Video backdrop

[Getting Too Old Tbh]

Hi guys! I’m not sure that this is the right place for this topic but I couldn’t figure out where else it would fit.

I haven’t made any videos yet, but what I want to do is the “sit down” type of videos. That means that I need a decent background. I’m struggling with this because 1. I’m on a tight budget since I’m a student, and 2. I live in a tiny one room apartment.

Do you have any ideas on how to make a nice backdrop, and maybe some inspirational pictures?

 

[Magic Pete]

For several years I was a pro stills photographer and needed to have a choice of several backgrounds to suit the occasion. Keeping in mind your situation I will avoid suggesting the obvious things like rolls of special background paper that would cost money of course.

You can try a bed sheet but it would have to be stretched tight to avoid creases. The other way is to drape it creating deliberate folds to add interest. Next, it would be nice to have some form of lighting to get away from the plainness of it. I’m assuming you don’t have any ‘proper’ lighting gear but if you can get hold of a couple of ordinary table lamps or similar so that you can direct some light onto the background. Carefully placing some things like foliage in front of the lamp will add interesting shadow. Bouncing the light onto a coloured card or similar will add some colour to your DIY background.

One could suggest that a patterned duvet cover would be suitable but ideally this would need to be thrown out of focus and this would not be easy in a small room.

I'm sure others will come up with helpful ideas for you. Have you thought about lighting for the subject that I assume might be yourself?
Cheers. Pete.

 

[Getting Too Old Tbh]

For several years I was a pro stills photographer and needed to have a choice of several backgrounds to suit the occasion. Keeping in mind your situation I will avoid suggesting the obvious things like rolls of special background paper that would cost money of course.

You can try a bed sheet but it would have to be stretched tight to avoid creases. The other way is to drape it creating deliberate folds to add interest. Next, it would be nice to have some form of lighting to get away from the plainness of it. I’m assuming you don’t have any ‘proper’ lighting gear but if you can get hold of a couple of ordinary table lamps or similar so that you can direct some light onto the background. Carefully placing some things like foliage in front of the lamp will add interesting shadow. Bouncing the light onto a coloured card or similar will add some colour to your DIY background.

One could suggest that a patterned duvet cover would be suitable but ideally this would need to be thrown out of focus and this would not be easy in a small room.

I'm sure others will come up with helpful ideas for you. Have you thought about lighting for the subject that I assume might be yourself?
Cheers. Pete.

Thank you so much for the tips! I tried with a black fabric but it just looked gray and wrinkled. Maybe I should try a colored fabric and draping it as you suggested!

I have a few regular table lamps that I thought I would use, but they are not that strong and give off a yellow light. I haven’t found anything better that isn’t extremely expensive thought.

 

[Farley Productions]

Hmm....for me what comes to mind is 1.Bed Sheets and 2. Movie or Video game posters. 3.Any kind of appropriate pictures.

Generally those are pretty nice to look at and wouldn't cost an arm or a leg to get set up and put behind you.

 

[Magic Pete]

GreetingsTbh. (Your forum name is too long for me to use all the time. Forgive me???).Thanks for your reply and pointing out problems. You have told us of your situation so it’s no point in trying to give you masses of technical gen that would be baffling to say the least. So, as in my first post I will try to keep it simple. Please let me say that I’m not trying to talk down to you.

The subject of backgrounds and lighting is vast and over the years many books and publications have been published on the subject. (I have a book in front of me, ‘Lighting for Video’ running to 154 pages with illustrations).

You say your interest is in “sit down” type of video. I take it to mean that you, or the subject, might be sitting behind a table talking to camera. The first thing is that your chosen background must be wide enough to fill the screen. Obvious of course. You mention that you have tried black and have explained the problems especially the wrinkles. I wont go into why the BG records as grey, but unless the material is perfectly flat, wrinkles will show - more so depending upon the angle of any light falling on it. So let’s forget that.

Try hanging the material so that it hangs in folds as normal curtains do. It’s assumed that in your small room you have the facility to hang such a curtain? If you experiment with the placing of your background light/s to one side, they will create shadows in the hanging folds and that can look quite nice. Practice doing that.

You say that the light from your table lamps records as yellow. Yes it will. Again, trying to keep it simple, it should be explained that light comes in many colours and if we regard a sunny day as ‘normal’ colour, then cloudy days will be ‘blueish’ and table lamps will be ‘yellow’. Again this is a very complicated subject.

Let’s leap ahead and ask what light do you plan to have on your subject???? If daylight from a near window, then the colour will vary somewhat depending on the time of day. However, your camera, even on auto settings, should cope with that quite well, but the table lamps shining on the BG will certainly be yellow. Does it really matter if the background comes out as yellow? If you are not using available daylight as your main light, then what light/s do you intend to use?

I will ask another question. What is wrong with your existing domestic background for the videos you have in mind ?

I searched on YouTube ‘Lighting for Video’ and there are many such videos teaching the basics but it’s worth noting that many talk about the latest cool-running LED lights, but of course these require much money, but the basics are there. I tried to include a link to such a video here but it won't work!!

