Top Questions For Video Production Studio

You're really asking a lot here. It's like being made to pick your favorite child!

But, if I must, I'd say the #1 benefit of green screen video is the controlled shooting environment. We know what the lighting will be like. There is no need to worry about weather or permits or stray dogs or photobombers. Everything is ready and waiting, and there are few, if any, disruptions the day of the shoot. While we love doing on-location video shoots in DC and across Virginia, we recognize that clients don't love encountering surprises on the day of their shoot. This is why I really like green screen shoots; they eliminate many of the variables and allow the client to focus on their performance.  

But Then Again...

I also really love that we can go back and easily make changes to videos that have been shot with a green screen. The best example of this is when a logo changes. If you made a traditional, on-location video, you may need to reshoot the entire video. However, with green screen, it's easy to alter the images that have been added to your video. Perfect!

And then there's the money- and time-saving aspect. To shoot an on-location video with four different backgrounds would take days. But, with a green screen, we are able to shoot multiple videos within the space of a few hours. Since the lighting, camera, and sound equipment are already set-up, hours are taken off the production schedule, which is an important time and money saver.  

To find out more about why shooting your web videos in our DC metro green screen studio is a fantastic idea, call 703.962.1270.

 

Of course!

As a small business, we understand that your marketing dollar has to go a long way. Because of this, we have rental packages that fit a wide range of project sizes and budgets.

The Basic

We rent our large, four-sided green screen studio by the hour. So, if you just have a few video clips to shoot, this is an excellent option for you. Included in the price of the rental is:

• 60 feet of lighting that fully lights the green screen
• A 20' x 20' green screen studio
• Full access to a dressing room and conference room
• Use of our kitchen
• Free parking
• Wireless internet

If this sounds perfect for you, please call 703.962.1270 to schedule a tour or book time in our D.C.-area green screen video studio. Think you might want a little more? Then read on.

The Works

For those who want more, we offer rentals that include:

• Video and audio equipment
• A videographer
• Script-writing services
• Coding, editing, and loading
• Web video promotional services

As you can see, our DC web video studio has you covered,  from concept to shooting to promotion. We don't mind if you pick and choose the options you need to create a custom package. In fact, we encourage it!

Web video has become the key to internet marketing success. Call 703.962.1270 to speak with a member of our team and choose a web video package that works for you. We want to see your small business succeed. Call today!

Tips? We've got them in spades!

If there is one thing our DC web video producers have learned over the years, it's that nerves have a serious impact on performance. Because of this, we have a tried-and-true list of ways to help our clients get over their nerves and deliver a smooth, natural performance. Our top five tips are:

1. Prepare. Before you come to the studio, make sure that you have your outfit, script, and any props dialed in. Feeling unprepared will send your anxiety level skyrocketing, so get ready well before your shoot.
2. Practice. To get the hang of being in front of the camera, video yourself at home or in your office. Practicing your lines will give you a chance to work out any problems in your script. And, though it's hard to do, be sure to watch the video, looking for any unnatural hand movements or facial expressions. Also, do a few dry runs the day of your shoot. Get in front of the camera before it starts recording, and go through your lines. This will help you get the feel of the studio beforehand.
3. Breathe. When you get in front of the camera, breathe deeply and as you exhale and smile gently. We're talking a soft smile, not a Jokeresque grin. As you do so, also lower your shoulders, as nerves can cause you to pull them toward your ears. As you speak, don't rush your lines, and take the time to breathe during natural pauses. 
4. Imagine. One effective tool is your imagination. Imagine that the person—or pet—you are most comfortable talking to is in the camera.  Pretending to talk to them will put you at ease and help you relax enough to give a natural performance. Some people even bring a picture of a friend, spouse, or dog and tape it to the camera! 
5. Have fun. I know you're so nervous you can't imagine having fun shooting your video. But the sooner you get comfortable in front of the camera—laughing at your mistakes is a great start—the sooner you'll be able to shoot a video you can be proud of.

