<p>One option, if you don't mind the actor keeping her head still, is to be partially lying down. She could be in a recliner, leaning back, with her head against the headrest so she never moves it.  She would feel the headrest behind her so she could tell if she'd turned her head, and it wouldn't "drift" left or right because the friction of the headrest would keep it in place.</p>

<p>Of course you would want to shoot all her lines in as short a session as possible so she didn't get uncomfortable - like 5 minutes for all the lines and retakes.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T01:11:11.577Z
You could have something like a headrest but for the model standing up—like a bit of foam on a C-Stand or something, which you could matte out of the final shot.
stib
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T13:05:37.163Z
Great suggestion!, maybe an incline wall too?  just enough to lean on.  and @stib, also a great suggestion!
ntgCleaner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-01T23:30:30.927Z
2016-12-01T23:30:30.927Z
BrettFromLA
<p>(This idea is similar to the one in Richard Crowley's second paragraph.)  If you can view your spokesperson on a full-sized monitor, have her take her position, and then put small pieces of opaque tape on the screen:  one just to the left of her head, one just to the right of her head, one at the top of her head, one for each elbow, one for each hand, etc.  Then it will be easy to tell her how to realign after each take. (It would <em>not</em> be easy for her to realign at the end of each take.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T19:18:46.790Z
2016-12-02T19:18:46.790Z
BrettFromLA
<p>Back in the "golden age" of movie production, they had a "continuity person" or a "script supervisor" whose job it was to keep everything matched so that shots could be inter-cut without discontinuities.  They used a Polaroid camera to record exactly what the actor looked like, what facial expression, angle of gaze, tilt of head, how empty the cup or half-burnt the cigarette, etc. etc. etc.</p>

<p>These days with video, it is easier because we have instantly available video recordings (or still frame captures) which can be compared by half-dissolving them on a monitor to exactly match the new shot with a previous reference frame. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T13:06:30.957Z
That's what I was thinking about too!  We're going to need a continuity person in there while filming at the very least.  Thank you! I will add this to the list!
ntgCleaner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T07:14:16.583Z
2016-12-02T07:14:16.583Z
Richard Crowley
<p>An oldie, but let me do some brainstorming.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you are going to have thousands of clips, you definitely need to construct a rig, not only <strong>for the models but also for the lights and cameras</strong>.</p>
<p>For the model make one structure to be adapted on a comfortable chair that gently directs the orientation of the head.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Prepare a digital projector to shot a grid or a <strong>silhouette</strong> from one side of the model <strong>(be careful with the eyes)</strong> as a reference image.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Or prepare a set of orthogonal cameras, that can Livestream to a computer. If you are using windows, there is a small program called &quot;Ghost win Real transparent windows&quot; that can overlay one application over the other, a reference image. These cameras need to be also attached to the rig.</p>
</li>
<li><p>You could use a flat background, so you can align the clips in post pro.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Combine all the above.</p>
</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-21T06:56:34.933Z
2019-09-21T06:56:34.933Z
2020-06-17T09:53:03.607Z
Rafael
<p>I am trying to see if there's a term for what I'm about to explain or a better way of doing this.  Basically, my company is filming an actor from the waist up for short, 1 or 2 sentence clips.  These clips need to be strung together to look as seamless as possible.</p>

<p>The main problem is that the model has to rely on muscle memory to remember where her head (specifically eyes, nose, mouth) and shoulders are in the frame.</p>

<p>My solution would be to use a mirror with a hole cut out for a camera lens.  On the mirror would be marks showing where her features should return to after she says something. </p>

<p>Is this typical, or is there a better way to do this? Or possibly to have another monitor with an overlay of the original position on it?  </p>

