The Blue Screen Saga Continues

Another import aspect of blue screens is lighting, so on Friday I went to investigate the lighting available. As expected the normal everyday lights (I.e. the ones you find in homes) were within price range, but they seemed to be a bit weak, I want something with a bit more power, so I looked further field and discovered these…


Professional studio lights! Only problem is they’re a lot more expensive. That first light costs $210.75 and the other $166.95! This doesn’t include accessories like barn doors (for directing the light) and a stand. The total price for everything was $964.54! Way out of my price rang! Never mind, now I know what kind of lights I’m looking for I’ll attempt to get cheaper equivalents from a hardware store. They probably won’t be as good, but since the area I need to light isn’t that big it shouldn’t matter too much.

At the place that sells the professional lighting I was informed they also sold 3.8L of special blue screen paint for $180 - that make the first place I went to seem reasonable!

During my investigation I also looked into suitable “blue screen” curtains and discovered curtains can get quite expensive too - $46 for 1 x 1.4 metres! One place claims they have curtains in Ultramarine Blue and Chroma Key Blue but they have to get back to me next week on the prices.

I’m getting quite bored with the research so I think its time to start doing something interesting… Maybe I’ll start sketching out a few ideas for the megalith…

The Blue Screen of Life!

For convenience I intend to set up a blue screen at home, nothing overly big, but just the right size I can use for my miniatures.

What I envisioned was a board painted blue, problem is the shade of blue paint best suited for the purpose costs $33 per litre, which is rather expensive.

So here's the shades of blue - "Ultramarine" and "Chroma Key Blue"




Maybe not precisely those colours baring in mind they've been reproduced by a digital camera.

I’ve been advised I can produce a similar effect mixing acrylic paints, however its about $10 per tube, so by the time I got enough tubes I might as well have bought the paint that costs $33 per litre.

My next thought was to use a blue curtain instead of a painted board, so it looks like I’ll have to do some research on curtains.

Where it all begins?

I have begun by conducting background research on megaliths, mythology, Shamanism and related themes. Using this information I shall sketch ideas for a suitable megalith and then gradually refine them until I achieve the right structure and aesthetics. I shall also plan how the virtual space will relate to the physical space of the studio, thus requiring testing and experimentation. Finally, I shall experiment with compositing the various mediums together and creating visual effects like bringing dead vegetation to life.

Essentially I must determine which techniques are feasible, warranting further development and experimentation for use in the final cut of the project.


What I really need is a blue screen I can use from home... So how am I going set one of those up?

What happens in The Megaltih Project?

Now that the first draft of proposal has been written I shall share what its about...

The plug line...

Using a megalith as a conduit to channel energy from the environment a shaman preforms a ritual that returns life.

Synopsis...

The project will be a video sequence combining animation, still images (miniatures, computer generated and photos of existing locations) and live video, running for up to 5 minutes. The sequence will depict at least one character performing a ritual involving interaction with an artificial megalith and its surrounding environment to regenerate a dead tree.

Of course these details could change at any time without warning!