For more tips on being your best in front of the camera, or to schedule your session at our DC green screen video studio, call 703.962.1270. We can help make your shoot not only pain free, but fun!

When it comes to green screens and blue screens, both backgrounds are used for the same purpose: to use Chroma Key technology in order to place subjects in front of a projected background. During this process, editors are able to film people and objects in front of a static background, remove the color of the background from the images, and replace it with a new background. The colors green and blue are not present in human skin tones which makes them ideal for the Chroma Key process as opposed to the color red. Generally, the only difference between using a green screen as a background and using a blue screen as a background is the color itself—but more filmmakers are moving from blue to green for other specific reasons:

4 Main Differences Between Green Screens and Blue Screens

• The use of digital cameras. When using a digital camera instead of film, you obtain better results from a green screen shoot because of the cleanness and luminescence of green over blue. Using green instead of blue results in less noise when keying out the footage.
• Color spill. While the green or blue screens will be removed during editing, some color will “spill” onto the subjects, especially around the edges. This can create a thin line around the person, or make areas like their hairline look odd. Depending on your shoot, color spill can be better or worse depending on the color of your screen. Blue screen tends to have less spill than green, and also happens to be easier to color correct than green. 
• The prevalence of blue. Subjects and objects are more likely to be blue than green. For example, people are more likely to be wearing blue clothing than green clothing. You get better results when the background color is not heavily present in the subject you are filming (which is why red screens and yellow screens don’t exist).
• Lighting. Blue screens have a lower luminosity as compared to green screens. This means they are better suited to low-light shoots, but also makes them trickier to light. If you want the blue screen to key properly with the least amount of adjustments necessary you'll need to set your camera to a higher f-stop than you would were you using a green screen. This also means it is more difficult to shoot a large scene on blue screen as opposed to green. 

Contact Your Local Fairfax Video Studio

Interested in reading about how our green screen has changed businesses and improved our partners' conversion rates? Click here to go to our Case Studies page. Or if you want to see more examples of our work and how we use our green screen, click here to go to our portfolio page.

Here are some examples of how we use our green screen to produce stunning videos for our clients.

 

Do you need a green screen studio for your next video production in the Virginia or Washington DC area? Call Gearshift today to learn more about our services: 703-962-1270. 

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The most common green screen mistakes our Northern Virginia web video team has seen include:

• Choosing the wrong clothing. When the background is added to a video shot on a green screen, anything that is a similar shade of green will become part of the background. So, if your shirt is green, it will take on the selected background, giving the subject the appearance of a floating head. The fix here is simple: nothing shot in front of the screen should be green.
• Poor lighting. Shadows—created by a subject or a wrinkled or folded green screen—will affect the quality of the video. Any dark or light portions of the screen will translate to the final video and ruin the effect. To fix this, be sure you have even, diffused lighting and that there are no wrinkles or folds in the screen.
• Distracting background choices. With limitless choices for backgrounds, it's easy to get carried away and choose an outrageous background. If this fits your business, go for it. But, if you'd like to focus on your message or the subject of your video, keep the background clean and simple. 

Once you have the technical aspects of green screen video dialed in, it's time to focus on your concept, message, and script. For help ensuring that your videos are professional and effective, call 703.962.1270. Our Northern Virginia video production team can help you every step of the way. From developing your brand to coding your videos, Gearshift TV has you covered.

Gearshift in Fairfax, Virginia, has weekend rental of video studio space. Our weekend rentals include everything that our weekday rentals include. For example, there will always be someone from Gearshift TV onsite to help you over the weekend, just as we help our clients during the week.

 

We understand that you are busy and that it can be difficult for you and the people who you want to be involved in making the video to get away during the normal weekday business hours. Accordingly, we are pleased to accommodate other businesses with our weekend hours.

 

In the end, your viewers and new customers, patients, or clients do not care when you make your video. They do not even care how you make your video. Instead, they are focused on the content of your video, and they are going to decide whether or not to call your business, firm, or practice based on the video content.

