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?
Good ways to fake desert location.
- Thread starter harmonica44
- Start date
So if I used set extensions, where should I put the smaller set which I will stretch out later? Should I put it high up or low in the frame, or does that not matter?
I wouldn't suggest a greenscreen. I tried faking desert with one last year, doing a set in front of it with a tarp completely covered in Sand. (the tarp was simply to get the sand out once we were doing easier). It was a complete mess, unless you can light it perfectly and find the perfect backdrop, it's just not doable. (But it IS doable with the right backdrop)
Trickery with some stock footage or hire someone on the site here to get some desert shots for you, and then shoot on a beach near you with high angles so you don't see the horizon, just the sand, which works for desert shots, like a POV of the sun. Be creative, get it done.
Some strip mines, landfills or construction sites may have large piles of dirt and sand. When we made TERRARIUM in my backyard, I paid about $200 to have 20 tons of sand trucked in. I have a dirt backyard, but the sand made it look like a set from LOST IN SPACE. 
On the other side of the yard, I dug up dirt and made these two dirt mounds that served as just a dirt backdrop, otherwise, you would see our fence!
On the other side of the yard, I dug up dirt and made these two dirt mounds that served as just a dirt backdrop, otherwise, you would see our fence!
Ok I hitchhiked this great country of ours. From one side of canada to the other. I have seen purple sky's over Alberta. I have seen snow in july in the Rockies. I have seen a beautiful sunset durring a extreemly bad thunder storm in ontario. Hell I even have seen a mermaid of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. What I never sawis an unsutibale location to shoot a deseart scean in Saskatchewan. 90% of that provence is desert like. Honestly just look around a little bit go talk to a farmer use on of his fields he is not using that season. If you were looking for a hilly background in Saskatchewan i could understand but not a desert. Just look!
There is a lot of schrub in the sand though that wouldn't see in the middle east. Unless I missed part of Saskatchewan that isn't.
Damn dude looks like you've got two awesome choices!
...the largest active sand dunes in the world north of 58°
And:
Southern Saskatchewan contains another area with sand dunes known as the "Great Sand Hills" covering over 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi).
...the largest active sand dunes in the world north of 58°
And:
Southern Saskatchewan contains another area with sand dunes known as the "Great Sand Hills" covering over 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi).
You relize that every desert has some sort of shrubery and you can use farers fields that they are not growing on you know they are ltting it go falow use that and if you say you can not find a farm in Saskatchewan your blind.
K thanks I'll look into it more. The farms I've been too have not looked like that.
On other thing you can do is google middle east desserts and see if you may have been mistaken on the look
Wow. I just tried that. I never knew the middle east looked like baklava...
For my film "On the Fringe" I found a local sand pit (gravel company) and was able to cheat, crop and frame it so that the main character looked like he was definitely in the middle of nowhere. Maybe do a local Yellow Page search for sand pits, gravel delivery?
Okay thanks. I'll do that and use set extensions. Do I have to film the set extensions in post for any reason, or can I get started on that before production?
Start on in preproduction because you need to know what you have to work with, then plan shots around your plates. You'll still have to tweak in post, but you'll be happy you did.
