In my last entry I shared the effects-saturated music video I made for our Christmas presentation. That may not be the sort of video the average church video ministry would be asked to produce. But it does include some techniques that are likely to be helpful in extending the scope of live dramas and special videos. Consider, for example, an Easter passion play in which it is impractical to recreate key scenes on stage. Here is an example of an early music video I created depicting Jesus' journey through the streets of Jerusalem. I built an assortment of miniature buildings to create the set, but the locations can also be created with illustrations.
But we'll have to go back to the Christmas video to look at how it's done. Here is a progression reel illustrating the steps.
1. Plan the scenes carefully to determine what backgrounds are needed and the angles needed to shoot the live action. I like to start with an animatic or storyboards (sketch every shot).
2. You can shoot the live action first or create the backgrounds first. Just have images of the one handy as you shoot the other so everything will line up when composited. If you are taking photos of a miniature set, shoot far more than you need. This will give you options in editing and resources to use the pictures in another project.
3. When shooting against a blue- or green-screen, make sure the screen is lit evenly and that action (especially waving arms) stay within the screen. The camera can see beyond the screen because you can crop it out later. Also try to light the action the same way the miniatures were lit or the lighting appears in the illustrations.
4. If your live action has been lit properly, the blue and green screen filter in the editing program should enable you to easily place the shot over the background. If part of the miniature set or illustration is to appear over the live action, as exampled in the video, then use photoshop to create a top layer that holds only the foreground element. Then import the photoshop file into the editing program and sandwich the live action between the two layers.
5. For added believability, color-balance the layers to help create the illusion that they were shot under the same lighting conditions.
Keep in mind that realism doesn't necessarily need to be the goal. A more stylized approach can enhance the emotional impact of the sequence.
