Creating an infinite white studio like the apple commercials

[Eastcoast]

Hi Guys,

I've been filming some videos which requires infinite white background shots. We've built a studio with white paper in the background and we are using styrene plastic sections for the flooring. The problem I'm having is getting the lighting consistent on the person in the shot. We need the shot to be a full body one which is what is causing the issues. What is happening is that we either get seams and inconsistent lighting in the background when the light is too low. Or when I bump up the exposure to even things out then the subject is too bright. Does anyone have any advice to help me out here?

Thanks a ton!

[hech54]

http://www.reelseo.com/infinite-white-background/

[Eastcoast]

Thanks for the reply, I guess I should clarify a bit more. The subject is moving a bit and it's a full body shot so something this simple doesn't work as when you zoom out you can't get by with 2 lights like this.

[jagabo]

There are many youtube videos about setting up a studio for exactly this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzDQDZaS5hc
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=infinte+white+background

[Cornucopia]

Infinite backgrounds are no more than big studios painted white where the floors are built to curve upward to blend into the walls seamlessly.

If the talent is going to be moving around, you have to have both "environment/background" lights and "talent" lights. Depending upon how much movement, there might be a whole lot of lights necessary. The idea is to have the background be EVEN and SEAMLESS. You make it seamless by gradually curving the floor. You make it even by using overlapping (cross?) side-filling (or down-/back-filling) flood lights, which are all behind the talent. You can also help make it even by "blowing out" the white. You do this by opening up the exposure in the camera to higher than normal so the white is overexposed to the point of saturation & flattening (no highlight detail).

Then, you adjust the talent lights to provide for a normally-exposed talent. These will likely have to be close-up soft lights or spots, and at somewhat sharper angles than most normal video shoots, so that the talent light spill does not affect the evenness of the background lighting.
If you have blown out the white background enough, you will have some leeway in this matter.

Last time I did this was with 2 talent and ~5 TVs on "hidden" stands (or hung by wires) and it required around a dozen lights.

I would guess the problem with styrene would be at the edges. One reason why most studios I've been in have been constructed of wood & sheet-rock & fiberglass (cheap & good, but flimsier), or of concrete (solid & great, but expensive).

Scott

[Eastcoast]

Infinite backgrounds are no more than big studios painted white where the floors are built to curve upward to blend into the walls seamlessly.

If the talent is going to be moving around, you have to have both "environment/background" lights and "talent" lights. Depending upon how much movement, there might be a whole lot of lights necessary. The idea is to have the background be EVEN and SEAMLESS. You make it seamless by gradually curving the floor. You make it even by using overlapping (cross?) side-filling (or down-/back-filling) flood lights, which are all behind the talent. You can also help make it even by "blowing out" the white. You do this by opening up the exposure in the camera to higher than normal so the white is overexposed to the point of saturation & flattening (no highlight detail).

Then, you adjust the talent lights to provide for a normally-exposed talent. These will likely have to be close-up soft lights or spots, and at somewhat sharper angles than most normal video shoots, so that the talent light spill does not affect the evenness of the background lighting.
If you have blown out the white background enough, you will have some leeway in this matter.

Last time I did this was with 2 talent and ~5 TVs on "hidden" stands (or hung by wires) and it required around a dozen lights.

I would guess the problem with styrene would be at the edges. One reason why most studios I've been in have been constructed of wood & sheet-rock & fiberglass (cheap & good, but flimsier), or of concrete (solid & great, but expensive).

Scott

Awesome reply I really appreciate it!

I'm thinking I'll have to buy some more lights to blow things out more on the background and then figure something out for the flooring to make it seamless.

Thanks again

[Eastcoast]

Hey guys,

So I managed to sort things out regarding the lighting and everything is looking improved. I'm still having the issues with the seams on the styrene flooring. I've attached a picture.

Due to the circumstances I can't rip up the carpet in the studio. Can anyone suggest another solution for a all white floor? Even if it was possible to make the seams less noticeable.

Cheers,