Good ways to fake desert location.

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harmonica44

For my short film I need desert for the plot, but there is none around where I live. Is there a good way to fake it or green screen it convincingly?
 
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What type of desert? The Sahara looks different to Death Valley, which looks different to Monument Valley, etc. Have you got a look you're going for, or do you just need an empty expanse of wasteland?
 
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I definitely wouldn't advocate using greenscreen in substitute of finding a real location. 9 out of 10 times, it'll look like total shit, and your viewers will absolutely be dragged out of the story because of a poorly-executed effect. I would either advise a rewrite or traveling to an actual location.

However, if you felt truly compelled to composite your scene into a CGI desert, there are a few potentially effective ways to go about it. The best would be to shoot your scene indoors, or inside a cave, which would allow you to get a much better looking composite with your background. The other idea would be to shoot your scene on a large backlot with barren soil, and then simply do a sky-replacement with desert mountains in the back. Naturally, lighting is the most important thing in doing a composite shot. Know what your background footage is going to be before you shoot the scene, and light to match. But as I said before, you still stand a pretty good chance that it'll look like total shit. :)
 
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Drive to a sandy beach.
Looks like you guys got plenty of watery places within a sensible drive.
http://www.canada-maps.org/saskatchewan/images/saskatchewan-map.gif

Also, crack open your local yellow pages, look under "SAND", call 'em and ask where their sand is trucked in from, call them and ask if you can shoot your bit at their sandy site.

Also, consider a local rock quarry where stone for your local roadway asphalt is mined and crushed. There should be some decent "worn spots" and a quiet weekend to shoot on location.

Also, consider a creative rewrite of the scene, especially to make it in the evening or at night so that not much of the set needs to be seen, only suggested.
 
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Well it's set in the middle east, so that would be the type I am going for. The nearest desert (if it even counts as a desert), is about a days drive away from me, so once I make a casting call, I can advertise that we need to travel when we shoot, if that works. I'll check out the sand site first, and see if it will pass. If I shoot at night though, it will be less clear as to be able to tell what is going on, since it's dark out and since it's the desert, that means no lights, but I can make it work at night if I have to.
 
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A mix of a practical and digital set will be much more convincing than green screen alone but without the hassle of finding and working in a location that looks perfect. As LastChancey and rayw suggest, find a location that looks similar to what you want - a beach, quarry or just a load of sand on the floor. Mix that with SiCurious's stock/archive footage and add some set extensions for your wider shots and you've something that will easily convince the audience.
 
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harmonica44 said:
Okay thanks. What's the difference between set extensions and green screening? I mean the methods are different but how does one look more convincing than the other?
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In a set extension, the actor is in front of an actual set, then you shrink that down or move it sideways or what not and "extend" the set digitally.

It can also apply when there's a lot of real set pieces in front of the green screen or only a window or something is chromakey, the rest is real.

Actually just click the link chili pie included, it explained everything I just typed :/

But like indietalk said, the real location is your best bet.
 
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PaulGriffith said:
In a set extension, the actor is in front of an actual set, then you shrink that down or move it sideways or what not and "extend" the set digitally.

It can also apply when there's a lot of real set pieces in front of the green screen or only a window or something is chromakey, the rest is real.

Actually just click the link chili pie included, it explained everything I just typed :/

But like indietalk said, the real location is your best bet.
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I checked out the real location, and it's not the desert I need. There is a lot of shrub, with the sand, and it's not the type of shrub that looks at all like the middle eastern type deserts. So I guess I'll have to get handy with a set extension. Thanks guys. I'll be sure to get a DP who can pull it off.
 
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How many films do you have going on, and when do you plan to shoot any of these you keep talking about?
 
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I am working on multiple script ideas, and I want this to be my first real short film I want to shoot, after I'm done with some practice shorts I have been shooting and will edit, once I find the right editing program. I also want to find the right DP for the job first, for this short.
 
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The BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who is famous for recreating exotic locations on a budget. For desert-like planet landscapes in recent series they've used anything from an actual desert outside Dubai to several deserted quarries and a Welsh beach.

I have a vague recollection of a professional matte painter posting on IndieTalk before, but can't remember his name for the life of me - it might be worth shooting him a few questions and seeing if he has any suggestions.
 
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harmonica44 said:
I checked out the real location, and it's not the desert I need. There is a lot of shrub, with the sand, and it's not the type of shrub that looks at all like the middle eastern type deserts.
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What is a Middle Eastern-type desert?

I've been to deserts in the Middle East and it is completely different depending where you go. For example, the Troglodyte area in the Southern Tunisian Sahara is rocky and full of caves. However, when we went into the desert into a c. 2,000 year old Roman fort (still in Tunisia, approaching from the South), the sand dunes turned a dark, rich red when the sun set over them. It was as if an undulating sea, as far as the horizon, was frozen solid and had become a rich, Merlot colour.

Leaving, we went where Lucas shot the original Star Wars - the speeder bit and that was Grand Canyonesque. To get there, we camped overnight and slept by an oasis so there was plenty of greenery which departed as the desert took over and it became more tundra like, finally becoming desert.

We even swam in a swimming pool on the top of a hill in the desert, some kind of permanent rocky fixture which was surrounded by more 'classical' sand dunes.

Egyptian desert was entirely different - we were in a military convoy and in among the flat, sandy expanse, there were artificial mounds with 50mm machine gun posts on the top; the first time I flew over Iraq, when I looked down, the desert was rocky, cratered and it was like looking at the craters of the moon.

So my experience of the desert is it is dramatically different even within one area of a country. The only thing that was constant was the heat... generally 50 degrees and too hot for a gorilla like me.

If I were to make a suggestion, just go to somewhere that is desert-like. It will look like some part of the desert, even if there is tundra. The desert is so different it gives a lot of artistic license.
 
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Well by Middle East looking, I mean no plants or grass growing out of the sand, that are types of greens you wouldn't find unless you were too far north of the middle east, such as the nearest desert to me. I could use that, if that much inaccuracy does not matter, however there are constant tourists and vacationers around there.
 
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