<p>I'd just like to try to make sure she doesn't constantly look away from the camera to achieve this.</p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-01T21:06:36.623Z
This seems incredibly difficult. The mirror-with-a-hole option is smart! I'd like to find out more about how this footage will be used and why the clips need to be strung together to look nearly seamless. As for a solution, one option would be to have 2 cameras on the actor:  one directly in front, and one off to the side. Cut back and forth between the two, so it appears seamless but disguises variations in her position.
BrettFromLA
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-01T21:10:22.977Z
Thanks @BrettFromLA, want to hear something funny?  We're good friends IRL! The footage would be used on a mobile device, basically talking to a person, so we can't have cuts like that...
ntgCleaner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-01T21:40:21.667Z
@ntgCleaner  If all the footage has to be head-on, you could start each new segment with a quarter or eighth turn into the shot. Everything spoken will be face forward, with any small change disguised in the turn. As Brett says, anything else is likely to be imperfect -- even a very small discrepancy will be noticeable. Good luck, though.
Jim Mack
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-01T21:54:37.303Z
@JimMack, Thank you.  I'll take this into consideration, though what I didn't mention is that we have this "idle" clip where the actor is "waiting" for you to talk to her and that's pretty static.
ntgCleaner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-01T23:27:10.640Z
@ntgCleaner Hey Nathan! Small world!
BrettFromLA
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T00:39:52.203Z
@ntgCleaner  Consider also another old editor's trick. If you begin and end each segment with the idle pose, you can have the model obviously blink at the start of each new clip, maybe even blink and smile slightly right afterward.  Any such motion draws the eye and will mask other small changes (I would cut during the blink -- a jump cut).
Jim Mack
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T13:04:31.510Z
@JimMack, Great suggestion.  I will add that to what we're doing here too!
ntgCleaner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T13:04:43.227Z
@BrettFromLA, It certainly is!  I'll email you!
ntgCleaner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-02T18:00:15.333Z
@ntgCleaner Great! One of these days, I'd love to work on a project together. (I've got a good app idea that you could build in one day.)
BrettFromLA
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-17T07:59:27.763Z
Have here revert to the same resting facial position whether it be a smile or neutral face at the end of each sentence. I'm not sure but I think you need them to go back to back with different variations depending on options the user selects since it's mobile. Maybe it would be a good idea to film all the iterations in entirety or stitch together with morph (avid has the best). Without more details it's like guessing what your favorite color is
Alex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-03T03:19:50.890Z
Why do you have to do it in multiple takes? Is the problem remembering the lines? If so, you could use a TelePrompTer
NoahL
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-03T03:24:11.457Z
@NoahL, It's not about remembering lines.  It's all a part of machine learning that we're adapting to use video responses, instead of TTS responses.  It's basically a canned response, but we're going to have hundreds (eventually thousands) of videos that should all feel like they line up together.
ntgCleaner
<video-quality>
Getting a model to hit same exact mark
ntgCleaner
# Getting a model to hit same exact mark

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-01)

I am trying to see if there's a term for what I'm about to explain or a better way of doing this. Basically, my company is filming an actor from the waist up for short, 1 or 2 sentence clips. These clips need to be strung together to look as seamless as possible.

The main problem is that the model has to rely on muscle memory to remember where her head (specifically eyes, nose, mouth) and shoulders are in the frame.

My solution would be to use a mirror with a hole cut out for a camera lens. On the mirror would be marks showing where her features should return to after she says something.

Is this typical, or is there a better way to do this? Or possibly to have another monitor with an overlay of the original position on it?

I'd just like to try to make sure she doesn't constantly look away from the camera to achieve this.

Any thoughts?

