Real time floating head effect?

F

Funkfish

New member
We're converting our office to be full on Wizard of Oz themed for Halloween. They're going pretty all out with the decor and costumes.

One of the rooms is being converted into "Oz" where they will have someone behind a curtain talking ominously into a mic. The room is equipped with a 60" plasma TV which they just planned on playing some looping video on.

My idea (if its even possible) is to point a camera at the man behind the curtain and using some real time video effects give him a floating Oz head type look.
I know this is kinda random and cheesy but I think it will be fun for the kids who are coming around the office that day.

My equipment is a

Canon XA20
Sennheiser G3 Kit
MacBook Pro with HDMI out.

Any idea how I would achieve this? Doesn't have to look super pro.

Thoughts?
 
How about running the camera directly into the screen and get the floating head effect in-camera? Have the wizard wear a black turtle neck against a black backdrop in a dark room with a single green uplight on his face. Adjust the camera/screen image settings until the he looks like a floating head. Then add two of these on either side of the plasma:

Haha lol jk. You said "all out" though.

Cheers,
Craig
 
Want to get really fancy? Do what magicians, theatre designers, and theme park's (my industry) do all the time and it's a cool effect every single time. Google "Pepper's Ghost". Basically you use a semi reflective surface (glass, plexi, or mylar) to bounce the image on the plasma. Do exactly what Craig said, but then add in the angled glass and it'll look ghostly. You can hang fabric or something upstage of the glass and it'll look like the head is floating in front of it.

In reality, it's a really simple effect, just takes some doing.
 
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