July found nearly 40 of us crowded into the fine Ultimatte blue painted studio at Intuit for a program featuring -- what else -- blue screen tips, tricks and techniques. Organized and MC'd by ITVA (now MCA-I) member Jim Staylor of Staylor-Made Communications and hosted by Kristina Cobarrubia of Intuit, with refreshments sponsored by IVID Communications.

James Teiper ("JT") of JT Services, who gave tours of his killer new 4-ton lighting and grip truck out in the parking lot after the meeting (800-439-1605), provided this overview of the evening's program.

• Foreground "spill" of background color onto foreground has 2 sources:
  - Reflected light off of background color on to foreground
  - 'Lens Flare'- Lens optics become saturated with the background color and internal lens element reflection of this saturation causes an overall intensifying of image with background color.
• Backlighting of foreground subjects is best when done with white (uncorrected by colored gel) light.
• Ideal lighting ratio of foreground to background is a simple 1:1 ratio.
• A good test of background exposure level: Hold a white card up to background. Move it laterally. If monitored image displays comet-tail type streaking, then your background is over-exposed.
• Best way to light a subject that must be shown in contact with a background painted surface is with diffused light. What this refers to is when, for example, talent has to sit on a blue box -thus in direct contact with the surface that you're trying to separate. The spill from the BG surface onto the FG subject is lessened if the light source is diffused.
• Matching camera perspective to the planned background image perspective is crucial. This includes remembering such common techniques as matching lens height and putting the background at an appropriate focus (i.e. soften to indicate subject separation).
• Properly chipping the camera is a crucial first step in successful Ultimatte production. Also, once chipping is complete, camera color gain levels should NOT be tweaked.
• With problematic cheap lenses becoming more and more commonplace, special care should be given to checking for optical problems- the most common and noticeable being a darkening appearing around the composited image's corners.
• Refrain from using a camera detail enhancement function as it will introduce unwanted side-effects. Instead enhance your image through software after the composited image is completed. This same concept holds true for image compression as well.
• To test your camera's response to alternative background color selections, view your chosen color (red, green, blue) on an RGB monitor. Take each gun and view it through the green gun only, then compare the images. For example, if your chosen background color is Ultimatte Green, view the background with only the RGB green gun connected. Then, view with the blue gun ATTACHED TO THE GREEN GUN - IN PORT, and then the same with the red gun. This test will compensate for any illusion that will normally occur due to biases in normal human vision. [Note: Mr. Dadourian stated that human vision is 60% more sensitive to the green portions of the spectrum; 11% more to the blue]

Ken Terry, an experienced editor, now with King Schools and using blue screen on a daily basis, was next up with several insights. King Schools is known for their video based flying training that uses blue screen extensively. He brought several examples of how live cameras, static graphics and b-roll video are used as a background for the live talent. Here (condensed dramatically) are just a few key ideas from Ken.

Michael Finn, Four Square Productions spoke to the group about using blue screen on location in order to help maintain a consistent look and feel throughout a production. For example you have to interview 5 people in five different locations, but you want to have a similar look to each of the background. Bring a large blue "canvas" as background for each of the interviews and "fix it in post!"

Green screen master, Tom Kihneman, an independent director/editor suggests that compositing in real time is the best option. He also pointed out that one of the most important elements in getting a clean key is to separate your foreground as far as possible from your background (key color)…unless you are specifically going for shadows. And if you are going for shadows, then be sure to keep the shadow hard, rather than soft, for a cleaner, more controllable key.

Richard Crawford, Crawford and Company brought his special humor to bear while discussing "virtual" sets. Using Ultimatte can save tons of time and money when used to turn images of existing environments into realistic production sets. For example, purchased slides from an existing news set can, with a little modifying, be turned into your own lit, complete, customized set - for a fraction of the cost it would take to make it yourself! To help enhance the believability of one's Ultimatte environment, always include a "fooler" - a prop or effect that necessarily places the talent in the projected environment. A real table that the talent interacts with or a foreground matched surface reflection (i.e. using silver Mylar) are some good examples.

Wrapping up the presentation was our refreshments sponsor, Barry Mowat of IVID Communications, ably assisted by Clay Detels , digital video editor. They discussed some techniques for using non-linear systems and blue screen. Often, creating a 'scratch matte' - via software - to hide a non key-colored background prop can be quicker and simpler than messing with and creating an actual key-colored prop. If the talent's size needs to be smaller than your production facility will allow, software re-scaling is a viable alternative. (Another meeting attendee pointed out that a large true-surface mirror could also be used to increase one's focal length and thus alter the foreground subject's scaling.) The final presentation medium (2x CD-ROM, Broadcast NTSC...) is a crucial consideration and should be taken into account even before production begins.

June 1998
Jump Start Your Creativity!

The June ITVA (now MCA-I) meeting was held in North San Diego county at the office s of Hunter Industries. Member Dina Carnohan opened the doors to Hunter's luxurious theater for the meeting and fellow ITVA (now MCA-I) member John Thill of JM Television Productions provided the delicious food.

