Pistol Shrimps on YouTube

With talks of our third project, it has reminded me of some of my favourite YouTube videos. With a large viewer base, PistolShrimps have made quite a name for themselves through their "Harry Potter and the Outcasts of Hogwarts" series.

In these videos, the Pistol Shrimps duo appear alongside the cast of Harry Potter, in which they rework the meaning of many scenes. Edited together like a trailer, the two have green screened themselves into the well know films.

The first of their series

While the video above was clever, the actual placement looks alright. However in later videos, they really stepped up the quality, and quite convincingly put themselves into the world of Harry Potter.

One of their best Harry Potter videos

It seems the biggest improvement is in their lighting. I'd say they worked in a studio, and set up lights similar to what would've been used in the film. Lighting I think is one of the biggest keys to a successful chroma key, as it's extremely hard to mimic realistic shadows on a face in post. Here's a link to the full Harry Potter and the Outcasts of Hogwarts series.

Their latest video is also well worth a watch - some extremely talented compositing.

Greenscreens: Swipe Left or Right

It’s fascinating just how effective greenscreens can be when used in filmmaking. It seems that nowadays almost every movie uses a greenscreen at some point. And the unique thing about watching these movies is that we aren’t necessarily taken out of the moment, nor are we completely convinced that what we see is real. It’s a strange mix of wonder and confusion, with a hint of skepticism.

And luckily I was able to stumble upon a wonderful article by Buzzfeed, called “27 Before and Afters That Show the Power of Special Effects.” Put together by Tanner Ringerud, it’s basically a list of 27 films that have heavily used greenscreen in their production process: from The Avengers to King Arthur. But the thing that I recommend most about reading this article, is playing around with the sliding option they have on the before and after pictures. Sliding left or right will reveal exactly what was greenscreened in and what type of effects were put over the final product.

You can see where lighting is set up, and with a bit of staring you can kind of piece together why exactly they chose to go with the choices they made. Likewise, you can see what kind of characters were put into the movie in post. Such as Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy. There’s a saying that goes around that claims you can learn a lot just by watching how something is done. Be it from behind-the-scenes to production stills, there’s always something we can learn even if it’s just from swiping back and forth on a picture.

I definitely recommend this article to anyone who’s interested in seeing how important a skill with greenscreens is, from lighting, to blocking, and far beyond. Greenscreens can create galaxies, giant creatures, blood-thirsty zombies, and much more. They are the unrecognized characters in the film-production process. Ones that shouldn’t be overlooked. Because they build worlds. And that’s what filmmaking is all about.

Space Jam & Greenscreens

I'm pretty sure the first movie I ever saw using Green Screen to insert a real-life character into a completely animated movie was "Space Jam". I own this movie on VHS and I used to watch it all the time as a kid. The other one I remember was "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", but for whatever reason I think Space Jam stuck with me more, even though Roger Rabbit is probably a better movie. Who can deny the Looney Tunes? I remember as a kid wondering how they inserted Michael Jordan into the cartoon, and it's funny to me now how obvious it looks. It's also astounding how easy it actually is to do stuff like this, especially when your lead actor is Michael Jordan, and nobody is expecting an Oscar-winning performance. Still, I love this movie. For your viewing enjoyment, the final basketball game between the Tune Squad and Monstars:

And as a bonus, the ESPN 30 for 30 on this legendary game between the Looney Tunes and Monstars. Here they reflect on the majesty of this historic game. They also acknowledge the tragic death of Foghorn Leghorn in the first half, where he was burned alive. Truly heartbreaking.