Parc Entertainment - A Video Production Company

Last Wednesday (1/27/10) we debuted a new video that was produced for the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB). The RPCGB is a community development organization that represents six counties and 84 municipalities in central Alabama. By leveraging state and federal funds, the RPCGB provides various services to its member governments that help facilitate growth and development. These programs are incredibly far-reaching, so they approached us and asked us to create a 4-minute video that would give viewers a basic introduction to the organization and the services it offers. We shot the video with the Panasonic HVX-200A at 720p/24p.

One of the things I enjoy most about working in video production is the variety. Every job is unique. One of the most recent jobs we worked on was for a producer based in Charlotte, NC. His client, a marketing firm from Milwaukee, handles a lot of work for Microsoft. Recently, a new video game was created for the XBox 360; a racing game called “Need for Speed: Shift.” To promote the launch of the game, Microsoft and their marketing team scheduled a demo with legendary race car driver Hurley Haywood. They needed a local production crew to come out to the Barber Motorsports Park to document the event.

We spent two days on location, shooting footage of the Porche vehicles on the race track and on the Barber test courses. We covered the action with two Panasonic HVX-200 cameras, shooting 1080i HD video to P2 cards. We had cameras placed at low angles next to the track, inside the vehicles, and up in scissor lifts. For the actual game demonstration, we pre-lit a Porche driving school classroom where we could get footage of Haywood as he raced other drivers on XBox Live. To conclude the shoot, we shot a sit-down interview with Haywood as he gave us his impressions of the game. The people at the Barber Motorsports Park were great. They were very accommodating and hospitable. At the end of the shoot, they even allowed us to select an item from their gift shop. It was certainly a fun and unique experience and I had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people.

Many of our video projects are shot on location, but every so often we have an opportunity to so some green screen work for a client. Shooting a subject against a green screen will allow the video editor to remove the green background and replace it with another of his or her choosing. Green screens are used every day on the evening news when the weatherman delivers the forecast.

Working with a green screen can be tricky, because if not done correctly, you will have nightmares in post production as you try to key out the screen and insert your own background. My recommendation is to shoot some practice footage first before you start work with your client.  Here are a few things I’ve learned from my experiences:

1. The green screen should have no wrinkles or folds. Any imperfections across the surface of the green screen will result in shadows and hard lines that will be difficult to key out in post.
2. The green screen should be evenly lit. There should be no shadows and no fall off. The light should be soft and diffused. A light meter will help ensure accuracy.
3. Create distance between the subject and the green screen. Any light reflecting off the green screen and onto the subject should be eliminated. If not, your subject’s edges will have a green glow when the screen is keyed out. Move your subject as far away from the screen as possible. Then use flags to block any reflected light coming from the screen.
4. Shoot on a format with the highest-rated color space possible. MiniDV has a color space of 4:1:1. You can use it for green screen work, but it isn’t the best option. Just be aware that there will be some challenges in keying with MiniDV footage. The edges on your subject won’t be perfectly clean. However, if your video is intended only for the web, MiniDV will work for you. Consider this video we produced. It was shot on MiniDV and the client was satisfied with the green screen work. Formats like DVCPro and DVCProHD have a color space of 4:2:2, making them better for keying.

Learning the proper video production techniques takes practice. There’s always something new to learn and the more time you spend shooting and editing, the better your craft will be.