It’s very hard to become the authority (or feel that authority) in your marketplace by way of video until those videos reflect what you already know to be true on the inside.
One place this problem raises its ugly head again and again is in how coaches and consultants appear in their video environments.
It’s not always good.
But I’ve discovered something that’s going to change the game for you…today. From now on you will be able to make your videos look the way you know they need to.
This wasn’t in the cards for a very long time. Not when it comes to greenscreen. Everyone who knows what they’re talking about will tell you (to this day) that it’s impossible. I used to say the same thing.
The “Eight Foot Rule” was inviolable. It was a law of physics. Like gravity. Or like that one sock that always gets eaten by the dryer.
You had to be eight feet from the background or you would get a horrible green fringe around your body from the light being reflected off the screen.
Well…after extensive experimentation and testing, including a high profile series of launch videos, I’ve discovered an astonishingly simple way to get a flawless greenscreen shoot in even the smallest of spaces.
If you’d like to have this video superpower for your own, you can get it right now. The only cost is that next 6 minutes you were thinking of spending at Facebook. 🙂
Isn’t it time you presented an image you can be proud of to an image-conscious market?
Enjoy…
And if you haven’t taken it yet, here’s the free 3-part tutorial to get you the rest of the way.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I think I have the lighting okay, my challenge is in the editing program, can you recommend any tutorials that show where I might be going wrong with my work in Final Cut Pro X
Hey John, we do have a program for that. You can sign up to get all the awesome details on it at the link below.
Steve:
Excellent info! I’ve been toying with Green Screen, and I don’t often find the sweet spot. this lesson helps a lot.
Also…… your audio is spectacular. Pardon my generous use of superlatives, but dang that sounds good. I’m not seeing a boom anywhere, so I assume you are wired up, but what microphone is producing that great sound?
Of course I’m asking for a friend.
Thanks.
Patrick, you can tell your friend we used a middling shotgun mic for the closeup section and a Sony lav for all the others. Plus a little secret sauce in the editing. 🙂
Ahh. Secret Sauce. Of course.
I usually put the Secret Sauce on my sandwiches. Never thought to use it for editing. It makes so much sense when you think about it.
I’ll tell my “Friend”.
Thanks!
Love this tutorial, thanks Steve!
De nada, Maria! Thanks for dropping by.
Brilliant as always Steve… I love how out of the box you can think and how it supports people who don’t have a warehouse in their backyard that they can turn into a dedicated studio… so they can do everything according to the book.
I’ve never been a big one for going by the book. Thanks, Allison! 🙂
Steve,
great video – as usual. And YOU do know your stuff.
Not everybody who teaches does:
Recently I was given a coupon for a Udemy course about greenscreen. That person’s recordings are somewhat muzzy, the edges of their figure are pixelated and they always have a bit of a thin green “aura” around them. Boy am I glad I did not pay for the course. Don’t even feel like finishing it.
I even feel tempted to send them a link to this page – but I hesitate. It might not go down well…
Anyway – thanks for your excellent teaching AND teaching by good example. 🙂
So glad you can see the differences. What it really means is that now you can do it. 🙂 And thank you for the kind words!
I’ve never even tried to do greenscreen because many of my videos (including hangouts) are shot at my desk where I sit 3 feet from my webcam with less than 1 foot between my chair and the curtain behind me covering up the shelves full of misc kitchen stuff.
Maybe my case is hopeless, but I’m signing up for your tutorial to see if I can figure out a way to make it work! Thanks and I’ll let you know how it turns out.
P.S. Thanks for the laugh over the comment exchange between you and Patrick!
Thanks Steven, really useful stuff. You managed to balance the lights really nicely in this. Maybe a little backlight (if available) could help separate the subject from the background in the future. Great stuff, keep it up.
Thanks Joe. Your comment is a great excuse for me to explain why I made this video. 🙂
The genesis was my exploration of the question “Can you get really good (not perfect) results from a greenscreen shoot without a backlight?”
The reason is that most people do not live or work in spaces with adequate room for a backlight. Nor are they inclined to spend almost $1,000 to develop a system to add that final lighting instrument, which for most would end up being an LED panel which would not match the colors of the light coming from the softboxes.
This was also about shooting in a super-tight space. Super-tight spaces, as a rule, do not offer high ceilings, the other pre-requisite for hanging a good backlight. Yes, you could probably rig something down low, but it would not help with hair, which is always the most niggly aspect of greenscreen.
So the question became “what is the fastest, easiest way to get great results without a lot of anxiety?” This was the answer. It’s not a Rolls Royce. But it is a speedy 4-cylinder roadster that will get you where you want to go in style, no matter your circumstances, and with a very modest investment.
This offers the minimum requirement for authority video. Certainly anything less would be unacceptable. Anything more is lagniappe.
If people have the room and the inclination, we have a course called Easy Greenscreen Success, which helps them build the Rolls Royce out of coat hangers and rubber bands. 🙂