PROM what background? paper or cloth? and other PROM questions :)

Ok so i got roped into doing posed prom pictures for a high school with about 650 kids attending prom.. SOOO here's some questions..

I have two backgrounds a white cloth background and a white seamless paper background. I want to use the seamless paper.. however i will be setting up on carpet. The carpet is very short but i don't want to risk a females heel poking through it ( i could put some thin flooring under it but not sure what would work best. So i am leaning towards the cloth because its much less hassle but not as clean looking IMO.

The other issue is they wanted a white background.... so my thinking is that white dresses and suits will blend right into the background... i will be blowing out the background with two strobes so it will be pure white what do you suggest the best way to make the white dresses and suits pop out from the pure white bg? I was thinking maybe gel the background but gels to me seem a bit cheesy. I have some tye dye cloth but they didnt go for that they want white.

POSES: what are the typical prom poses? I know the male stands behind the female shoots the arms through. ( in fact when i do event i always make fun of that pose and tell a couple to do the prom pose but now i will actually be needing to do that! ) But what other poses should i go for or let the students decide.. i know in these matters its best the photog takes control much like shooting a wedding there is ZERO time so most of the time you have to take control of the situation to get the shots.

Expediting the posing process.. i'm thinking of printing out 3 standard poses and putting them up for the kids to see before they step onto the backdrop so they will have an idea of how to stand or what kind of pose they would want for their pictures. yay or nay?

and anything else to consider let me know!

thanks!
JTP

ok found some info:

http://sidvasandani.bl​ogspot.com …ng-on-white-seamless.html

good stuff and kind of what i thought just wanted to see.. and i think im gonna get a piece of 4x4 or 4x8 plexi to put down over the backdrop so i can use either paper or cloth... anyway any other feedback like poses etc would be great

thanks!
JTP

First thing is you don't have to blow out the background to get it white. Use 1 - 2 stops above what you've metered the subject at (depends on the amount of separation between subject and background...remember the inverse square law?). I've use plexi but would recommend a heavier (3/8") piece as i've had spiked heals go through 1/4". If you want to see what I'm talking about relative to the white background go to youtube. There are a couple of examples there. Usually they'll explain a black background too. Good luck!

alright the shoot went great! I chose classic poses and all the shots turned out great. I used two strobes to blow out the background i used paper background and I used whiteboard for the flooring and heels didn't poke through one bit so it worked out great also providing a little bit of reflection

ive done over 25 proms. and they all want different poses and something "fun" so be ready with at least 10 go to moves and dont forget the groups up to 12 and no way paper it will get trashed. the student council always voted on a scene and would help split the cost. and if you do a 4 light set up you can blow out the back by shining lights just on the back ground
good luck