 

For more information about how to create great video content at a time that is convenient for you, please contact our experienced online video producers at 703-962-1270. You can also learn more about our green screen studio, video production services, and web videos in general by browsing the FREE resources on our website.

Well, unless your narrator happens to be Toby Maguire, you can set his mind at ease by telling him that green screen technology doesn't necessarily entail multi-million-dollar stunts and “emoting” in front of special-effects monsters. When this technology first became widely available, about 10 years ago, many commercial producers and directors associated it with big-budget Hollywood special-effects extravaganzas. Today, it's almost as ordinary as deep-focus lenses and artsy transitional shots.

 

A narrator or an actor doesn't necessarily have to be hooked up to wires or suspended from a crane in order to work with a green screen. For most TV commercials, all that's involved is a person delivering his spiel in front of the camera, while standing in front of the green screen. The director will prep him beforehand about what will eventually be projected on that screen and will make sure that the narration matches up with what's transpiring in the background. The process isn't at all complicated, and the shoot doesn't take any more time than a “live” shoot where the actor or narrator interacts with other real-life individuals.

 

Today, green-screen technology is so common that many of the TV commercials you see, which you may have assumed were shot live on location, were actually accomplished using this technology. Questions? Call the green screen professionals at Gearshift (703-962-1270) to learn how we can make this technology work for you!

Yes, there is – and we run it! Located in Fairfax, Virginia, our 1,000-square-foot green screen studio is available to business of all sizes for any number of visual projects, including information videos, commercials, online marketing projects, and short films. Our on-site video production team, top-of-the-line equipment, and years of video experience will ensure that your final product is professional, original, and to your standards.

A green screen studio allows videographers to impose a new background behind actors, creating an infinite number of options for those seeking cost-efficient, high-quality, fast, and creative videos. Many companies choose to film on a green screen to save money, expand their options, and simplify the filming process.

Would you like to schedule your shoot in our green screen studio in DC? Call Gearshift today to speak with one of our video experts – our calendar fills up fast. We can help you with all aspects of your project, from video equipment to finding spokesmodels to perfecting your script.

Want to see some of our work before giving us a call? Check out our video gallery for some recent examples of web videos, commercials, music videos, and more. And be sure to check out our green screen video examples.

Our green screen studio is 1,000 square feet, 20ft x 20ft. More than enough room for your web video advertisements and informational videos!

Using green screen, or chroma key technology, is beneficial in many ways. Using a green screen allows the filmmaker to layer any background with the subject being filmed or photographed. The subject is filmed against the green (sometimes blue) background, which is replaced in post-production by a digitally generated background.

Besides the most palpable advantage to using a green screen, that is, the ability to produce essentially any setting in a controlled environment (green screen studio), there are a number of additional advantages to this technique.  

First, shooting on a green screen instead of on-location saves time. Because the background added is digitally generated, there is no need to travel beyond the studio to achieve a desired setting. In addition to saving time, this is almost much more cost effective.

Filming and photographing in a studio instead of on-location ensures that the shoot will not be delayed for reasons beyond the the filmmakers' control, such as weather conditions, availability of certain locations, etc. The controlled environment provided by a green screen studio ensures that external noise; lighting conditions, etc. do not have to be factored into the filming process.

For more information like this, or for questions about how you can produce your green screen videos at Gearshift, contact us at 877-477-STUDIO.

If you have been looking for a green screen in Washington DC, you may be wondering why the screen is green in the first place. The process of filming you in front of a green screen to create an artificial background is called "chroma keying." In the chroma keying process, green color is captured by the camera and canceled out by a chroma key device, thus making space for a virtual background.

This process can be performed with any color, but green is preferred because: 

 

• Green is one of the furthest colors from skin tone. This prevents your skin from being canceled out in the final video.

 

• Modern digital cameras are highly sensitive to green, which allows for a cleaner image.

 

• Green is an uncommon clothing color, which prevents clothes from being canceled out by the chroma key device.

If your skin were the same color as the green screen, your skin would disappear in the video and the background would show in its place! This is why newscasters and weathermen need to be careful in their wardrobe selection. At times, you may notice parts of their outfit disappear, especially since news channels often use a blue background instead of green.

