As everybody knows by now, my Silicon Graffiti videoblog, and most of the videos produced by those upstart reprobates over at PJTV use virtual sets to shoot the talent (or “talent” in the case of your humble narrator) in front of a green screen, and then computer software chromakeys out the green, and substitutes something that’s hopefully fairly interesting looking. You can get a sense of how that works in general by watching this Adobe Ultra demo reel from 2007 or so.
But it’s possible to do green screen effects outside of a controlled studio environment as well. I’ve been wanting to try a green screened driving shot for some time, before shooting the scene that appears at the start of my new video. In the past, most Hollywood movies and TV shows such as Route 66 and Adam-12 used front or rear projection to allow actors to perform while making it appear as if they’re driving a car. (You really don’t want to have the actor worrying about remembering his dialogue, hitting his marks, making eye-contact with his passenger, etc., while doing multiple takes, and simultaneously worry about actually physically driving a car down a crowded L.A. freeway. Not to mention having a 35mm Panavision camera mounted on the front of the car blocking his view.)
Increasingly though, Hollywood uses green screen effects to simulate driving shots. Mad Men uses this technique extensively, for all of those night shots where it appears Don’s driving Betty home after pounding Old Fashioneds at the Four Seasons. And for the scenes when Don takes the 7:00 AM New York Central commuter train from Ossining into Grand Central.
About two minutes into this how-to video produced by the gang at Videomaker magazine (where — FULL DISCLOSURE! — I contribute as well from time to time), you can see a very easy way to pull a simple car driving effect off. I grabbed a 4X8 piece of green cloth that was included as freebie bundled with a piece of beginner’s video software I had reviewed for the magazine three or four years ago, but any piece of bright green fabric large enough to cover the windshield will do , and with masking tape, simply taped it to the windshield and as much of the side windows as it would cover. This frame from the Videomaker demo uses a more rigid green screen, but you get the idea nonetheless:
I opened the sunroof of my Dodge Intrepid to allow a little extra light in to illuminate the interior, and then placed the camera, with a wide-angle lens attached, on a small tripod on the car’s backseat, and then ran a cable from the lavaliere mic I had clipped to my leather jacket around the floor of the car near the driver’s door (where it wouldn’t be visible in the shot) and then into the camera.
Then after shooting a few takes, I imported the footage into Premiere Pro CS5, and keyed it with the built-in Ultra keyer, and inserted a scene from one of Digital Juice’s HD VideoTraxx stock footage collections into a track on the timeline under the car footage (the opening shot of the Golden Gate bridge came from another Videotraxx collection). After adjusting the size and placement to the driver’s perspective, I was done. A surprisingly simple special effect shot, and I only had to walk to my driveway to shoot it:
Ed — how did you know what I was wondering when I watched your clip yesterday? I guess I must not have been the only one.
It looks to me like there’s a mismatch in saturation between your inside-the-car shot and the background footage though. I would guess that this is something the software can fix, at least, if guided by a skilled human. Might be easier to try to get the in-car saturation closer to the bright outdoor shot. Anyway, keep the imagination coming!
So this was the way political opponents made Obama look like a bootlicking sycophantic jerk bowing to the Saudi Princes? I knew that there would be no way a peace loving Democrat would suck up to a barbaric titular head of a head chopping ‘religion.’ The Czar’s should make this type of Goebbels news distorting devices illegal or at least keep it secret.
You need to color-correct the interior shot .. it’s too blue and doesn’t match the golden quality of the exterior Golden Gate footage.
Other than that, it’s a pretty good tip. Thanks.
I just read an article where the president (during his visit to the oil spill…between golf outings…well, I guess this was just another “gulf” outing after all) needed oil covered birds for the background as he excoriated BP, but none were to be found.
So I thought that what our president really needs is one of those blue (green) screen backgrounds and an archive of exploitive images to fit any and all occasions. This way the appropriate background could be immediately displayed for the brain dead masses daily dose of propaganda. Whether it be a bunch of dolts in lab jackets and scrubs for health care, or poor and bedraggled illegal immigrants for amnesty, or people of whatever convenient ethnicity he is exploiting, or just to make the crowds look bigger at his events…the list goes on and on. And it would be the perfect compliment to his teleprompter.
Better yet, let’s just have a completely CGI president, since nothing out of this administration bears any resemblance to reality anyway.
Really needs a marauding T Rex bearing down on you…
jsallison,
“Really needs a marauding T Rex bearing down on you…”
Heh. I can’t decide if I want to say that he was coming up fast behind the car, which is why you didn’t see him in the shot, or if I want joke that I’ll do that in the next video….
Regards,
Ed
Adam-12 never used rear-projection or chroma-keying for vehicle shots. The cars were always towed.
Ironically, Martin Milner starred in both shows mentioned: Route 66 and Adam 12.
Hi Ted,
I don’t believe I said that Adam-12 used chromakey, which was in its infancy when the show was airing. (Chroma was still mostly the province of bad TV weathermen and I believe the dreadfully bad Starlost sci-fi TV series from Canada at the time.) But I seem to recall them using projection from time to time for their car shots, in addition to towing the car, an “effect” which I believe that show pioneered. And it’s no irony from my perspective that Milner starred in both Route-66 and Adam-12 — that’s why I chose both those shows for post!
Regards,
Ed