White background in video - how ?

[El Greco]

http://www.lesmills.com/global/en/members/bodypump/learn-the-moves.aspx

Anybody knows what programs could be used to achieve such an effect and what would the procedure be ? I assume that the video was post-processed and wasn't shot against a white background.

[Skeptical Greg]

Just basic ' green screen ' technique ..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_screen

The principal subject is filmed or photographed against a background consisting of a single color or a relatively narrow range of colors, usually blue or green because these colors are considered to be the furthest away from skin tone. The portions of the video which match the preselected color are replaced by the alternate background video. This process is commonly known as "keying", "keying out" or simply a "key".


The program used, would be a video editor with compositing capabilities such as Vegas Video or Adobe Premier to name two on the high end ..

Some of the lower priced consumer packages such as Pinnacle Studio can accomplish this also.. Their Pinnacle Studio Moviebox Ultimate V12 (http://www.amazon.com/Pinnacle-Studio-Moviebox-Ultimate-V12/dp/B001HHXLYM/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1240587265&sr=8-2) product, even comes with a large green cloth backdrop to help you along..

[jsiv]

White floor. White walls. Lots of lights. Overexposure.

[Cavemonster]

Sometimes either technique is used, white background or chromakey background. Looking at the edges of the figures, you can tell they were masked off, a little crudely too.

There are generally more powerful chromakey effects in effects specific programs, like Adobe aftereffects.

[Skeptical Greg]

White floor. White walls. Lots of lights. Overexposure.
If that were the case, the subjects would be washed out also ..

[Beanbag]

Greenscreening or chromakey would be one way to do it. However, an easier way would be to just shoot against a white floor and background, uniformly lighting everything (think massive amounts of light bounced off the ceiling so there are no shadows). Eliminating the corner where the wall meets the floor makes it look like the talent's floating in a sea of white. See the reference to infinity cyc in the following reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclorama_(theatre)

@Skeptical Greg: no, the people wouldn't be overexposed. You can light the background separately from the talent and get about three or four stops difference. Result: washed out BG, proper exposure level on the foreground.

Beanbag

[kedo1981]

Greenscreen for video, blue for film.
You really can’t get the same results with an all white wall, the lighting is so tricky it wouldn’t be worth it.
Go to the department store and buy 4 bright green pieces of poster board, make sure they are form the same “lot” to minimize color variation.
Download a free “keying” software or if you have a video editor the chances are you have it built in.
Put your kid in front of it and experiment

[Wowbagger]

Greenscreen drapes are also available. I found them to be better than poster boards.

You get one free with Pinnacle Ultimate Edition, which also has chroma-key features to remove the green background, and replace it with whatever - (including an all-white background, if that is what you want).


Some people do film in front of all-white backgrounds (Penn & Teller's B.S.; and a few scenes in The Matrix), but as has been mentioned before: Lighting could be tricky.