Shooting in large indoor areas

[Casper Warnich]

Hi,

once in a while I'm hired to to shoot corporate videos where I need to shoot at a company location. For example a factory, a store or a large office environment.
These places are often cluttered and looks messy on video.

What do you guys do in terms of lighting, DOF, framing etc. to cheat and make these locations look cool on video?

(Obviously redecorating would be a good thing to do, but that's not always an option)

I know this is a very broad question, but I hope you can share some tricks if you got them


Casper

 

[Eric M Hurt]

One way, if possible, is to flag off all or as much light as possible on the background and really put a lot on your subject so you can throw some ND in the box and make the back ground even darker and out of focus. You could always add a spot of light in the background to highlight something pertinent or interesting and to give it some depth. NDing to get a shallow depth of field or shooting longer is the quickest and easiest way to make the background disappear. Get as much distance as you can between your subject and the mess.

 

[Christopher Mills]

don't underestimate the value of a couple of wescott mottled backdrops to flat out replace your background.. esp in the corporate colors of your client..

I call these situations "no solution, no problem" As in.. That background is so ugly I will not be using it. I will use this shot here, that looks good.

If the environment does not look good, it is not a good representation of your client. See the infamous "black magic camera, Scarlet, and Sony f5" video from cinema5d for what not to shoot.

 

[Casper Warnich]

Thank for your suggestions!

"no solution, no problem" that's a cool expression.

I find it intriguing to just use a backdrop - I'm guessing I would need a very shallow DOF to be able to pull that off without making it look corny?
Would you happen to know of a video where this technique is used?

Casper

 

[Bob Gundu]

Shooting large unattractive places look...... well unattractive. I would consider tighter well composed vignettes. I shot this in a factory and decided to go for camera movement and composition to compensate for an otherwise mundane environment. People will also add a human element that is so needed in corporate videos.

https://vimeo.com/23735869

 

[Casper Warnich]

Nice,
I like your use of different kinds of movement in the piece, it really does a lot.
This location is pretty similar to what I usually encounter.

 

[Christopher Mills]

Example of interview with backdrop

Example of interview with backdrop

I had to solve shooting this interview in a set dressing lock up. Not perfect, but ok.. at least we were not seeing racks and cardboard boxes and industrial space.
http://youtu.be/N1PFoZoKe7Y

I can not figure out the trick to make this appear as a clip in my post.. anyone want to advise me on that?