**Tags:** video-quality

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This seems incredibly difficult. The mirror-with-a-hole option is smart! I'd like to find out more about how this footage will be used and why the clips need to be strung together to look nearly seamless. As for a solution, one option would be to have 2 cameras on the actor:  one directly in front, and one off to the side. Cut back and forth between the two, so it appears seamless but disguises variations in her position.  
> **username_0**: Thanks @username_1, want to hear something funny?  We're good friends IRL! The footage would be used on a mobile device, basically talking to a person, so we can't have cuts like that...  
> **username_2**: @username_0  If all the footage has to be head-on, you could start each new segment with a quarter or eighth turn into the shot. Everything spoken will be face forward, with any small change disguised in the turn. As Brett says, anything else is likely to be imperfect -- even a very small discrepancy will be noticeable. Good luck, though.  
> **username_0**: @JimMack, Thank you.  I'll take this into consideration, though what I didn't mention is that we have this "idle" clip where the actor is "waiting" for you to talk to her and that's pretty static.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Hey Nathan! Small world!  
> **username_2**: @username_0  Consider also another old editor's trick. If you begin and end each segment with the idle pose, you can have the model obviously blink at the start of each new clip, maybe even blink and smile slightly right afterward.  Any such motion draws the eye and will mask other small changes (I would cut during the blink -- a jump cut).  
> **username_0**: @JimMack, Great suggestion.  I will add that to what we're doing here too!  
> **username_0**: @username_1, It certainly is!  I'll email you!  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Great! One of these days, I'd love to work on a project together. (I've got a good app idea that you could build in one day.)  
> **username_3**: Have here revert to the same resting facial position whether it be a smile or neutral face at the end of each sentence. I'm not sure but I think you need them to go back to back with different variations depending on options the user selects since it's mobile. Maybe it would be a good idea to film all the iterations in entirety or stitch together with morph (avid has the best). Without more details it's like guessing what your favorite color is  
> **username_4**: Why do you have to do it in multiple takes? Is the problem remembering the lines? If so, you could use a TelePrompTer  
> **username_0**: @username_4, It's not about remembering lines.  It's all a part of machine learning that we're adapting to use video responses, instead of TTS responses.  It's basically a canned response, but we're going to have hundreds (eventually thousands) of videos that should all feel like they line up together.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-12-01. Score: 2

One option, if you don't mind the actor keeping her head still, is to be partially lying down. She could be in a recliner, leaning back, with her head against the headrest so she never moves it. She would feel the headrest behind her so she could tell if she'd turned her head, and it wouldn't "drift" left or right because the friction of the headrest would keep it in place.

Of course you would want to shoot all her lines in as short a session as possible so she didn't get uncomfortable - like 5 minutes for all the lines and retakes.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: You could have something like a headrest but for the model standing up—like a bit of foam on a C-Stand or something, which you could matte out of the final shot.  
> **username_0**: Great suggestion!, maybe an incline wall too?  just enough to lean on.  and @username_5, also a great suggestion!  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-12-02. Score: 0

(This idea is similar to the one in username_6's second paragraph.) If you can view your spokesperson on a full-sized monitor, have her take her position, and then put small pieces of opaque tape on the screen: one just to the left of her head, one just to the right of her head, one at the top of her head, one for each elbow, one for each hand, etc. Then it will be easy to tell her how to realign after each take. (It would *not* be easy for her to realign at the end of each take.)


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2016-12-02. Score: 0

Back in the "golden age" of movie production, they had a "continuity person" or a "script supervisor" whose job it was to keep everything matched so that shots could be inter-cut without discontinuities. They used a Polaroid camera to record exactly what the actor looked like, what facial expression, angle of gaze, tilt of head, how empty the cup or half-burnt the cigarette, etc. etc. etc.

These days with video, it is easier because we have instantly available video recordings (or still frame captures) which can be compared by half-dissolving them on a monitor to exactly match the new shot with a previous reference frame.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: That's what I was thinking about too!  We're going to need a continuity person in there while filming at the very least.  Thank you! I will add this to the list!  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2019-09-21. Score: 0

An oldie, but let me do some brainstorming.

1. If you are going to have thousands of clips, you definitely need to construct a rig, not only **for the models but also for the lights and cameras**.

   For the model make one structure to be adapted on a comfortable chair that gently directs the orientation of the head.
2. Prepare a digital projector to shot a grid or a **silhouette** from one side of the model **(be careful with the eyes)** as a reference image.
3. Or prepare a set of orthogonal cameras, that can Livestream to a computer. If you are using windows, there is a small program called "Ghost win Real transparent windows" that can overlay one application over the other, a reference image. These cameras need to be also attached to the rig.
4. You could use a flat background, so you can align the clips in post pro.
5. Combine all the above.


---

