Greenscreen & The Emerald City

We found ourselves in a bit of a scheduling pinch earlier this month, which is to be expected given the ambitiousness of this season. It is just mid-November, and we're already facing our fourth opening since September, fifth if you include The Green Sheep's run in NYC. So, when it came time for the PR photo shoot forThe Wizard of Oz, we didn't have set pieces available to use as backgrounds.

So, we turned to virtual backgrounds instead (fortunately this production makes extensive use of projections, so we had backgrounds ready-made by Projection Designer LB Morse). And, while it isn't exactly cutting-edge, as weather forecasters have been using greenscreen and bluescreen for years and years, we were excited about our first foray into chroma key technology.

Julie Briskman as the Wicked Witch. Photo by Chris Bennion.

What most surprised me was how different the foreground image looks against its new backdrop. I didn't think we had gotten the shot I was looking for with the Wicked Witch, but somehow the dark, foreboding background made everything come together.

Kasey Nusbickel as Dorothy. Photo by Chris Bennion.

The difference here wasn't quite so dramatic, but it did elevate a nice portrait to a more iconic level. She looks movie-poster classic, which is exactly the look and feel we hoped to achieve.

The Wizard of Oz opens this Friday, November 21, 2008, and runs through January 17, 2009.