera operators have used in the past from stretching pantyhose over the lens to smearing Vaseline on a filter. But if most of us can easily apply a softening filter effect during editing, why bother putting anything in front of the lens while we're shooting? Because optical effects can sometimes give you a more natural look. But you'll need to try this for yourself before you put it to use in any productions.

Several manufacturers make screw-on lens filters that provide a wide range of softening. Some, such as those with sandwiched black or white materials, will primarily soften only dark or light tones in the scene. Others combine a little warming and softening at the same time. With these, it's important to white balance before you attach the filter. And remember: if you use a filter during production, you can't take out the effect in post.

4. Careful With That Light
Proper use of lighting is where you can make the most impact on the quality of your subject's skin. Using a large light source, such as an umbrella or softbox a little above and just to the left or right of the subject-to-lens axis. Called "broad" lighting, this technique will dramatically reduce apparent skin blemishes, but unfortunately, it's not too interesting.

The further left or right you move your main light the more you will emphasize skin texture. To create a minimal amount of depth you may find this is necessary. Just be sure to use a fill light (usually about half the power of the key) that is very close to your camera lens. Remember, to ensure your fill light doesn't introduce unwanted shadows, be sure to use a light at least as large (preferably larger) than your main light.

5. Framed
This may be obvious, but it bears mentioning. Extreme close-ups turn even perfectly perfect skin into moonscapes. Be careful and just remember that you always can simply backup or zoom out.

Of course, some people with skin blemishes resulting from acne, sun exposure, or accidents may be intensely sensitive to their condition. It's possible they may either be offended by attempts to make them look different than they are or they may be relieved that you are willing to make them look their best. But having these tools at the ready will give you the ability to make that choice.

Creating a blue screen composite image starts with a subject that has been photographed in front of an evenly lit, bright, pure blue background. The composting process, whether photographic or electronic, replaces all the blue in the picture with another image, known as the background plate.

Blue screen composites can be made optically for still photos or movies, electronically for live video, and digitally to computer images. Until very recently all blue screen com positing for films was done optically and all television composites were done using analog real time circuits.

Other colors can be used, green is the most common, although sometimes red has been used for special purposes.
Another term for Blue Screen is Chroma-Key. Chroma-Key is a television process only. A more sophisticated television process is Ultimatte, also the name of the company that manufactures Ultimatte equipment. Ultimatte has been the ultimate in video com positing for 20 years. With an Ultimatte unit it is possible to create composites that include smoke, transparent objects, different shades of blue, and shadows. Ultimatte now makes software that works with other programs to create digital mattes, called Cinefusion.

How does Chroma Key work?
The Chroma Key process is based on the Luminance key. In a luminance key, everything in the image over (or under) a set brightness level is "keyed" out and replaced by either another image, or a color from a color generator. (Think of a keyhole or a cookie-cutter.) Primarily this is used in the creation of titles. A title card with white on black titles is prepared and placed in front of a camera. The camera signal is fed into the keyer's foreground input. The background video is fed into the keyer. The level control knob on the keyer is adjusted to cause all the black on the title card to be replaced by the background video. The white letters now appear over the background image.

Luminance keying works great with titles, but not so great for making live action composites. When we want to key people over a background image, problems arise because people and their clothing have a wide range of tones. Hair, shoes and shadow areas may be very dark, while eyes, skin highlights and shirt collars can approach 100% white. Those areas might key through along with the background.

Chroma Key creates keys on just one color channel. Broadcast cameras use three independent sensors, one for each color, Red, Green and Blue. Most cameras can output these RGB signals separately from the Composite video signal. So the original chroma key was probably created by feeding the blue channel of a camera into a keyer. This works, sort of, but soon manufacturers created dedicated chromakeyers that could accept all 3 colors, plus the background composite signal and the foreground composite signal. This made it possible to select any color for the key and fine tune the selection of the color.

