Ozzie's other thread.. Behind the scenes...!

[OlmanOz]

For quite some time now I have had it in my mind to start this thread.. 

It will be dedicated to all  the "behind the scene work" that goes into creating my stories.. I will reveal my secrets, tips and tricks..
Show you how I make the props and evaluate characters that have appeared in various episodes, (A kind of unboxing).. Plus a whole
lot more.. All in the interest of expanding and enjoying our hobby...!

I invite everyone to share your own ideas, experiences, joys or disappointments.. Plus ask any questions you may have.. At this
point I have no idea how much time I can dedicate to this thread, but time will tell.. So to get the ball rolling I will start with; 

How it all began.. 

In the beginning I came up with the idea of photographing my figures in front of a picture displayed on my 46" tv using a thumb drive plugged into the back..
Which of course kind of defined my "unique style" as my "My teddy bear won't talk to me" story developed..

In the early days (the first year or two) My setup was rather primitive. I used an ironing board, a piece of chipboard and chunks of foam to raise and lower the
height of the set so it would line up with the picture I wanted to use.. To be honest it was and absolute pain in the arse.. It was very unstable and a nightmare
to move up and down..
The slightest bump would start the domino effect causing all my figures to fall over...

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Eventually I could take it no more.. So in November 2018 I placed an extra cabinet in front of the Tv and purchased an adjustable computer stand..
Best thing I ever did.. I can now raise and lower the set without to much effort and most things don't fall over because it is way more stable.. Well worth the money I paid...

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Of course filming in front of a tv is not as easy as it sounds either.. First of all you need to adjust the backlighting..
In this first one the tv is set at about how you would normally view a movie etc..
Note the backlighting #.. As you can see the figures are to dark because the camera is compensating for the tv's brightness.

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So reduce the backlighting.. It's a bit of trial and error, but you will be surprised how dark the tv looks to the naked eye
but when you snap the picture they look perfect..

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Other issues shooting in front of a tv include the gauzing effect and reflections, but I'll save those ones for later...
Oz..

[0osik]

Oooooo, the magic is bring revealed.

Maybe you should a "Spoiler Alert" for those who just love your magic. Personally I love the peek behind the big (well little) curtain.

Thank You

[Broven]

Very interesting. Great tip on the backlight setting! Never would have thought of that.

[OlmanOz]

And we are off and racing.. Thanks Ooisk and Broven, I guess it is fair to say that anyone who wants to "keep the dream alive" should not be reading this thread...

So yes, I guess this thread will be one big spoiler alert...!

[Mr Franz]

Ah - Ha! I did the doll in front of the TV thing for one of last month's photo challenge entries. Footstool, various sized cardboard boxes all vicariously perched to get everything at the right height and snapping the shutter before it all came tumbling down!

I used my cams flash to compensate for the back light issue. Worked, but I had to shop out the glare on the screen afterward.

[JustinBridou]

It's great to see behind the scenes of the shooting.
I was almost sure that you used a TV for the backgrounds, but I had a doubt, because it was really well done and hardly discernible.
Thanks for the detailed explanations.
the ironing board with polystyrene blocks... great style, I myself very well know this method...
I confirm, it's not stable at all

[carlys_guy]

great info ozzy thanks for starting this thread maybe it will get others to start their own stories.

carlys_guy

[Wolferich]

Thank you for the description, I also tried something like that. I will take over especially the lift in front of the television.

[OlmanOz]

Hehe, well there we go, my biggest secret is out.. And I assumed everyone would know by now about my use of the tv..

Okay so the next major issue is the what I call the "Gauzing effect".. An absolute pain in the arse...!
Now bear in mind that if you use a standard reflex camera with an optical viewfinder you will not see this at all. But if you use
a cell phone with a large digital screen to display you pictures before you snap them this is when the effect will be evident.. The
problem is it looks different depending what computer screen you view the picture on..
So I can only assume you can see what I'm on about.. It is simply all the wavy lines on the picture..
The following 2 pictures demonstrate this effect.. (Best viewed in full resolution)..

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It has been my experience that several things cause this phenomenon to occur..
1) How close you have your camera to the tv screen.. So you need to find the sweet spot.
2) The resolution of the picture you are displaying, some pictures are worse than others. Higher res pics tend to display better usually..
3) The type of camera, phone, or software you use to take the picture, I use a Samsung S10 mostly using the standard samsung camera
but occasionally use a app called "Open camera" by Mark Harman which I used extensively on my old Samsung S5. Having focus hold is a
must for doing this type of photography as I'm sure most of you will recognise already..?

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So how do we rectify this.. Unfortunately it is by trial and error.. You need to find out the best distance for placing the figures from the tv
so it does not happen. I have a board on top of the adjustable stand so i can slide my whole setup forward or backward and from side to side
when need be.. (Hence the advantage of more stability).. I focus on the figures so the screen is slightly out of focus tends to work best. However
sometimes you just can't snap a good pic so I often use the blurring effect in Photoscape to hide it as best I can.. But it creates a lot of extra work..

My tv is also on a swivel stand so often I twist the tv a little bit to compensate, which does help..

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Which brings me to the next subject...

Reflections..

Reflections can be both blessing and a curse..
This next picture shows my set up and the three lights I use.. Very primitive, still to this day..

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On the left is an LED lamp covered with a cloth bag to soften the light and reduce shadows on the figures etc.. On the right is a fluro bulb on a stand.
I have a black towel on the stand to stop the white stand reflecting in the screen on dark backgrounds. And standing on the table is a rechargeable LED
light that I can move around lay down etc. I often place a tissue over this as well to soften the glare although the brightness is fully adjustable so that
makes things much easier.. Occasionally I use several other mini LED torches placed around the set and covered with tissues out of view to get better
lighting as well.. You may also notice I have a bit of cardboard balanced on the top to stop the reflection from the lamp, it works good, unless it falls off
and knocks over all my figures... But the best way to avoid reflections is to film in a dark room and use the tv swivel to move the reflections..
Once again, often I have to use Photoscape to remove the unwanted mistakes..

But reflections can work to your advantage as well.. To make the star in my Christmas story I simply held a torch and shone it at the tv when I snapped
the picture.. No special effects needed at all.. I discovered this purely by accident nearly two years go and is how I came up with the idea for this story.. ..

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Geesh. I feel naked revealing all my secrets...

[carlys_guy]

thanks ozzy hopefully there will be lots of new stories by others for us to follow.

carlys_guy

[Anung Un Rama]

Oh NO



Toto..what have you done.

Next you will be telling us Santa is not a home intruder.....Never tell Lily that OK!

Fascinating and a great tutorial Oz!

Anung

[OlmanOz]

Love that gif Anung.. Yes it's a bit like that isn't it..
Yes Carly. Let's hope it inspires others to start a few stories. Even if they're just short one or two posts..

[Dees luver]

Wow cool stuff, your brilliant Oz!
All this time I thought you were related to George Lucas or something

[OlmanOz]

Damn it Dees, , I told you not to use my real name here...

[Endless War]

Thanks for the share.
I understand the feeling, I felt a bit exposed doing the in depth makeup thread.
But its extremely helpful to the community overall to learn from your expertise.
So thanks again.
Your stories always inspire.