How to shoot video with a white seamless background on the cheap
Jun 7, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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There are countless ways of setting up and lighting a white background for stills or video, but sometimes you just need to get it done quick and maybe you’re working with limited space.
This short video from Rob & Jonas’ Filmmaking Tips shows us how to get set up easily and relatively painlessly for filming on a white background in a small space.
Rob, aided by his small co-host, August, talks about several options to create a white background and how to light it, explaining each step as he goes.
With many things in photography and video, there’s no one right way to do almost anything and white backgrounds are no exception, but understanding the principles of why a setup works will help you figure out a way they’ll work best for you.
For stills, I tend to go between using either a Lastolite Hilite with a couple of Bowens strobes or a white cloth backdrop with a couple of tall gridded strip softboxes, depending on how much room I have available. For video, I almost always go with the white cloth.
What’s your preferred method of creating a white seamless? Let us know in the comments.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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2 responses to “How to shoot video with a white seamless background on the cheap”
great video and great results too. What kind of fluorescent lights were you using? How did you utilise the gopro?
August was definitely the star of that video…lol…cute kid.