Multiplicity - Clones - How ?

[Carrington Benz]

I wondering how I can clone a person ? - like in the recent Justin timberlake video for"rock your body" - where near the end of the vid - there are multiple timberlakes dancing.
I was thinking of shooting the same person in a room at different spots with the cam on a tripod locked into the same position throughout the shoot.
Then maybe in fcp - I could cut the clips & layer on top of each other ?
Maybe that will not work - what do you think ?
Any ideas on how this effect is achieved ?
I have after effects too - so any info on what other plugins could produce multiple clones would be extra cool.

Actually I have seen this effect best used on a George Michael & mary j blige video.

[Monkus]

I think you can do it the way you are saying with the camera locked down and multiple takes. You may come across a problem it the actor(s) cross their own paths. That could get tricky. I think.....

[kai]

Set up masks on the clips in AE. Just make sure when you're shooting, the actor doesn't cross his paths, like Monkus said. That, and watch your shadows to make sure they don't get clipped with your masks. Might have to animate the mask.

[Neil Rowe]

you might be able to just use a difference key for all the additional layers over the original layer, and again.. as long as they dont cross paths, and the camera dosent move at all. this largely depneds on your scenery setting, and how close the background is to the talent color/chroma/luma wise. ..worth a shot. since its shot the same way as the other methods, but easier to accomplish in post

[Jive]

Your idea basically works. For a very simple cloning effect that is able to be done in FCP...
- lock down the camera for all 'clone' shoots
- position each clone in the scene so that they NEVER cross paths with another. If an arm, etc. overlaps, the effect will be lost
- take all footage into FCP and put each video on its own track directly over each other (at the same timeline position)
- use the crop (quick and easy way) or the 4-point garbage matte (still easy, just more work) on each clip in the timeline starting with the topmost track. The mask should show only the areas in the image where the clone will be over the course of the clip. Get the mask edges as close to the clone as possible so that there's more freedom to work with the other clones).

As long as nothing has changed in the scene between the different clips (except the clones' position), the effect should be seamless. Also positioning of the clone clips (which one is on top of the others, etc.) can make a difference in how well you can mask off the appropriate area.

I would recommend starting with a very wide shot where the clones are far apart to practice the technique on. Then as you become more proficient at masking off the clip, you can bring them closer together.