As keyers became more sophisticated, with finer control of the transition between background and foreground, the effect became less obvious and jarring. Today's high-end keyers can make a soft key that is basically invisible.
Recently I have been working with the Grass Valley Digital 4000 special effects switcher. This unit makes beautiful chromakeys from a good source. With the Hitachi SK2700w studio cameras the results are stunning. Fine hair detail is not lost and shadows and other variations in the backing can be maintained or dialed out. However it doesn't have the capability to remove blue spill, as an ultimatte does.

Why Blue? Can't other colors be used?
Red, green and blue channels have all been used, but blue has been favored for several reasons. Blue is the complementary color to flesh tone--since the most common color in most scenes is flesh tone, the opposite color is the logical choice to avoid conflicts. Historically, cameras and film have been most sensitive to blue light, although this is less true today.

Sometimes (usually) the background color reflects onto the foreground talent creating a slight blue tinge around the edges. This is known as blue spill. It doesn't look nearly as bad as green spill, which one would get from green.
Usually only one camera is used as the Chroma Key camera. This creates a problem on three camera sets; the other cameras can see the blue screen. The screen must be integrated into the set design, and it is easier to design around a bright sky blue than an intense green or red.

A considerable amount of mystery is usually attached to blue screen lighting design. Also, a number of myths have been nurtured through the years, most of which are only half-true. Myth #1 is the flat lighting myth. While it is true that the blue screen must be lit evenly, this is not true for the talent or other foreground subjects. They may be lit as dramatically as you desire. The trick is in lighting the foreground without screwing up the background.

A great deal depends on what matting process will be used. If you are using Ultimatte, then a great deal of freedom is available. On the other hand, Chroma Key is not nearly so flexible and has more restrictions. I am assuming that most of the readers are most interested in video or computer uses, so I will not cover lighting for film mattes (perhaps someone with greater experience in that area can create a page for film matting?)

Ultimatte units have controls that allow for "cleanup" of an uneven background and other adjustments to fine-tune the matte. Ultimatte mattes can also maintain the background through shadows, veils, smoke, water, hair and other semi-transparent objects. Most Chroma Key units cannot even approach this level of subtlety.

One popular technique to minimize "the matte line" around the subject is backlighting. A straw, yellow, or CTO gel on the light helps to wash out blue spilling on the talent's shoulders and hair. (This technique is inappropriate for Ultimatte, as Ultimatte has a circuit that removes blue spill.)

If you are lighting a scene in which the subject does not need to be near the blue backing, then lighting is simpler because you can put distance between the subject and background. Generally you want the level of light on the backing to be the same as the level on the subject from the key light. In video terms, this would be between 60-75 IRE on a waveform monitor, although slightly lower levels will usually work. It is most important for the screen to be evenly lit. If the talent is standing or sitting on blue, then it is more difficult, almost impossible, to have separate lighting. With primitive chromakey systems, shadows can create a lot of difficulty, and so you must use a flat lighting scheme on the talent to minimize the shadows.

Many different lights work well for lighting the blue. Cyc lights are the old standard. A newer light rig called a "Space Light" also works well. This is a set of lights pointing up and down into a cylinder of white diffusing fabric. The new florescent fixtures are ideal also. Some people use HMI's, on the theory that they will punch up the blue by using a blue light on the backing and warm tungsten light on the subject. Some special effects companies use translucent blue screens that are backlit by dozens, even hundreds, of special blue florescence.

An old favorite of pros and amateurs alike is a single thermonuclear fusion source, placed 93 million miles away. This light source gives perfect corner to corner illumination and makes a perfect match between the key level and backing level. Shadows are easy as it makes only one set of shadows. If you place a water vapor diffusion screen several thousand feet up, you get a great shadowless light. A thinner water vapor diffusion softens the shadows nicely. Those who are inexperienced at controlling these types of diffusion may want to use a large silk or other diffusion instead.

I'm serious--I've done some great mattes this way. If you're shooting spacecraft models, this is probably the best way. Plus the rental charge can't be beat. The Death Star trench scene in Star Wars used this very same light source.

