Here’s more on-location studio style interview footage - all shot in a small room over a teal paper background.  The interview style is fun and energetic – a great approach for Millennial marketing or upbeat corporate projects.  We’ve incorporated motion graphics to underline key themes and maintain energy.

 

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Here's more on-location footage shot in a small room. This time, we shot chroma key footage on a portable green screen. Here are the before and after images:

Since the movement was fast and youthful, we shot footage of lots of flailing arms and flipping hair (not the best source material for footage that we would later need to key).

We keyed the footage and then added graphics that appear to interact with the talent - moving around them, casting shadows on them and appearing to grow from their actions. The 3D motion graphic elements were rendered out in a manner which allowed us to move the graphic elements in front of and behind the actors seamlessly. We also motion tracked some of the shots allowing us to match the movement of the graphics to the actors movements.

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Our last post showed examples of two On-Location ”Studio” Looks. In this post, we’re sharing a clip that utilizes available background. 

In this case, we shot an interview in a room that had a bank of windows as part of the background. Instead of blocking out the light we decided to use the windows to our advantage.

By shooting with an 85mm lens, we were able to blur out the background – turning the “negative” obstacle of the harsh winter light coming in from the outside, into a “positive” interesting-looking background image.

Here's the result:

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We do a lot of on-location interviews.  In the last year, we’ve done almost 100 interviews.  All were shot on-location. More than ever, clients want to shoot where they are.  People, at all levels within any company, just don’t have time to travel to a studio. That does not mean, however, that clients want to sacrifice quality.

Below are just two examples of what is possible on-location.  Each interview has its own distinct look and feel, but were both shot in the same size room. When shooting on location, the physical space limitation is the main obstacle.  Unfortunately, the reality is that the largest room most companies can offer is a conference room. Below you will see the results of shooting in a very small room, while still achieving a studio look. Both interviews were achieved using our standard camera package, lights and lenses – no special rental camera, light truck, gear or lens rentals were employed. For the two interviews below, we took advantage of our 85mm lens.  The lens imparts a cinematic effect, beautiful skin tone, and a shallow depth of field, which provides an infinite studio look. We have determined that we can achieve a studio look in a room as small as 16’ wide, 20’ long, with 9’ ceilings for standing subjects, 7 ½’ ceilings for seated subjects.  Anything larger is a bonus.

White Background approach:

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Black Background approach:

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Although shot in the same size room, the production and post-production approaches vary considerably, resulting in two very different interviews, each with their own distinct look and feel. What’s most exciting is that these are only two possibilities – there are infinite approaches.

Shooting video has always had its downsides. Mostly, in the past, video didn't look like film. Then, a few years ago, came the ability to shoot video in 24p, the same speed rate as film is shot in, and suddenly you could shoot video that had that "film look". The only thing missing was that most video cameras had a fixed lens, which meant not much depth of field. So unlike film, with video everything in your frame was in focus. To give video that "film style" you need to be able to shoot using a 35mm lens that will give you more depth of field in your shots. Now you can get adapters that will allow you to do just that.



There are numerous reasons to shoot with 35mm lens adapters, such as the power to achieve far shallower depth of field. Another less-cited reason is that most adapters soften the image just a touch; they can remove some of the harshness of HD video. But by far, my favorite reason for the use of 35mm adapters is the fact that they tend to make you work more in the "film style," slowing down your work flow and compelling you to pay closer attention to framing and composition. Because focus is a critical element with a 35mm adapter rig, you tend to work more with your talent and skill—and it makes you a better shooter and director.