"how did they do this?" - background diffusion

Taylor, you are completely right we have totally digressed from the original purpose of your post -- How to achieve this effect?

To that end, let me answer your question more directly. A few years ago there was a company that sold a 6X6 soft focus scrim. I think this was sold through Markertec. I also believe it to be no longer available, but I will look into it.

If this product is no longer available you might try more tradition scrims. See this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzJsLlGmXI0. I would probably stay away from white silk and go something more natural, maybe you can find what you are looking for in your local fabric store. I word of warning here, be very careful of weave pattern because it can cause horrible morie.

Also, when using a scrim, be sure to keep your lighting behind the scrim brighter than in front to decrease to amount of scrim effect. I would also flag all foreground light off scrim.

You may also want to try using visgueen or a very light shower curtain. Use both of these just as you would a scrim. You will want to stretch this material tight for best effect. Home depot carries clip on tarp clamps that will aid this process...and they are cheap.

Best of luck and feel free to ask any additional questions. Oh, and post you results. We would like to know how it works out.
 
hoarp001, I think the table leg in the bottom right is an important clue. This leads me to believe this was some sort of plastic like visqueen or shower curtain stretched tightly.
 
phudsontx said:
hoarp001, I think the table leg in the bottom right is an important clue. This leads me to believe this was some sort of plastic like visqueen or shower curtain stretched tightly.
Click to expand...

That is what it is. No doubt in my mind, at least.

This works better in CU's.... I think this shot failed because it was just a little too 'wide' so the AoV was more encompassing, letting us see more.

Had they gone with a longer focal length and compressed the background a little more, then the out of focus table/computers might have been a bit more appropriate and not obvious.


I don't know what to think... this obviously can be pulled off in some situations and I think this isn't one of them.
 
Ryan,

Good point. In a CU or ECU this would probably look OK. I agree it doesn't work for me this wide but maybe they were trying to get this effect. If that is the case they succeeded perfectly.
 
I like this a lot. Mostly because you usually expect to see soft BGs in CUs. It's stylized. Not your run of the mill look. I do something similar with a 6x6 double black net hung between the subject and draped/lit muslin.
 
I have the special edition DVD and you can see that it's a plastic sheet in one of the behind the scenes photos.

When I saw the episode I always thought it was a glass wall in an office and not an attempt at shallow depth of field. Looks pretty science-fiction spacey to me.
 
Michel Gondry used something very similar in Eternal Sunshine...A stretched fabric on a frame in some of the flashback sequences (as a metaphor for their separation). Also you can see something similar in The Five Obstructions by Lars von Trier (used as a social metaphor, if my memory serves me correct).

I think it could work really well if you've already got some softness going on. Place this in the plane where your image is softest and it should in theory belnd in quite well???


The_Five_Obstructions.jpg
 
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