A waveform monitor is an essential accessory on a video blue screen shoot. Since it displays a graphic representation of the video level in the scene, small variations in brightness are very obvious. A screen that looks good to the eye may have considerable gradual falloff from top to bottom. I would recommend using one on film shoots, in combination with a cheap video camera. The graphic display is so much more useful in this case than a spotmeter.

Paints and Backings
The standard paints which almost everyone uses are from Rosco, the light gel manufacturer. They make Chromakey Blue and Green, as well as Ultimatte Blue and Green. One of the reasons I dislike using green as a backing is that the green paint is difficult to apply and just looks hideous. There is nothing more unsettling than having to work on a stage that is completely covered in Ultimatte Green!

You can also get blue and green fabrics and drapes, as well as backlit screens. Stewart Filmscreen of Torrance CA makes a backlit screen.

For location work, Wescott makes a folding background that is very handy. The fabric is sewn into a flexible ring, similar to a Flex Fill. This is great for when you need to get a talking head shot in an office, for compositing later. Elite Video also sells these, They have a Web Site. Photoflex has also started to make pop out blue backings.

What is ULTIMATTE?
Ultimatte is a trademark of the Ultimatte Corporation, of Chatsworth CA. It is an outgrowth of work the company's founder, Petro Vlahos, did in the 1960s for the Motion Picture Research Council. The goal was to invent a better matting system for motion pictures. Electronic technology was not ready yet then for a film resolution system, but video could be achieved, and so the first Ultimatte units were created in the 70's.

It is useful to think of the Ultimatte process as a mixing process, not a keying process. This is why it is possible to matte with shadows, hair, water etc. An Ultimatte uses the intensity and purity of the blue signal as a function to determine how much blending to perform between the foreground and background images. Another useful feature of the Ultimatte is the previously mentioned blue spill removal. Other circuits deal with glare, uneven or dirty blue backings, etc. Modern units from the Model V and up can independently adjust the color of the background and foreground plates. An Ultimatte used to have many knobs on its front panel, but the new digital units use a display screen and multifunction controls. The Current Model is the "8" and there are also models for High Definition work.

There are also very useful Ultimatte plugin filters for Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. Although the After Effects production bundle has an excellent matting filter of its own, it requires considerable manual tweaking of the controls to perfect the composite. The Ultimatte plug-in automates these functions, making the work of compositing much faster. Highly recommended and worth the cost if you have a lot of mattes to do.

A very useful feature is Screen Correction, which allows the operator to create perfect mattes from really bad blue backings. With Screen Correction, A still is first recorded of the backing alone, with no talent or other non blue pieces. This recording is then fed into the screen correction input. The circuit cancels out all the unevenness of the backing before any foreground elements enter the scene.

Lighting for Ultimatte
Ultimatte Lighting is not so much difficult as it is misunderstood. Ultimattes can retain shadows onto the background plate. Yet camerapeople often run into trouble trying to create a shadow! This happens because they first light the blue and the subject with an overall flat light and then add a light on the subject to "cast" a shadow. They see a "shadow" on the background, but it doesn't show on the matte. The shadow is still lit by the overall key. The new light is pointlessly creating brighter area around the shadow.

The backing should be lit to the same intensity as the key light. So to retain shadows, in which the shadow is actually darker than the rest of the backing, the same light should be used to light both. Also the light must be even. If there are darker corners, then the composited background will be darkened in the corners also! You can use this effect to improve the look or even relight a background plate. Since a shadow on the backing becomes a shadow on the background image, the background can be "touched up". Very useful for backgrounds created in computer modeling programs, almost all of which have very bad and artificial appearing lighting tools.

Blue gels can't be used on the backing, if they will also light the talent. Another big problem (with all blue screen work actually) is blue floors. They invariably have a slightly different shade of blue. This is because the light is glancing off them at a different angle from the wall. This glare effect can be removed with a polarizing filter. The downside is the two-stop loss through the filter. This means the camera will need to open up two stops or that the set will need 4 times more light. Try to position lights so they are pointing in the same direction as the lens, and not straight down into the floor. This will reduce most glare to a minimum. Where this becomes a bigger problem is set pieces such as blue desks and props that pick up glare from side lights and back lights.