You see, I have written quite a lot, deliberately in simple terms and have come up with no firm answers. I think I will leave it there for the time being. Discuss further if you wish.
Pete.

 

[Getting Too Old Tbh]

GreetingsTbh. (Your forum name is too long for me to use all the time. Forgive me???).Thanks for your reply and pointing out problems. You have told us of your situation so it’s no point in trying to give you masses of technical gen that would be baffling to say the least. So, as in my first post I will try to keep it simple. Please let me say that I’m not trying to talk down to you.

The subject of backgrounds and lighting is vast and over the years many books and publications have been published on the subject. (I have a book in front of me, ‘Lighting for Video’ running to 154 pages with illustrations).

You say your interest is in “sit down” type of video. I take it to mean that you, or the subject, might be sitting behind a table talking to camera. The first thing is that your chosen background must be wide enough to fill the screen. Obvious of course. You mention that you have tried black and have explained the problems especially the wrinkles. I wont go into why the BG records as grey, but unless the material is perfectly flat, wrinkles will show - more so depending upon the angle of any light falling on it. So let’s forget that.

Try hanging the material so that it hangs in folds as normal curtains do. It’s assumed that in your small room you have the facility to hang such a curtain? If you experiment with the placing of your background light/s to one side, they will create shadows in the hanging folds and that can look quite nice. Practice doing that.

You say that the light from your table lamps records as yellow. Yes it will. Again, trying to keep it simple, it should be explained that light comes in many colours and if we regard a sunny day as ‘normal’ colour, then cloudy days will be ‘blueish’ and table lamps will be ‘yellow’. Again this is a very complicated subject.

Let’s leap ahead and ask what light do you plan to have on your subject???? If daylight from a near window, then the colour will vary somewhat depending on the time of day. However, your camera, even on auto settings, should cope with that quite well, but the table lamps shining on the BG will certainly be yellow. Does it really matter if the background comes out as yellow? If you are not using available daylight as your main light, then what light/s do you intend to use?

I will ask another question. What is wrong with your existing domestic background for the videos you have in mind ?

I searched on YouTube ‘Lighting for Video’ and there are many such videos teaching the basics but it’s worth noting that many talk about the latest cool-running LED lights, but of course these require much money, but the basics are there. I tried to include a link to such a video here but it won't work!!

You see, I have written quite a lot, deliberately in simple terms and have come up with no firm answers. I think I will leave it there for the time being. Discuss further if you wish.
Pete.

Wow, you are a gem! The problem with my current background is that it’s simply ugly. I have this old structured wallpaper that was probably white to begin with but isn’t anymore. So I’m going to try hanging fabric the way you talked about as soon as I find a good fabric.

I also want to build a background that is a little more interesting, with some sort of decorations. I am extremely self conscious about this video thing atm, and I honestly feel like I need a background that distracts from me a little bit.

I only have one window and it doesn’t get much light, so I’ll have to work with my table lamps. I’m trying to figure out three point lighting.

 

[BrettTaylorYT]

I have a few regular table lamps that I thought I would use, but they are not that strong and give off a yellow light. I haven’t found anything better that isn’t extremely expensive thought.

For the light situation if you have a Facebook you can check out the Facebook marketplace or LetGo or something of that nature for work lights. They come in all shapes and sizes and they’re usually very powerful. I got a nice small one (I too film in a small area) from he Facebook marketplace for I believe only $10. It is idea to have your lightsource come from 3 different directions but I’ve found just putting mine smack dab in the middle and having it shine through my tripod and that works very well. Mine is small and sits on a table but there’s tall skinny ones with 2 lights one on each side. (Just be warned the plugs are usually extremely small so you’ll probably need and extension cord or an out RIGHT next to the light)

Also if you want to see how I use it check out my r/nosleep (reddit reading) videos. The only downside to using one of those types of lights I think is that they get REALLY hot extremely fast so it might make you extremely sweaty and that doesn’t look too good on camera.

 

[Magic Pete]

Glad to see that you are working on 3 point lighting. However, given your limited space that would mean having three stands to get this sort of lighting in position, then there is your camera, so altogether quite a lot of apparatus. To be honest, I don’t feel that your table lamps will be all that practical for a complete lighting set-up. I assume you have a tripod or other support for your camera? I do quite a lot of filming of myself and I work alone so I can talk from experience. I use quite a powerful single lamp but bounce the light off the ceiling/wall (basically behind or to one side of the camera) which gives a nice much softer overall lighting. Not exactly ‘creative’ lighting but adequate for most jobs. This might mean spending some money but there are several domestic standard lamps with powerful lamps already made to bounce the light upwards. However, workman’s site lamps, complete with tripod, are much cheaper. I realise that from a lady’s point of view, they are not super attractive but are practical rather than decorative – and cheaper. You will see from the price that I’m in UK but wherever you are in the world, similar items will be available. There are advantages in using artificial light rather than daylight. The light from lamps will be constant, whereas daylight will vary in quantity and quality depending upon time of day and the weather. As you intending to video yourself, another point crops up. I have no idea what camera you are intending to use, but if it is a model with a flip out screen that can be reversed to view yourself, this is rather small to compose and view when you are some distance away. Ideally some form of external monitor such as a TV with a bigger screen that you can connect to your camera to view the larger image and check many details. Care to tell me the camera you plan to use? You say that you have a wall that is ‘unattractive’ then why not try as Farley Productions suggested, cover this wall with posters or similar that are appropriate to what you are going to be talking about. As you are discovering, there is more to taking a simple video indoors – especially of yourself - than meets the eye. Attached is a photo that I hope will explain what I’m talking about. There are two images of workman’s sites lamps taken from the web that illustrate the sort of thing. Top left is a rough & ready shot of my room with a set-up using a typical amateur video camera. Note the small screen. The camera is attached to a small TV where you can see my image taking the still. The lamp (not the same as I’m talking about) is directed to the ceiling/wall behind the camera. It doesn’t matter what is there as you can see a Hi-Fi speaker and slightly patterned wallpaper . Hope this helps. Pete.