Heck no! Your local weatherman uses a green screen everyday to show you the radar and forecast but this is just one use of a green screen.  Lots of Hollywood movies use them.  The movie “300” for example was shot entirely on a green screen.  We use it because it provides an awesome opportunity to be flexible, creative and professional.

Gearshift TV was built around the green screen concept. 

Don’t know what that is?  A green screen is a screen that allows digital artists to superimpose any image they desire onto it.  The most common example of green screen use is during televised weather forecast broadcasts.  The meteorologist stands in front of a green (or blue) screen and points toward the correct areas.  The weather map is then inserted behind him so that it appears to viewers that he's pointing at the weather patterns himself.

So essentially, Gearshift TV can shoot your video with you in front of the green screen and then alter the background of it to seamlessly integrate into your website so that it has a professional and high-quality feel - just like in the video above.  Here at the studio, we guide you through the video process.  It’s not a problem if you haven’t been in front of the camera before – we’re here to make you feel comfortable and create the best video that you can.  Give Gearshift TV a call so we can begin converting your web visitors into clients.

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We promise, you're going to have a great time shooting video at the Studio!  We're going the distance to help you do the best that you can while you're in front of the camera.  But to answer your question, there are a few things you can expect and things that you should do before coming in.

 

First, you have to schedule your shoot.  If you plan to read scripts from the teleprompter, and have had your scripts pre-approved by the Gearshift TV team, we will have an edited and prepared version loaded into the teleprompter so it will scroll slowly in front of you on a screen.  If you need help with scripts, please contact your sales person for assistance - we'll need at least 72 hours notice.

What should you wear?  You should wear clothes clients will see you in when they meet you.  you can never go wrong with a nice dark suit, white shirt and various ties.  If your design is already done, think about wearing a tie that matches the colors in your design.  If you are a doctor, wear your doctor jacket.  If you are a contractor, wear your company shirt with your logo.  You get the picture.  If you need more direction, please ask your sales person for assistance.  Feel free to wear a comfortable set of clothes to travel in.  We have plenty of space for you to change in.

What do we have in the studio?  It may seem silly, but this is important!  We have a fridge with bottled water and soda, a bathroom, light make up powder, snacks, clothes rack and Internet access.  Next door we have restaurants, Fed-Ex, a movie theater and a grocery store.  Yes, we also have some booze if you need to take the edge off - one drink limit!

Once you've changed and freshened up and yo'ure ready to go on screen, you can expect to be filming for at least an hour.  Jim, our amazingly talented cinematographer, will place you correctly in front of the green screen and will adjust the lighting and sound.  Once you're placed and ready to go, the process will move along fairly quickly.  Jim will ask you questions regarding your practice areas or services to get you comfortable and talking.  Be sure to answer these questions in complete sentences, because the question itself will not be shown or asked in the video for viewers to see.  The purpose of doing this without preparing a script is to have you engage viewers in a  conversational and relaxed manner; reading a script could come across sounding rehearsed.  People want to work with professionals they feel comfortable with and whom they feel understands their situation, so that's what we're going to give them.

After answering lots and lots of questions, we'll ask you next what else you want to talk about in your videos.  Give this some thought before you come: when your clients call you or come in for a consultation, what questions do they ask?  Do you know why people are coming to your website?  What do your potential clients want to know?  If you can answer this while they're visiting your website, you'll prove that you're a knowledgeable source of information and this will get them to pick up the phone and contact you.

That's all!  And remember, our clients tend to do very well on camera despite the fact that most of them have never been on screen before.  Even if you aren't perfect, your website visitors aren't expecting perfection, they're expecting answers to their questions.  The trick is to take a deep breath and to relax.

And finally, you will not like your own videos.  You are your worst critic, but so are your spouse and your children.  This is marketing, and you are not trying to sell to them.  For the most part, everyone that will see these videos will have never met you.  The most important thing is to deliver good information relating to how you can help them.  Trust us on this!

See you in the studio!