Another difficulty that makes beginning Ultimatte artists tear their hair out is a lack of side lighting. To the naked eye on the set, there may appear to be sufficient illumination on the sides of the subject. But the subject is in what amounts to a brightly lit blue bowl, and is bathed in blue bounce light. When the Ultimatte removes this blue spill, the subject suddenly has no side light, and very dark shadows. If the background plate is bright, say a beach scene, the subject looks very out of place. In fact the effect will almost look as if there is a brown matte line around the subject. So you need to provide the same fill lighting that the scene you are matting into would provide. Fortunately this effect is easy to see if you are doing on set matting. If the matte is to be done in post, try to turn off as many lights as possible that only light the backing, while setting the subject's lighting. Generally it is best to start lighting the subject first, then adding fill light to the backing to even it out.

Some Blue Screen Q's and A's
Q - How evenly illuminated does a blue screen have to be, within a one-stop variance, for instance?
A - How well you need to light the background depends on the equipment that will be used to create the composite image. Some versions of Ultimatte, for example, can tolerate extremely poor lighting. What's most important is that the equipment be able to identify the background as being of a single color.
Q - Which is more effective, soft or hard light?
A - Normally, since you're looking for even lighting, soft sources work best, but that is up to you.
Q - Does the foreground subject need to be evenly lit, as well? I usually like to use some shadow on the fill side for modeling.
A - The foreground lighting need not be even at all the foreground should be lit in a manner that would be natural to the replacement background scene. If the backgrounds a sunset, for example, the foreground might look best as a silhouette. If the background has a strong light source coming from the right, so should the foreground.
Q - How important is it to keep the subject's light off the background? (Will the subject's light reflect onto the screen unwanted color, for instance?
A - Foreground light falling on the blue screen is not normally a problem. Again, the background should be fairly evenly lit. Whether that light comes from the screen lighting or the foreground lighting is of little consequence unless the foreground light is colored, in which case it could be a problem. What's much more of a problem, and is more common, is blue light reflecting off the screen onto the foreground. That can cause portions of the foreground to disappear in the composite image. The best way to prevent this problem is to allow sufficient separation distance between the foreground and the screen so that the screen doesn't contribute any backlight to the foreground.
Q - Finally, why blue screen? Is there a qualitative difference between the use of blue screen over green screen for video chroma keying? A recent article I read said that green screen for film provides less contrast. Considering that video is a high-contrast medium to start with, would there be a noticeable advantage to green screen over blue screen - or would video' more drastic limitation s in contrast over film simply render any advantage of one over the other meaningless?
A - Blue was selected as a color that doesn't normally occur in flesh (blue eyes are relatively easy to mask). In video, there is a significant difference between blue and green in terms of the replacement background video. Green is video's brightest primary color, representing approximately 60% of the brightness signal. Thus, the camera shooting the foreground ill normally make a transition from the bright green background to the darker foreground and back to the bright green background. Blue, on the other hand, is video's darkest primary color, representing only about ten percent of the brightness signal. Thus, the camera shooting the foreground will normally make a transition from the dark blue background to the brighter foreground and back to the dark background. If the replacement background video is to be a bright day scene, the use of a blue-screen background for the foreground shoot can cause an unnatural transition between background a d foreground. Similarly, a green-screen background would b e inappropriate for a night-scene replacement background. In practice, these rules don't need to be hard and fast. Again, what's normally more important is the equipment used.

Shooting Day for Night
From: D Gary Grady (dgary mindspring com)
Date: June 28 2001
The topic of shooting Day for Night comes up fairly often on the digital
cinematography board on www.2-pop.com.

