Basic Procedure and Techniques
– Compositing involves replacing selected parts of an image with other material.
– Digital compositing uses software commands to designate a color range to be replaced.
– Software replaces the designated color range with pixels from another image.
– Live-action shooting for compositing is done using chroma key or green screen.
– Compositing can be used to replace backgrounds in weather forecasts.
– Physical compositing involves placing separate parts of an image together in the photographic frame.
– Partial models are used as set extensions, hung in front of the camera to appear part of the set.
– Glass shots are made by painting the scene on a large pane of glass, with clear areas for live action.
– Glass shots can also be created by affixing individual elements to a clear area on the glass.
– Physical compositing elements include partial models and glass paintings.
– Background projection involves projecting the background image on a screen behind the foreground subjects.
– The foreground elements conceal parts of the background image.
– Rear projection is a common technique where background images are photographed first.
– In rear projection, the background plate is loaded into a projector and filmed together with the foreground subjects.
– Rear projection is often used in process shooting and can create realistic composite scenes.
Applications of Compositing
– Blue or green screens are used in television studios for compositing news-readers with background stories.
– Virtual sets are created using computer graphics programs for presenters to be placed in.
– Subjects and cameras can move freely in virtual sets while maintaining correct relationships with virtual backgrounds.
– Composited backgrounds are combined with physical objects to enhance realism in motion picture filmmaking.
– Sets can be extended digitally to create large virtual vistas.
Multiple Exposure Compositing
– Multiple exposure compositing is achieved by recording different parts of each film frame separately.
– The resulting negative is a composite of all the individual exposures.
– Multiple exposure composites typically contain two or three elements.
– Georges Méliès used seven-fold exposure in the film ‘Lhomme-orchestre/The One-man Band’.
– Buster Keaton used multiple exposures to appear as nine different actors in ‘The Playhouse’.
Traditional Matting
– Traditional matting is the process of compositing two film elements.
– Blank areas must be masked while the other component is printed.
– Matte photography uses a uniformly colored backing.
– High-contrast film is used to create opaque and clear areas.
– The process involves multiple passes and compositing.
Advantages of Digital Compositing
– Digital matting ensures perfect registration and eliminates artifacts.
– Digital images can be copied without quality loss.
– Multi-layer composites can easily be made.
– Elements can be shot separately and composited seamlessly.
– Digital matting reduces film degradation and edge artifact issues. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compositing
Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today, most, though not all, compositing is achieved through digital image manipulation. Pre-digital compositing techniques, however, go back as far as the trick films of Georges Méliès in the late 19th century, and some are still in use.
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