I'm shooting a large quantity of talking head interviews that will be will be used in a variety of different projects. For efficiency purposes, all interviews will be shot in the same location and against green screen. Later, as I decide which interview clip to use in which project, I will drop in an appropriate background plate.

MY QUESTION: Where can I find/purchase a large quantity of natural environment background plates? I'm not interested in swirling graphics (of which I can find many), rather I want a good shot of a living room, office, etc. Can anyone recommend a source? As an alternative, has anyone had success using still photos of such environments as background plates? I want the final product to look as real as possible... as if the interview was originally collected in that environment.

Thanks for your input!

Here's a list of some popular stock footage providers:

crackerclips.com/hd-footage/providers/

You will find lots of different types of background plates, including the ones you are looking for. iStock also has a lot of office background drops.

Free background plates are available, but then you can't get very picky on the content. Just google "free background plates" (or video) and look if you find any you like.

frascxm wrote:
You're talking somewhat of a virtual set. I would love to see your results if you find decent home images, but I would be skeptical that you might not be able to make a 2D still image seem all that realistic with a key. Perhaps designing a 3D scene in Motion is an alternative.

ArtBeats has some top quality stuff, too.

The biggest thing that can make or break a simple composite is matching the background video qualities to the foreground.

Have you thought about setting out time to create your own plates. If you pick a number of settings to create a database from you can light them and set your camera up exactly as you do for the talking heads.

This will make a world of difference in making the result look real.