Basically, you want to underexpose as much as a stop or two, avoid getting the sky in the shot, use strong backlight (either natural or artificial), and fill just enough to be able to see what you need to. It also helps to use the tungsten preset for white balance, giving the overall scene a bluish cast. Depending on mood and other things you might want to make the fill a contrasting (red or orange) color. You might also want to consider using no fill at all, leaving very deep shadows.

If you do have to have sky in the picture, you might see if you can get hold of a graduated ND filter, one darker at the top than at the bottom. Or you can accomplish the same thing in post, even superimposing a few stars. (If you have a lot of patience, you can even rotoscope around the foreground and make the sky very dark.)

Note that night-for-night often uses a very bright backlight on the subject and back- or sidelight on the background to leave lots of shadows facing the camera. No reason not to make the sun a big backlight.

It also helps to shoot around sunrise or sunset.

Shooting day-for-night with an overcast sky can be harder to do well, I think.

As with most things, it's a very good idea to try out different things. The great thing about video is that you can do this so
cheaply and easily.

Camcorder Lens Filters
By: Christine Peppler

After investing in a good camcorder, a sales person may suggest a lens filter for your new purchase. You wonder, are they just trying to make another sale or is there a justifiable reason for considering adding on a filter? Most of us aren't professional videographers and have no intention of producing a feature film with our camcorder, but lens filters do have a purpose even for those of us who use a camcorder only for recreational purposes.

There are many types of filters for camcorder lenses, each with their own purpose but some of the most common may be of interest to the average consumer as a way of assuring better films and protecting their investment.

Protective filters

A clear filter can be used over the lens of the camcorder to protect it from dirt, fingerprints, and other debris which may scratch or otherwise damage the lens. Replacing a damaged filter is far less expensive than replacing the lens. Using a UV lens filters can also protect against damage from ultraviolet light. Protective lenses are often attached and remain on the camcorder throughout its lifetime.

Polarizing filters

A polarizing filter can act to reduce glare caused by reflected light that bounces off of surfaces such as glass, snow, and water. These camcorder lens filters are particularly useful when filming outdoors where it can be particularly difficult to control reflective light or when shooting a film through a window.

Neutral density filters

Attaching a neutral density filter on your camcorder can help to reduce over exposure in shots as they decrease the amount of light entering the lens. The darker grey the lens filter the more light they filter out and thus the darker the resulting images in the film.

Color correction filters

There are a variety of color correction or color compensating filters that can be used to create different effects. For instance, to make a sunset more red or an ocean more blue. As these tend to be used for more creative or artistic purposes these lens filters are used less frequently by the average consumer.

Diffusion filters

Both diffusion and fog filters on a camcorder can soften images. Diffusion filters in particular are used when filming up close shots of people to flatter their faces by softening any lines or imperfections on the skin.

Although many consumers do not opt to purchase additional accessories for their camcorder, lens filters can be very useful. While some provide a very affordable alternative for protecting expensive camcorder equipment, others allow users to produce better films with less overexposure and more creative effects.

Author Bio

The author, Christine Peppler, provides information for readers interested in purchasing a camcorder or related accessories via her homemedias.info website.

Filming Food

From an article at Coherent Visual

Here are some tips on filming food:

1. Use colored dishes
Most non-professional art directors overlook using colored plates, service trays, glasses, etc. Color dishes do two things for you: add color to your scene and add contrast to food presentation. Imagine a black plate with a tomato and a leaf of lettuce on it. Much better than a white plate with the same items. Warning: Only do this if the colors of the dishes match (all glasses same color, all plates same color, etc.) If it looks like you picked up a hodgepodge of colored dishes at the local thrift store, it will ruin the film illusion.

2. Use a spray-bottle of cooking oil
Most food has a matte finish so the food surface doesn't reflect much light. A spray bottle of oil will add a shine to items that will enhance how most food appears on film. It will also add lighting highlights that enhances the look of food. A coating of oil can also be used to simulate wet food.

3. Think ahead about food rotting
Many people think of food refrigeration before the shooting begins (making sure meat, etc. is well kept before 1st call). Put lettuce in ice water to keep it perky. Beginners often forget to consider what the food will be like after 5 hours of shooting under the hot lights. Consider this when you're putting together your on-camera meal. It's hard to get a good performance out of an actor when a rotting pork chop is sitting right under his nose.