 

[Getting Too Old Tbh]

Glad to see that you are working on 3 point lighting. However, given your limited space that would mean having three stands to get this sort of lighting in position, then there is your camera, so altogether quite a lot of apparatus. To be honest, I don’t feel that your table lamps will be all that practical for a complete lighting set-up. I assume you have a tripod or other support for your camera? I do quite a lot of filming of myself and I work alone so I can talk from experience. I use quite a powerful single lamp but bounce the light off the ceiling/wall (basically behind or to one side of the camera) which gives a nice much softer overall lighting. Not exactly ‘creative’ lighting but adequate for most jobs. This might mean spending some money but there are several domestic standard lamps with powerful lamps already made to bounce the light upwards. However, workman’s site lamps, complete with tripod, are much cheaper. I realise that from a lady’s point of view, they are not super attractive but are practical rather than decorative – and cheaper. You will see from the price that I’m in UK but wherever you are in the world, similar items will be available. There are advantages in using artificial light rather than daylight. The light from lamps will be constant, whereas daylight will vary in quantity and quality depending upon time of day and the weather. As you intending to video yourself, another point crops up. I have no idea what camera you are intending to use, but if it is a model with a flip out screen that can be reversed to view yourself, this is rather small to compose and view when you are some distance away. Ideally some form of external monitor such as a TV with a bigger screen that you can connect to your camera to view the larger image and check many details. Care to tell me the camera you plan to use? You say that you have a wall that is ‘unattractive’ then why not try as Farley Productions suggested, cover this wall with posters or similar that are appropriate to what you are going to be talking about. As you are discovering, there is more to taking a simple video indoors – especially of yourself - than meets the eye. Attached is a photo that I hope will explain what I’m talking about. There are two images of workman’s sites lamps taken from the web that illustrate the sort of thing. Top left is a rough & ready shot of my room with a set-up using a typical amateur video camera. Note the small screen. The camera is attached to a small TV where you can see my image taking the still. The lamp (not the same as I’m talking about) is directed to the ceiling/wall behind the camera. It doesn’t matter what is there as you can see a Hi-Fi speaker and slightly patterned wallpaperView attachment 42357 . Hope this helps. Pete.

Thanks for the ideas! I haven’t considered those types of lamps but I’ll have to look into that! I don’t really understand how just one lamp directed at a wall, even if it’s strong, would be sufficient though. I’m planning to use a Nikon D5100, since I already have that and can’t really afford to buy a video camera. I guess I could connect it to my computer monitor, but I have a difficult time not looking at myself while recording as it is.

 

[Magic Pete]

Hi Tbh,
Re the suggested light for video. Be assured that the lamps mentioned are really strong (and can get hot) and, as your room is small, you should have no problem. I shot two videos this very day using exactly the set-up seen in the photo although not the same camera. No problem at all, a really nice overall soft lighting.

I’ve just looked at a random review of your camera and it seems perfectly adequate for your needs. It would be so easy to say that if only you had this or that camera it would be much better. You have what you have and it will do the job fine. I would mention that the camera is basically for advanced stills, but with the facility for basic video.

One thing the review states is that Operation in video mode is completely automatic, regardless of the shooting mode set on the dial. However, in another review, it did suggest that some adjustments could be made (???). There are pros & cons to it being automatic in that you don’t have to worry (or learn) lots of complicated settings. Just start the camera and go. Another review stated, For creative users, the only downside is that the exposure controls are fully automatic.

There is a point you haven’t mentioned if you are by yourself recording. Your camera doesn’t have a remote control. So you will know, there is no alternative than to start the camera recording then return to your seat and start your project. All the excess footage at the beginning and end can be cut out in the editing stage. Have you got into video editing yet? Another learning curve!

The point you mention about looking at yourself in the monitor screen is with all of us. You just have to be firm with yourself and not do it. Yes, I’m still caught out myself and I’ve been at it for years. You mention your computer monitor. This may well be OK depending on the suitability of the inputs. You will have to check this for your self.

All this is getting quite exciting isn't it?
Pete