Green Screen – A Midsummer Nights Dream
Camera Settings and Filming
Filming and assisting with a AUCB MA Students Theatre Project that combines live acting and interaction with projected images for a production of Shakespeare’s a Midsummer Nights Dream using VJ’ing software (Modul8).
I used my personal DSLR – Canon EOS 60D to film each of the actors in front of a typical Green Screen set-up. We used 5 light sources – 2 to illuminate the green screen background, 2 as fill lights either side of the actors and the keylight level with the camera and facing the actor.
The Camera was set to video in full HD, each movie clip was 1920 x 1080p and in the Quicktime .MOV format.
I used an external Rode directional microphone to record the actors voices, positioning
the microphone on the hot shoe of the camera and recording directly onto the video track through the connector on the side of the Camera, thus avoiding synchronisation problems in post production. However although the microphone should have been directional it did appear to pick up sound from behind the camera, although this could be due entirely to the acoustics of the studio. In retrospect it would have been better to have located the microphone on a boom closer to the actor.
Post Production
Moving onto editing and using After effects I keyed out the green background and masked the sides and top of the footage leaving just the actor in shot, thus preparing the sequence for a new background. I did this for each of the movie clips a total of 30+ which included some clips which were borderline but worth doing just in case we needed extra footage, or for cutaways etc. (Never discard anything is my personal motto).
Canon EOS 60D used for HD Movie Clips
and Mobile Phone Sony Ericsson W995 for photographs
The rest of the team will now continue with post production using After Effects to produce a complete sequence of clips that will be imported into VJ’ing software ready to be used for the live performance. Meanwhile I went onto helping with the theatre set-up and to test the installation on stage according to the MA Students staging and design.
Just for fun and to prove the Green Screen set-up had worked effectively I produced my own short video from two of the many movie clips to which I added a suitable background and some copyright free soundtrack and uploaded this to YouTube – see below. Of course this is out of context there is no magic carpet scene in Shakespeare’s Midsummers Nights Dream (maybe there should be?)
[youtube.com/watch?v=4daCfrvJeCY]- Canon EOS 60D in silhouette
- Canon EOS 60D – tripod mounted and ready to go
- Green Screen set-up for A Midummer Nights Dream
- Close up of the Canon EOS 60D screen
- Canon EOS 60D – showing the screen grid
- Canon EOS 60D DSLR