4. Mix real food with fake food
If you use all fake food (wax grapes, plastic lemons, etc.), the food will appear fake on camera. The best technique is to mix real and fake food. This can work especially well with deserts. Fake ice cream with real cherries and whip cream looks good enough to eat! Also, mashed potatoes can be a useful stand-in for ice cream. You can alternately use vegetable shortening or Crisco. I generally use potatoes because if you get even a little shortening on the table cloth, it will create an ugly grease circle.

5. Use the vaseline trick for beading water
Vaseline or glycerine can be used on an actor's face to simulate beads of sweat. Likewise, you can coat the outside of a vegetable (such as an apple). Use a hand spray filled with water and the water will bead on the surface for that just-out-of-the-garden freshness. Note that this effect won't be picked up by the camera except with close-up photography and specific lighting, so don't bother except under those conditions. This technique can also be used for beads of water on a glass if you need the glass to look like it's sweating from a cold liquid inside.

6. Soft lighting makes food look good
The general rule in shooting food is that soft light makes food look good to eat, hard lighting makes it look like poison. A large, soft light source above and behind the food will take care of a majority of the food lighting. It will pop the colors and make the food look appetizing. Then you can use a small key, fill, and spot lights to call out particular dishes or food items. Hard light creates harsh shadows which makes food look blacker/rotten. Food lighting is exactly like lighting people -- think of your desired effect.

7. Use dish soap for a head on a beer
If the scene requires beer, dish soap provides a good frothy head that lasts under the hot lights. It can also be used to add those appetizing bubbles to hot chocolate. Obviously, make sure your actors don't take a swig. That said, I would personally recommend avoiding shooting beer. Unless it is specially lighted, it will show up on film as a flat brown which typically less than appetizing. Use tea instead since you can select exactly the right shade for your needs.

8. Undercook food to retain firmness
Many foods wilt under the long shooting hours and hot lights. Some foods such as pasta (especially spaghetti) can be under-cooked to a rubber consistency. These foods will then stay firm during the entire shoot rather than wilting and appearing exhausted.

9. Bring spare tablecloths
Almost without fail an actor will spill something on your tablecloth. Both the spill and the stain will cause horrid problems for film continuity. Have 2 or 3 identical tablecloths on set. When a spill occurs, you can quickly swap out the dirty one for a clean reserve.

10. Consider using food doubles
If the food shoot is going to be very long and the food needs to look perfect, you can use fake food for the long shots and the real perfect food for the close ups.

11. Separate food layers
When shooting a multi-layer food item like a hamburger, separate the layers. For example, place a solid circle (cut from cardboard or a polystyrene disposable plate) between the burger patty and the bun. This will keep the burger from sinking into the bun. Likewise, some wax paper between the tomato slice and the top of the bun will keep the bun dry.

12. Buy more than you need a select a hero
On items like fruit, pastries, or buns, buy a lot and pick the most perfectly colored, shaped, or symmetrical from among them.

Camcorder Battery Tips

1. A new camcorder battery comes in a discharged condition and must be charged before use (refer to the devices manual for charging instructions). Upon initial use (or after a prolonged storage period) the digital camcorder battery may require three to four charge/discharge cycles before achieving maximum capacity.

2. When charging the camcorder battery for the first time the device may indicate that charging is complete after just 10 or 15 minutes. This is a normal phenomenon with rechargeable batteries. Remove the digital camcorder battery from the device, reinsert it and repeat the charging procedure.

3. It is important to condition (fully discharge and then fully charge) the camcorder battery every two to three weeks. Failure to do so may significantly shorten the battery's life (this does not apply to Li-Ion batteries, which do not require conditioning). To discharge, simply run the device under the digital camcorder battery's power until it shuts down or until you get a low battery warning. Then recharge the battery as instructed in the user's manual.

