question about video techniques

[lanes6]

I noticed a technique being used on TV where the editors take what appears to be a static picture of a person but then they will pan across the image and make the background move at a different speed than the person in the foreground. It makes the person look like they are separate from the background, like they are sticking out. Does anyone know how they do this? I can't seem to figure it out and would love to use this technique in a camp video this summer.

[smtv]

Originally Posted by lanes6

I noticed a technique being used on TV where the editors take what appears to be a static picture of a person but then they will pan across the image and make the background move at a different speed than the person in the foreground. It makes the person look like they are separate from the background, like they are sticking out. Does anyone know how they do this? I can't seem to figure it out and would love to use this technique in a camp video this summer.

It sounds like they are doing a chroma-key effect.
They may be able to change the frame rate with the software to make it look like the background is moving faster. (By filming at one speed than re recording at a different speed). But I may be wrong.

Pan or Zoom? The zoom technique (DIZO) is to dolly in and zoom out at the same time. It's an "in camera" effect. I think Hitchcock did it first.

If you're talking about a pan, the only way I can think of doing it is digitally -- compositing the subject and the background and running the background at a higher speed.

[kbob]

Originally Posted by Tim Eason

Pan or Zoom? The zoom technique (can't remember the name of it right now) is to zoom in and dolly back at the same time. It's an "in camera" effect. I wish I could remember who was the first DOP/Director to do that.

If you're talking about a pan, the only way I can think of doing it is digitally -- compositing the subject and the background and running the background at a higher speed.

...hitchcock did something like that with Vertigo-truly a warped effect on the stairs. He did lots of special effects, most of which didn't look like effects. In notorious, he once built a massive coffee cup, so he could show it in close up against Ingrid Bergman's face, with both being in focus-impossible to do at the time conventionally, so he worked around it by filming it from much further away with a telephoto, compressing the apparent distance between them yet keeping them both in focus because of the increased depth of focus available at a distance.

all that said, the zoom/dolly effect might account for some of it, or it could be a greenscreen effect.

Hitchcock was a genius. It was actually by studying his films in a high school class called "Cinema" that got me into analyzing movies for cinematography. He simulated someone falling by keying a still person on the the floor and hoisting the camera up a pulley system -- it made it look like the guy was falling when actually it was the camera moving up. Another of his famous shots was the "bird's eye view" . Then there's Orson Wells, who actually would dig into a floor to get the camera/tripod low enough to get the shot he wanted. Great men!

[lanes6]

Originally Posted by Tim Eason

Pan or Zoom? The zoom technique (can't remember the name of it right now) is to zoom in and dolly back at the same time. It's an "in camera" effect. I wish I could remember who was the first DOP/Director to do that.

If you're talking about a pan, the only way I can think of doing it is digitally -- compositing the subject and the background and running the background at a higher speed.

I have heard about the zoom/dolly back technique, but this is with a photograph. I first saw it being done on the History Channel when they are showing photos of old people (cowboys, historic figures). Maybe I can capture one off of TV and post a clip of it.

[sempei13]

Originally Posted by lanes6

I noticed a technique being used on TV where the editors take what appears to be a static picture of a person but then they will pan across the image and make the background move at a different speed than the person in the foreground. It makes the person look like they are separate from the background, like they are sticking out

You've got two techniques which might be what you're discribing. One is a DIZO. That's what Hitchcock did. It's name tells you how to do it. Dolly In Zoom Out. You've got to do this perfectly for it to work.

What I think you're talking about is all post. If you're using the word, "pan" to mean: left to right (or vice versa) movement from the head of a tripod, a DIZO can't do that. What you need is Photoshop (or the Gimp) and an editing software that can handle layers.

1) You need to cut the subject from the background.
2) Using cloning and the healing brush fill in the empty spot.
3) In your editor (I use Final Cut Pro, but After Effects is great for this) animate each of the two layers individually.

It's not that hard. You can also add a little blur to the background as the subject gets larger. Don't forget to use a drop shadow to further separate the subject from the background.

Paul

[lanes6]

Originally Posted by sempei13

You've got two techniques which might be what you're discribing. One is a DIZO. That's what Hitchcock did. It's name tells you how to do it. Dolly In Zoom Out. You've got to do this perfectly for it to work.

What I think you're talking about is all post. If you're using the word, "pan" to mean: left to right (or vice versa) movement from the head of a tripod, a DIZO can't do that. What you need is Photoshop (or the Gimp) and an editing software that can handle layers.

1) You need to cut the subject from the background.
2) Using cloning and the healing brush fill in the empty spot.
3) In your editor (I use Final Cut Pro, but After Effects is great for this) animate each of the two layers individually.

Here's an example a friend is in After Effects, merely copying the layers and cutting the subject from the foreground and skipping the second step. Download it here.

It's not that hard. You can also add a little blur to the background as the subject gets larger. Don't forget to use a drop shadow to further separate the subject from the background.

Paul

This sounds more like what I am talking about. So they cut the person out of the picture, patch the picture up and then pan across the background and foreground at different speeds. This sound right?

[AlexH237]

Yes, that is exactly how you do it. The only thing I would add is that rather than using the real background and patching it up, I would use another image as a background, sometimes it doesn't look good if you just patch it up, but that all depends on what the background is. After Effects does this extremely well, I don't know about other programs.

[MGHunter4462]

Paul is correct with his technique. The cable network TNT uses this technique a lot. I've tried it some and its not that hard to do, just a little time consuming. TNT uses it a lot on their "Law and Order" and "The Closer" promos.


God Bless,

[Lucas]

I've always wondered how they do that...
How do they do it with Video?
Chroma keying?

[atomicandrew]

With the shots I've seen on the History Chanel you couldn't use a different image as a background as they use historical photos. You would have to clone in a small amount of background to fill the space left by cutting out the foreground subject... but they don't "pan" very far, just enough to give the 3d effect.