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Keying virtual backgrounds for "Hellevator"
Three FX artists/video producers detail their FX techniques
By Heath McKnight
In the past two to three years, I've been relying more and more on using green screen and chroma keying for my film and video work. After working with visual effects (FX) artists, I began to realize there is nothing complicated when using software to key virtual backgrounds and sets in.
In this article, three different FX artists/video producers detail what software and hardware they use, and their technique. Also, I will discuss and review virtual sets that you can purchase and begin working with immediately.
Hellevator
Hellevator is a short film written by David Michelinie, a prolific and legendary comic book writer who worked with Bob Layton on the famous Iron Man stories "Demon in a Bottle " and "Armor Wars," among many others. He also created the Spider-Man villain Venom. I asked David to write a short film that would be confined to only one or two locations, and he came up with the script for my new film Hellevator (www.hellevatormovie.com).
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| Behind the Scenes of Hellevator |
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| "Star Greg Nappo gets a gets a helping hand from Key Grip Chris Alonso. |
We scouted many locations with elevators and decided the best thing to do would be to shoot the film 100% in front of a green screen and create realistic elevator and office interiors. Since the film is about a fired worker who rides on what may or may not be a haunted elevator, I spent more time with star Greg Nappo (www.gregnappo.com) in rehearsal so he'd be fine working without a set.
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| Director Heath McKnight and Cinematographer Matt Miller with the Panasonic HPX500. |
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| Getting background plates of a real elevator. |
Related Sites: BN - Acquistion , BN - Panasonic , BN - Sony
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