4. If the camcorder battery will not be in use for a month or longer, it is recommended that digital camcorder battery be removed from the device and stored in a cool, dry, clean place.

5. The milliamp-hour (mAh) rating of the Hi-CapacityT camcorder battery will often be higher than the one on the original battery. A higher mAh rating is indicative of a longer lasting (higher capacity) battery and will not cause any incompatibilities. A Hi-CapacityT digital camcorder battery will, in most cases, outperform the original by 30% to 50%.

6. New camcorder needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity. Rechargeable batteries undergo self-discharging when left unused. Always store a digital camcorder in a fully charged staged for storage.

7. Don't short circuit terminal or store your digital camcorder with metal parts. Don't connect and disconnect the camcorder within a short interval to prevent irregular charging of the rechargeable battery.

8. It's okay to use different brands of digital camera batteries in the same device -- for example, Energizer, Duracell, and generic. Voltage is voltage, and the device neither knows nor cares that made the camera batteries you put in it. Remember, you can mix brands but not types

9. Camera Batteries self-discharge quicker when it's hot. They're fine at room temperature, but once it's over 90o or so, they'll start losing their charge faster. So don't leave digital camcorder in a hot car.

10. Don't overheat. Do not attempt to charge non-rechargeable batteries. This will overheat them and could cause a fire. Keep camcorder batteries out of hot places, like your car. Your car can be an oven, and baking your digital camcorder batteries shortens their life.

11. Store properly. Keep your camera batteries in a cool, dry place. The refrigerator is cool, but not dry. You could store your camera batteries in the refrigerator and maximize their life by using a silica gel to keep the batteries dry. This however, is an expensive and inconvenient option.

12. Don't short the connections. Keep your camcorder batteries organized. Don't let the ends touch the wrong thing or you'll short the digital camcorder battery.

13. Don't mix and match your camcorder. Use the same chemistry and brand. Never mix rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries. That's very dangerous to you digital camcorder

14. Invest in a good charger for your camcorder. NiMH batteries should not be charged in a NiCad charger, unless the charger is specifically made for both chemistries. There are cheap chargers and there are expensive chargers. Make sure the charger you get has good reviews and is well made. Chargers with micro-controller chips are usually the best choice of your digital camcorder.

15. When charging your camera batteries occasionally discharge them fully before recharging them. This is especially helpful to NiCad batteries. Be careful not to discharge too deeply. (Less than 1v per cell for NiCad and NiMH. E.g., a 3.6v pack to no less than 3v.) Discharging to absolute zero will make your battery useless. It's best if you have a charger with a conditioner that will cycle the digital camera battery for you.

16. Be sure to store your camera batteries properly. Do not leave your batteries in a hot car, or in humid conditions. The best storage conditions are a cool, dry place. The refrigerator is fine if you stick in a packet of silica gel with your digital camera batteries in a sealed bag to keep them dry. It is a good idea to charge your NiCad or NiMH batteries fully before use if they have been in storage.

17. Many camera battery packs are made up of individual battery cells. When digital camcorder batteries are purchased to be made into a pack it is a good idea to equalize the charge on the batteries before building the pack.

18. Equalizing the camcorder batteries is nothing more than ensuring the voltage on each cell is within a very close range at the same state of charge (i.e. fully charged).If you do not equalize the batteries properly before building a pack, the charge and discharge cycles will be harder on some of the cells and will effectively shorten their life. Once a cell fails the entire digital camcorder pack will be weaker because of the one defunct cell.

19. The first way is to connect the set that will go in the camcorder pack in a parallel configuration. Leave them in this state for at least 24 hours. The cells that have a higher charge will charge the ones with a lower charge and digital camcorder will all equalize.

20. Camcorder Rechargeable batteries have been around for quite a while, and if you have been around for a while too you probably remember all the trouble with digital camcorder rechargeable batteries when the NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) rechargeable batteries first came out. There were major problems with memory effect and poor performance and most consumers gave up on using them before the technology had much of a chance to improve.