Creating Ghost Effects on 16mm Film

[Gabe Agoado]

Hello, I am in charge of shooting a seance scene with 16mm film. I would like to shoot some effects shots, including one in which I will be experimenting with colored flourescent dyes in water to make something that looks like a ghost's vapor trail.

 

The medium is going to be standing on a platform surrounded by 4 pillars the "ghost vapors" will fly around and he will be making gestures but not moving.

 

Can anyone tell me the advantages/disadvantages of shooting on a black background vs a blue or green background? I read supposedly that blue works best with color film.

 

Alternatively, can anyone recommend a book that explains shooting effects on film? I've had a hard time finding information on the internet.

 

Thanks.

[David Mullen ASC]

If you are shooting a pure single, saturated color dye floating against black, then the color object itself can provide a chroma key for compositing, you don't need to have the dye floating against a green or blue background that might contaminate the color of the semi-transparent cloud. You could consider shooting these dye clouds digitally -- you'd get cleaner keys -- and compositing them over the 16mm background. If the clouds are just going to be doubled-exposed over the image, you could either try to do the effect live with a piece of glass to reflect the cloud tank over the scene, or reflect the footage shot of the moving clouds over the live action set by reflecting either a projected screen image or a large monitor on glass.

[Gabe Agoado]

I guess I have a lot more options than I originally thought, thanks :)