What type of backdrop for an educational training setting?

D

Deer Film

Well-known member
I am filming down in a lower level of a school building. The walls have vents and not to pretty to look at. I HAVE to film down there. I do have a background support system. What type of backdrop should I get. Never bought one before. It needs to look professional and not to distracting to take away from the training. There will be two people sitting at a table. Sometimes I will be shooting downward so you can see what they are writing. Some shots might be straight on.
I was thinking tan or some sort of shade of blue.
What would you recommend? Color, texture, fabric, and place to buy. Hopefully under 50 bucks.
thanks
 
Usually this question's answered by what your "vision" for the shots might be.

But since you have the stands, get a 9' roll of seamless paper from a large photo retailer. $50-$60 and available in dozens of colors. You hang it from the stands, and you can roll it to the floor and forward, creating a soft "sweep" or curve at the floor. You tape the front (towards camera) down to the floor and tell people not to step on the curved part.

That's why you also see people on set in their socks - so you don't footprint it up. If the floor is in your shots, cover the soles of talent's shoes with painter's tape and only let them walk on the drop.

If it gets damaged, just roll out some more. Shoot's over, just cut it off where it meets the floor. Bring blue tape to pack it back up, and a utility knife to cut it.

If you're not in a town where seamless is available, the shipping might be tough for a nine-foot box (check B&H website). You can always get a cheap muslin backdrop from eBay or camera retailers. You can hang them smooth (bring a steamer, you can get a standup steamer for about $150, Amazon, Bed-Bath-Beyond, etc. and they're great for the laundry room at home, your wife will love it) or crinkle them up, "drape' 'em, whatever.
 
Thank you very much. Any color you prefer.

And bummer, there are no photo stores near me. We used to have one, but the owner and son got shot in a robbery. And the other photo store went out of business. So I will have to get something on ebay or amazon.
I am in a small town in Minnesota.
But hey, we got good fishing.
 
Last edited:
Deer,

Check out utube or Vimeo, there are plenty of tutorials for this type of stuff. In particular, look for lighting vids.

Regardless, one thing you need is some separation between your talent and backdrop so your lighting doesn't make sharp shadows on paper, or if using muslin, can shine through it. Soft boxes or flo lighting will really help you.

Grant
 
Probably not the route you want to go but another option is to paint the backside of a section of linoleum. Not all linoleum is paintable, but your local vendor should know the difference.

When feasible I much prefer this option to seamless as the surface & sweep are smoother.

The downside is it's much heavier then the options previously mentioned so needs heavy duty support.
 
Your built-in problem is this: You would like to have a lot of distance between the subject and background to make lighting easier, but that restricts the size of image you can shoot. Try a sample setup to make sure your background is large enough (before you buy it). Grey or close to it will probably make lighting easier. If you used blue (for example), you would have to be careful about reflections from the background. We're all assuming you have no reason to go green/blue screen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top