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If you follow me on Twitter, then you might already know that I recently purchased the Panasonic AG-AF100 video camera, and have been shooting with it for the past couple weeks.
Some people have called this video camera a “DSLR Killer”. Is it? Well, that depends on what you’re using it for. In this video, I review some of its advantages and disadvantages.
About the Author: I’m Izzy Hyman, and I specialize in making video simple and easy to understand. Check out my free video tutorials or join thousands of people as an Izzy Video Member.
The background color of your frame makes an impact. In fact, it helps set the tone of the video. The black background I showed you previously suggests a more serious tone. A white background suggests a more up-beat, happy tone.
A white background is more difficult to create than a black one, but it’s still not super complex — nothing compared to doing green screen lighting well.
Overexpose the Background to Make It Become Completely White
If you overexpose anything, it becomes totally white to the camera. It’s easy to do with large white background paper, so that’s what I use. You could also use a white wall, or really anything that you can overexpose. If you have something blue and you’re able to overexpose it, you could make it become white too.
How do know if it’s overexposed? Many video cameras have the ability to turn on “zebras”. These are moving zebra stripes that appear on the LCD screen (not the recorded image) wherever the image is 100% exposed or more. Some cameras have the ability to set multiple zebras, one for 100% and one for 70% as an example. If your camera can show zebras, congratulations. It makes shooting video a lot easier because you can more simply see what’s overexposed.
Most of the time, we try NOT to overexpose things, but when you want a completely white background, you can do it intentionally.
Two Different Zones of Lighting
I should probably call this something else because I don’t want you to get confused with the zone system from Ansel Adams. That’s not what I’m talking about. When I refer to zones, I mean two separate lighting setups that are far enough from each other that one zone doesn’t have an effect on the other.
In this case I create one zone for the subject consisting of:
A Key Light
A Fill Light
A Back Light
These lights create a typical three-point lighting setup on the subject.
In the second zone, I use one broad light to overexpose the background. Broad lights are great for this because you can put them fairly close to the background, and the beam is so wide that it can illuminate a lot of the background with an even level.
If it doesn’t quite cover the whole thing, you could always add some supplementary lights. The point is try to create an even, flat, illumination that barely overexposes the background.
What do I mean by flat and even? It’s best not to have too many hot spots. Hot spots are areas that are much brighter than the rest of the subject.
Anyway, I consider zone two to be a separate subject, so it requires separate lighting.
A Couple More Tips
If you overexpose the background too much, you can create problems for yourself. It’s almost like the background becomes a giant light source, and when you point the lens directly into a light source like this, it can create lens flare which can de-saturate the image. It can also reduce contrast. You might not want a washed out low contrast image, so be ready to shade the lens. A lens shade, mattebox, or flag can help.
And you might need to bump up the contrast and saturation in post production.
Have you used white backgrounds in your videos before? Are there additional tips you want to add? Feel free to post your feedback in the comments below.
About the Author: I’m Izzy Hyman, and I specialize in making video simple and easy to understand. Check out my free video tutorials or join thousands of people as an Izzy Video Member.
I know that not everyone likes a black background behind their subject. In some situations, I don’t either. But I use it a lot. It’s easy to set up. It draws attention to the speaker, and it makes colors come alive.
The black background look is great for interviews if the location of your speaker isn’t important.
It totally depends on the situation, but a black background in your video can be a good idea for several reasons:
Black Backgrounds Are Easy to Set Up
You don’t need extra lights for the background. In fact, you want to try to keep the light off the background.
A Black Background in Your Video Eliminates Distractions
One of the most common distractions I see in videos is a busy background. Clearly people would prefer to look smart on camera, but I think it’s a mistake to err on the side of putting your subject in front of book shelves that are loaded with multi-color book spines.
(I can’t be the ONLY person who tries to see what the book titles are…)
It might be helpful to think of things this way — anything we choose to put in the frame with our subject, is potential competition with our subject. If it supports the subject, then great — leave it in. But if not, then it might be best to take it out completely.
A black background helps do this. It takes away any sense of location and helps the viewer focus on the speaker, and I think especially on their ideas.
A Black Background Makes Colors Pop
Colors appear more saturated and lively against a black background. That’s generally something I like to do to.
One Caution
A black background adds a serious tone, so it’s probably best for adults and more serious ideas. I generally wouldn’t shoot comedic material against a solid black background.
Can you imagine the Apple “I’m a Mac” commercials in front of a black background? Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? It wouldn’t work.
How to Create a Black Background
I use non-reflective black fabric from FJ Westcott. Personally I’ve found heavy black fabric to be less reflective than black paper, so it’s easier to have the background go completely black.
Keep light off the fabric.
I recommend you try this technique on an interview and see if you’re happy with the results. Like I mentioned, it’s not the best thing in every situation, but it’s hard to go wrong with a black background.
About the Author: I’m Izzy Hyman, and I specialize in making video simple and easy to understand. Check out my free video tutorials or join thousands of people as an Izzy Video Member.
Thank you to all the members who took the survey I posted last week!
Even though only a small number of the members filled out the survey (a little over 500 people responded), I still think this gives me a good idea of who my audience is.
As you can see from the results above, I have four main groups of people: prosumers, aspiring videographers, business people, and hobbyists.
This is great news for me because I feel like I know what these people want from video training. How do I know? I was there myself. I started as a hobbyist, then became a prosumer, used video in my business, and was an aspiring videographer — all of this before becoming someone who does video production for a living. It’s a common progression I see.
Based on what I learned from this survey, I have LOTS of ideas for 2011 tutorials!
One thing surprised me.
I never would have guessed that such a small percentage of the paid members are aspiring filmmakers. I thought it was higher. I’m not sure why I thought that – maybe because of emails I received – but I was surprised to see that less than 5% fit this description.
Conclusion
I have more questions for you, but I’ll get to those in future surveys maybe. For now, I’m just glad to have a clear idea of who I’m talking to, and the kinds of things you’re likely looking for.
About the Author: I’m Izzy Hyman, and I specialize in making video simple and easy to understand. Check out my free video tutorials or join thousands of people as an Izzy Video Member.
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