The program featured some recent Gold and Silver ITVA (now MCA-I) winning programs, as well as an example of what was winning a couple of years ago. 1998 National Blue Ribbon Panelist, Connie Terwilliger, of 42nd Street Productions, talked a bit about the judging process, punctuated with video clips from some exciting and powerful programs ... primarily in the categories of Internal and External Communications.

The first program "Living With A Healthy Back" was a fun and effective show on avoiding back pain. How many of those have you had to do!? Well, this one has a new twist. It was judged by the entire group using the official judging form and then discussed. Questions were raised about what it was about the program that made it an award winner -- the concept, the acting, the effects?

We also saw the show that was the most controversial video of the 140 plus shows reviewed by the panel this year. Produced to encourage bar owners to buy more liquor, this program (a Silver winner) was the topic of much discussion during the Blue Ribbon panel back in March in Dallas , as well as at the June meeting in San Diego county. As with the Blue Ribbon panel, there was divergent opinions of the merits of the program.

A special surprise screening was the premier showing of the first two clips of a new animated series called "A Moment with Digby & Marie". Al Lowenheim and David Hamby , responsible for the production, happened to have the tape with them and were invited to show it off -- to very positive feedback from the group.

April 1998
NAB -- Picks & Pans

Televideo opened their doors for us this month with a recap of some of the interesting products at this year's NAB. Val Reynolds of Sony was also there to talk about his companies latest digital equipment. Co-sponsor of the meeting was Logan Enright of The Enright Company.

The highlight of the meeting was a complete demo of the DraCo Casablanca non-linear editing system. At the keyboard of this low-cost system was Televideo's Len Wall.

The bottom line seemed to be that for corporate communications -- at a very reasonable cost -- you could produce some pretty decent results from this system. Because of the low price, the flexibility doesn't compare to the higher priced non-linear systems, of course, but the results were pretty amazing. If you learn the way the Casablanca thinks and try not to ask it to be more than it is -- this could be a way to get into non-linear for under $10,000.

March 1998
What Makes An Award Winner?

The March ITVA (now MCA-I) San Diego meeting was a rousing success with the theater/screening room at Lightning Corporation packed to capacity -- there were even a few hardy souls standing in the doorway. The program began just after 6:30 with a few words of warm up from Chapter Coordinator, Connie Terwilliger, followed by a preview of NAB from David Stepp of Televideo. David handed out NAB passes, which were then supplemented with invitations to the Sony Suite from Val Reynolds of Sony.

Following these housekeeping details, Chuck Cox, the meeting coordinator introduced the main event -- a panel discussion about what it takes to make an award winning video. Moderating the panel of producer/directors was Max Maple, a producer from SAIC Video Productions.

Winning an award in a competition is more than simply creating a top quality video that has beautiful footage, a clever script, great sound and good talent. The very first thing to think about is what competition to enter, and how to fill out the application form. And if there was one point that was drilled home, it is making sure that your objectives are clearly stated.

First up was Phil Shuey representing the IAAVC and their annual CINDY Competition, weaving his advice among 4 excellent examples of CINDY Gold Award winners. These examples, with large and small budgets were selected to illustrate how an award winning video needs to meet its objectives with a creative approach that shows technical and creative excellence. An example of what a CINDY judge is looking for can be seen by reading the instruction on this CINDY Competition Evaluation sheet. Simply Click Here.

Barry Mowat , who heads up the Corporate Communication Group for IVID, echoed the goal of writing a clear objective. Stepping through portions of a CINDY winning CD-ROM he produced on USC Football, Barry emphasized that if you are going to pay the money to enter a competition, you need to be sure you are entering one that you can win. There are plenty of competitions to enter, and it pays to do a little research in order to give your entry a fighting chance.

Director Devin Scott, of American Dream Cinema, pointed out how having a few awards on the wall validates what you do to potential clients and also serves as an introduction. Justified or not, a client likes to know that the producer, director or production company they select has a proven track record. Devin takes this a step further, by suggesting that you can potentially be grooming a particular project to win an award from the very beginning. This approach was used in creating the visual look for the Public Service Announcement Devin played as an example. If your client has an open mind, they may be more willing to take a chance on some unique creative element that you know will give your piece a leg up in a particular competition. This is a win win situation, because even if the program doesn't get an award, you and the client have found something in the process to inspire you to do something different to achieve your goal.

Using a Power Point presentation to add punch to his part of the panel, producer Jim Staylor, from Staylor-Made Communications went over his "5 Star Formula" for creating an award winning video. Showing a short clip from a program created for ENCAD, Jim explained how the Spoken Words need to work with the Images, Text, and Sound to create a Synergy that grabs the viewer's attention. For a complete recap of this formula, Click Here.

In fact, let the most creative person on the production team fill out the application. Stating clear objectives is key to winning an award in a competition. Make sure that the person who knows the most about the objective be the one filling out the application, so that the program has a fighting chance in a competition.

February 1998
ITVA (now MCA-I) Planning Meeting

January 1998

Steadicam Basics for Producers, Directors & Writers