Best Muslin backdrops

longshanks

longshanks

Well-known member
Hi,

I'm in the process of buying a White Muslin backdrop but am confused on what would be a good brand. I've looked at Westcott but I've seen other brands that are much cheaper. Anyone have experience on some good, quality brands I should be looking at?

Also, I'm looking for a 10x12 ft.
 
I'm doing work for a company that wants to put a person in front of an endless white backdrop similar to Apple.(rip off I know!)
 
longshanks said:
I'm doing work for a company that wants to put a person in front of an endless white backdrop similar to Apple.(rip off I know!)
Click to expand...

You may get what you want, but I think those setups use a stage with lighting, curved forms at the 'edges' of the wall and floor, and 'big' space to achieve the look.

If the person is not shot 'full length', that is waist up, you can create a 'light box', where white back, top and side translucent panels are illuminated from the outside, and will give a 'infinite white' look.

If you going for full length shots, you'll need probably at the least a 40x40' studio space, with 15 foot walls, so that the background wall can be illuminated evenly, and your subjects far enough away to not have shadows either on the background wall, or floor. This latter requirement would also require a very soft enveloping top lighting setup.

Essentially a setup that you'd use for chromakeying would do here as well.
 
That 'light box' idea is interesting. I should have made this clear, but I have a lot of experience lighting a so-called 'white room' or 'endless white'. But what I've used in the past is paper backgrounds. I'm solely interested in 'muslin' backgrounds because they don't require ironing, don't tear, and are collapsable.

Just trying to find a good brand that is durable, pure white, and quality made. Thoughts anyone?
 
I've used the black version of this one (http://www.amazon.com/Prism-Backdro...=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1277327940&sr=1-4) and it works pretty well. It's a bit thin so you have to be somewhat careful about what you put behind the screen (keeping it somewhat even). With lights, I bet the white one would work just fine. For the "Apple" look, also get a white panel board or two from Home Depot to put on the ground and have your actor stand on. It'll reflect the light and provide better shadows than just the muslin sheet. Look at this post: http://www.zarias.com/live-blog-post-creativelive-class/: second pic for the board and 4th pic for the results.
 
Denny Manufacturing Co. is one of the oldest BG suppliers I know of. Huge variety, many sizes.
Well worth a look if they are still around.
Hope this helps.
Ken
 
longshanks said:
That 'light box' idea is interesting. I should have made this clear, but I have a lot of experience lighting a so-called 'white room' or 'endless white'. But what I've used in the past is paper backgrounds. I'm solely interested in 'muslin' backgrounds because they don't require ironing, don't tear, and are collapsable.

Just trying to find a good brand that is durable, pure white, and quality made. Thoughts anyone?
Click to expand...

For still work I've only used beige drop cloths from Home Depot just dropped over a goalpost setup. The Wife, when she had a studio, use to use paper rolls, but since we closed down the studio, and done almost exclusive 'location' setups, the rolls proved to be rather bulky... The use of the beige muslin was more of get rid of the background clutter enough so that with Photoshop she could cut out the person from the image.

Not particularly 'useful' for moving people...

You can get 'white' muslin from upholstery stores, and with a 'frame' stretch the fabric to make it smooth. For black bacdrops we used in underwater pool shoots, we had several kingsized black sheets sewn together, with pockets made for bricks or weights to pull the backdrop down in the water.

The light box we have was a purchased item, the panels are on collapsible rectancular frames, and the translucent material folds up pretty small. But that only builds a 6x6x6' box. I don't have a name handy at the moment. Have to get home and excavate...
 
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