Shooting basketball game scene, but no crowd, how can I make the illusion of 1

S

shabit87

Active member
I want to shoot a scene that looks like an actual basketball game is going on, but in reality it is an empty gym. I know the "sound" of a crowd" can help, but does any one know of any visual tricks I can do possibly in post, even?
 
You should post this question in the Special effects section a few spots down, you'll probably get more help there,

but to answer your question, That sounds crazy, I don't think you can pull this off, I'm assuming you're no big hollywood guy with sfx budget, but I may be wrong...

Why don't u just get a few friends, and angle the camera in a real creative way to give an illusion like there's more people in the gym? And the crowd noise will help. But I'm no Sfx person so maybe there's a way it can be done, but it might look cheesy..

good look.
 
I think it may be real difficult to do without ANYONE. Is this a high school basketball game where there might not be too many spectators, or a sellout pro game? If high school I would recommend getting as many family and friends together as possible (12> if possible), space them a few feet away from each other in the bleachers , and cheat the shots like crazy. By that I mean tight framing and angling the shots of the crowd so that the gaps between them don't appear. I would also suggest a lot of close-ups and high angle shots, as well as finding a gym that is very similar looking all around, so that way you can just reverse the direction of the players, shoot from the same angle, and not have to move the extras. In lieu of that you may have to ask them to shift from one side of the bleachers/court at some point(s)... Also, shoot a lot of end-to-end action (if there are no bleachers behind the baskets of course) .

Hope this is helpful and good luck.
 
shoot a lot of crowd only shots (no shots of the actual basketball game) at an actual basketball game at that gym and then do what scorsesefan said and cut the two together.

also, i know in hoosiers they didn't have enough extras to fill the fieldhouse so they dimmed the lights in the stands. and in coach carter they used cardboard cutouts and dummies for fans in the upper deck and in other places where they would be completely out of focus in that shot
 
chris f said:
shoot a lot of crowd only shots (no shots of the actual basketball game) at an actual basketball game at that gym and then do what scorsesefan said and cut the two together.

also, i know in hoosiers they didn't have enough extras to fill the fieldhouse so they dimmed the lights in the stands. and in coach carter they used cardboard cutouts and dummies for fans in the upper deck and in other places where they would be completely out of focus in that shot
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I was trying to think of basketball movies and its crowd and you gave some great examples. Thanks for your help. I actually saw a movie that was shot with no crowd, but it was football, so the audience was far away, anyhow.
 
Two words:
FREE BEER

my second choice for the two words would be "after effects". I'd be sure to at least put some visual 'spikes' in the bleachers to motion track to. I use orange safety cones for stuff like that all the time. If the first few rows are filled with real people, you might not have to do too much roto work.
 
for one scene, i think it's doable. shoot it from an angle where there is no seating on the far side of the court. Have extras sitting in front of and below your camera, so they can wave and cheer etc slightly in shot as if they're part of a real crowd. Take a camera or sound recorder to a real game and record all the crowd sounds and maybe some general crowd shots. Then expect to spend a lot of time in post, mixing and matching everything
 
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