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Writer's pictureGreg Hung

Stock footage shoot behind the scenes – Iphone 6s plus green screen shoot

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Greg Hung film-maker, instructor, & entrepreneur originally from Vancouver, Canada and based in Taipei Taiwan


Welcome to a behind the scenes – iphone 6s plus green screen shoot post. After reading Robb Crocker’s Stock Footage Millionaire I’ve picked up some new ideas about shooting stock footage. One of the ideas that stuck with me was trying to keep up with trends happening around our world today. My friend purchased an Iphone 6s plus phone recently. I thought that this phone was still pretty new so I took a look at existing footage from Pond5 and Shutterstock. To my surprise there wasn’t much selection, but there were a high number of views on the clips that were there.

our iphone green screen shoot


I brought out my camera and tripod to a Taipei Cafe at the Huanshan Creative Park.

Goal of the shoot

Shoot different angles on a green screen using the most popular actions done on an iphone.

Execution and challenges

I did a google search for green screen and was able to find an image. The problem was that the image would rotate on portrait mode so that it wasn’t a full screen green screen. We found the control panel that you can access by flicking your finger on the screen from the bottom. In this area we found the screen rotation lock. Another challenge was that tapping the screen in certain areas would revert the screen into a non full screen green screen view.  To resolve this we had to fake tapping the screen, but I think that in the clips it still looks real. The cafe that we were in was quite busy at the time, but I wanted to shoot it here because the lighting was good and I liked the wooden desk. Once the crowd thinned out I asked for permission to take pictures and got the green light. We did shots of finger tapping, scrolling, and even doing a google search.

Equipment Used

  1. Canon 6d SLR – I wanted the full-frame look

  2. Canon 50mm F 1.4 – this lens is light to carry around and provides a cinematic look blurring out the background

Behind the scenes - Iphone 6s plus green screen shoot

Canon 50m F1.4 – used in this shoot


I got about 18 clips ready for post and have submitted them to pond5, Shutterstock, Dissolve, and Motion Elements. This is a departure from the typical travel related footage that I usually do. The great thing about this Iphone shoot was that it doesn’t really matter where I did the shoot. The iphone is global and because I shot it in green screen with only our hand visible I didn’t have to worry about any model releases. Also the customer can replace the green screen with what they want. In this behind the scenes video I even tested it with some of my footage. Thanks to Serena for the use of her iPhone and being the model to hold the phone. I’m experimenting with different types of footage to see if they sell. There was virtually no cost to do this shoot other than buying a coffee at this cafe.

How did they do?

I’ve recently made several sales from this shoot from dissolve. Sales are real world validation that you are on the right track and that you should look how to scale it.

What can you learn from this?

  1. Look for products, events that are sure to trend and become a part of popular culture. The Iphone 6 plus was a pretty sure bet

  2. Add value to the customer by using a green screen. On an electronic product like a smartphone this is easy to do. Make sure to replacing a n image on the green screen before you sell it

  3. Check existing sites like Pond 5 for existing footage to see if there are gaps you can fill

  4. Use your creativity and resourcefulness to create value. This shoot cost no more than a coffee and some of our time to shoot this set

You can look and purchase this collection on Pond 5 on a per clip basis. Here

If you want to purchase the entire collection directly at a lower cost than the stock agencies please contact Chicvoyage productions directly.

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