I need a white backdrop that I can light up with a strobe. I don't usually do people or portraits, so I'm not equipped for it.  But something has come up.

It needs to be at least 4 or 5 feet square, and something that a modest strobe light can push to pure white, so it should be a bit reflective I guess, a bed sheet won't cut it.  I see various paper and paper-like backdrops on Amazon but they all require a bulky floor stand to hold them up.  Ideally I'd like some sort of pull-down, roll-up screen I could hang from a ceiling without taking up floor space, of which I have little.

Dad's old slide projection screen from the 60s would do the job, but I no longer have it.

I live in the U.S. - I use poster paper you can buy at Hobby Lobby for about $12 per roll.  You can get it in all kinds of colors.

For backdrop stands, I use two light stands, two universal clamps, and a cross bar.

At most art supply stores you can buy foam core boards in various sizes.  I use 4 ft by 4 ft white foam core for a lot of stuff I do at home rather than haul around my stands and white paper rolls.

Of course foam core won't roll up but you can usually stash it in the back of a closet somewhere.  It's not particularly expensive anyway so you can just throw it away when you are done if you can't find a place to stash it.

Amazon has a lot of projector screens, some on stands, some are pull-down.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=projector%20screen&sprefix=projector+s%2Celectronics

That collapsible background looks very handy but it's $100 -  4 times the cost of a roll of paper, so I may put some hooks in the ceiling.

update: I see other collapsible backgrounds on BH that are much cheaper.

Some of the collapsible screens are translucent so they can be lit from behind.  I hadn't thought of that, and it seems like it could be a big advantage in terms of space.  If the strobe is in front, it has to be off to the side so as not to be in the frame.  And the subject has to be a sufficient distance in front of the strobe, which means the backdrop has to be extremely large.  But if I can put the strobe directly behind the screen, the subject can be up close to it in front and the screen can be small.   That would be very helpful.   I'm not sure, though, about getting a pure white background in this way.  Is it as simple as it sounds?

Some of the collapsible screens are translucent so they can be lit from behind.  I hadn't thought of that, and it seems like it could be a big advantage in terms of space.  If the strobe is in front, it has to be off to the side so as not to be in the frame.  And the subject has to be a sufficient distance in front of the strobe, which means the backdrop has to be extremely large.  But if I can put the strobe directly behind the screen, the subject can be up close to it in front and the screen can be small.   That would be very helpful.   I'm not sure, though, about getting a pure white background in this way.  Is it as simple as it sounds?

Aim the strobe at a white wall, or a white umbrella, or white foam core, or a silver reflector screen, and bounce it back towards the translucent collapsible screen.  This way it spreads equally and you'll have a pure white background (with the right camera settings).  If you work this way, your subject can be a lot closer to the backdrop.  I sometimes even put my subject against it.  I use the Lastolite Megalite, which works the same way.

I have one of those Lastolite boxes and haven't used it in 6 or years.  Pain in the a$$ and when shooting models it is pretty short and you still have to light the floor or it's grey.

But.... it could substitute as the biggest baddest softbox ever.

Hmm.... think I need to put that Lastolite on Kijijji.