Green Screen Issues

After uploading our footage onto iMovie we discovered that the lighting for the green screen wasn't the best as you could see shadows and there was a 'fuzz' around the performer's hairline (see below).

We decided to research further into green screening to make sure the next time we film we can make it look as professional as possible. We went onto YouTube and found a helpful video about how to set up both the green screen and lighting.

The video said to peg the fabric tight to prevent the fabric from creasing thus creating shadows. It also said to 'weigh' the bottom of the fabric down with weights. To replicate this as best we could, we used a metal adjustable frame that our fabric could be put on and used thick textbooks as weights.

This is our new green screen filming set up 

Lighting wise, they suggest to point the studio lights at the screen whereas we pointed them at our performer. Pointing them at the screen prevents shadows appearing.

Filming Set Up

Today my co-director and I started filming the intro to our music video. Our idea was to show our performer stood holding a blanket (to represent a bed) and see her turn over to see her phone light up with a text from 'Stop Looking' and saying 'He's not going to call'. We wanted the text to read this as it provides visuals for the lyrics 'I wish that I could call but I know that you're probably asleep'. A relationship between the visuals and lyrics is one of Andrew Goodwin's 7 music video conventions. To do this I changed my co-directors contact name in my phone to 'Stop Looking' and sent the 'He's not going to call' from her phone to mine.

To make this seem more animated, we wanted to make the phone hang down by our performer's head and fly upwards after she turns away. As we were green screening we threaded green thread through my iPhone case so the thread could not be seen.

My co-director stood on a chair so she was taller than our performer and held the two pieces of string, slowly lowering it.

This took a lot re-takes as my co director's shadow kept appearing on the green screen. However, we persisted and tried putting the chair in different places and we came to the conclusion that the best place was behind the studio light. Re-filming this shot meant having to re-send the text from the other phone numerous times. This is what our set up looked like:

Prop and Equipment List for Filming

Here is all the equipment we will need for tomorrow's filming:

• Camera
• Camera battery and charger
• Tripod
• Studio Lights
• Greenscreen
• iPhone
• iPhone case
• Blanket for bed
• Green thread
• Choice of dresses
• Make up
• Computer to play the song
• Song lyrics

Risk Assessment for our Film Opening

Below is the risk assessment for our film opening: