Can I wall-mount a hanging photo backdrop across a 16' room?
January 15, 2020 2:07 PM Subscribe
I do video conferences in my office and my wife also uses the space directly behind me. If I could roll down a photo backdrop behind me, that'd make our lives considerably better. I'd like to mount this to the walls on my left and right. The span between those walls is 16', which seems to be longer than the 10-12' that I'm seeing pair with systems like these. What are good options here? Also...could I light this well enough that I could use it for decent quality video recording? (I'll describe video desires in More Inside)
Video desires: I'd like to get my torso on a green screen and lit well enough that it actually would look good if I was a talking torso on a white background. Complications: If I'm going to cut my office in half with a hanging backdrop, then it gets pretty narrow: I have a backdrop that's about 16" behind me and a wall that's about 3 feet in front of me. Also I wear glasses. Whenever I've tried to do this in the past, my glasses catch enough light that it looks crappy. Is it feasible to get a recording setup that looks good in this situation or do I just need more space?
Video desires: I'd like to get my torso on a green screen and lit well enough that it actually would look good if I was a talking torso on a white background. Complications: If I'm going to cut my office in half with a hanging backdrop, then it gets pretty narrow: I have a backdrop that's about 16" behind me and a wall that's about 3 feet in front of me. Also I wear glasses. Whenever I've tried to do this in the past, my glasses catch enough light that it looks crappy. Is it feasible to get a recording setup that looks good in this situation or do I just need more space?
Just get a long one and hang it sideways. Like this one.
It's 10x20, but if you put it sideways, it's 20x10. You won't be able to slide the pole through the premade pocket in it, but you can just clamp it on. You could, for example, clamp it to a pole with these.
posted by MythMaker at 2:40 PM on January 15, 2020
It's 10x20, but if you put it sideways, it's 20x10. You won't be able to slide the pole through the premade pocket in it, but you can just clamp it on. You could, for example, clamp it to a pole with these.
posted by MythMaker at 2:40 PM on January 15, 2020
I'm an actor, and I have to solve this problem for myself all the time because of a lot auditioning these days is self-taping. I use a collapsible backdrop like this one mounted on a stand. It's plenty big enough to fill the frame when I'm recording a medium shot and can be folded up and stowed away easily.
For lighting, I use a small LED light like this one as my key light, and then usually improvise side and background lighting with whatever lamps & gels I have on hand. If you want to spend a bit more money, you could get some softboxes or a ringlight. (I don't wear glasses, but there are a slew of youtube tutorials on this subject.)
posted by minervous at 3:15 PM on January 15, 2020 [5 favorites]
For lighting, I use a small LED light like this one as my key light, and then usually improvise side and background lighting with whatever lamps & gels I have on hand. If you want to spend a bit more money, you could get some softboxes or a ringlight. (I don't wear glasses, but there are a slew of youtube tutorials on this subject.)
posted by minervous at 3:15 PM on January 15, 2020 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: I’ve considered ceiling mount but my ceilings are 14’ up and concrete and the walls are high enough that it should be easier that way, as long as I can handle the 16’ length issue.
posted by sirion at 5:18 PM on January 15, 2020
posted by sirion at 5:18 PM on January 15, 2020
Response by poster: In terms of using clips, I’d very much like to set it up so it’s retractable on rollers, as I only want the backdrop there when I’m actually using it. Is there a way to do that using the typical roller mount things?
posted by sirion at 5:20 PM on January 15, 2020
posted by sirion at 5:20 PM on January 15, 2020
Best answer: 16 feet is a long span for something supported only at the ends. If it was me I'd get a 16' 2x6 to span the space on edge at 9' up and then hang my backdrop off that. You could hang the linked hangers off the bottom of the 2x6 or put a set on both sides.
Alternatively I'd use a couple lengths of 3/4" EMT conduit (in the electrical section of your local home improvement Borg) joined in the center and then string a cable from the top of the wall to the center to the top of the other wall and then hang your back drop hangers from that.
posted by Mitheral at 7:21 PM on January 15, 2020
Alternatively I'd use a couple lengths of 3/4" EMT conduit (in the electrical section of your local home improvement Borg) joined in the center and then string a cable from the top of the wall to the center to the top of the other wall and then hang your back drop hangers from that.
posted by Mitheral at 7:21 PM on January 15, 2020
Response by poster: Oh the 2x6 idea is neat! Then I could be back to a 10' length
posted by sirion at 8:22 PM on January 15, 2020
posted by sirion at 8:22 PM on January 15, 2020
I work in production and have set up a million backdrops in a million places. Seamless paper comes in a max size of 12'. I think you are underestimating how large this really is, 12' is the size we bust out to like photograph a group portrait with a car or something. 12' seamless in a 16' wide room gives you just barely enough room to walk around it on either side. And you will most likely need some space around it because....
It comes on a roll so you have to roll it out. That 12' roll of seamless has 150' of paper on it. Generally for work we get up on a ladder, roll out what we need, and then stick a clamp on it so it doesn't un-roll itself. After use you cut off the dirty part at the bottom and roll it back up for next time. So if getting up to your 14' ceilings for installation is an issue you may want to think a few steps ahead here and consider how you are actually going to roll the paper up/down if this isn't a permanent installation. And if you were planning on making this a permanent installation thing, I got some bad news for you. You can't store these rolls of paper horizontally - the weight of the paper pulls on the roll, which leads to the entire thing having ripples throughout it. That makes it useless for shooting against because as soon as you point a light at it all you see are the ripples.
Also, paper is made out of wood so a 12' roll is pretty damn heavy. I would keep that in mind when planning on how to mount something that large - you say you don't want to tap into your concrete ceilings, but I actually think that's probably the safest idea. You wouldn't want to have this thing hanging over your head if it's only anchored into drywall.
posted by bradbane at 7:51 PM on January 16, 2020
It comes on a roll so you have to roll it out. That 12' roll of seamless has 150' of paper on it. Generally for work we get up on a ladder, roll out what we need, and then stick a clamp on it so it doesn't un-roll itself. After use you cut off the dirty part at the bottom and roll it back up for next time. So if getting up to your 14' ceilings for installation is an issue you may want to think a few steps ahead here and consider how you are actually going to roll the paper up/down if this isn't a permanent installation. And if you were planning on making this a permanent installation thing, I got some bad news for you. You can't store these rolls of paper horizontally - the weight of the paper pulls on the roll, which leads to the entire thing having ripples throughout it. That makes it useless for shooting against because as soon as you point a light at it all you see are the ripples.
Also, paper is made out of wood so a 12' roll is pretty damn heavy. I would keep that in mind when planning on how to mount something that large - you say you don't want to tap into your concrete ceilings, but I actually think that's probably the safest idea. You wouldn't want to have this thing hanging over your head if it's only anchored into drywall.
posted by bradbane at 7:51 PM on January 16, 2020
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posted by homesickness at 2:36 PM on January 15, 2020