Which brings us to today's little project, building a greenscreen (one of my shorts is a sci-fi). I had previously planned to get a large roll of canvas and paint that but instead I decided on using four large stretched canvases and hinging them together sort of like an old board game.
DAY 1 - The Undercoater!!!
Always make sure you've got the right equiptment.
Stirring paint is important ... especially when it's a few years old.
Now you've gotta unwrap your canvas.
And like all delicate jobs find something sharp (and for non delicate jobs use something heavy and blunt, I suggest a sledgehammer).
Always buy extra canvases or be prepared to go back to the store.
Unwrapped and ready to go.
Sometimes a product just calls your name.
It's time to grab your gear. Roller for a quick cover, big brush for fixing mistakes made with roller and small brush fore edgees and sides.
HINT: Paint barefoot, it's much easier to clean paint off feet than it is off shoes.
Feel free to play around and get into the painting groove.
And then it's on with the paint.
Soon you'll be done with the first one...
...and then the rest.
DAY 2 - The Big Green Machine!!!
Like before get your shit together first.
Grab your canvas.
Again feel free to express yourself creatively....
....and soon you'll be done with the painting.
A quick trip to your local super-hardware while the paint dries.
Pick up some Butt Hinges and a Barrel Bolt (no embarassing names there).
Also grab some pine boards, these are gonna become some handy stands for balance.
Measure twice then ignore measurements and cut anywhere.
A nice straight line for me to miss later when I'm cutting.
Pick up a hand saw, struggle in vain before realising it's a piece of junk.
Then grab the power tools. (no photos of them in use I only have two hands)
Soon you'll have some nice "even" boards.
Always sand the ends smooth I reccomend using a rotary tool like my Colt here.
Nail the stand together like this, then cut off protruding nail points (use your rotary tool) and screw it together properly.
Make your two stands mirror opposites like this.
Line up your hinges and screw them on.
HINT: Use a drill bit to make the right size gap.
First set of hinges are done.
Now the other half.
Use the drill bit trick again.
See told you not to wear shoes.
DAY 3 - Stand It Up!!!
Line up your stands. Do a better job of it than I have.
Start screwing.
Cut off protuding sharp ends with your rotary tool.
Thee Killer Colt is Legendary.
And thy engraving skills sucketh.
Lay it down to attach the stands (you may need help as this is a bitch to do).
Both stands attached and you can see mine are a little crooked but who cares.
A barrel bolt will help hold it all together (but attach it on the back not side as done here I learnt it the hard way).
Now stand it up (it was too windy to stand it up flat).
The completed masterpiece.
Tae Kwon Do Tiger volunteered to test it.
But then he buggered off to work with Keiko.
Yeah it's badly done but I was using a photo editer instead of my vid program.
Things I Learned:
- Rollers soak up more paint than they put on the canvas.
- Canvases make good kites.
- Screw with pressure on top to avoid crooked screws.
- Don't wear loose clothes when painting, you'll always get paint on them.
- Power tools are your friends and like friends don't mess with them when they're working or it could get messy.
- You will always lose at least one screw.
- Cutting disks get very hot but the cut off nails/screws get even hotter.
- Next time I gotta get a friend to take the photos
Alright it's all done now, soon you'll see a real test of the greenscreen.
Robbo
