Guardianvm
05-18-2005, 07:15 PM
I understand the process of greenscreening in its basic concept.
I will be attempting my first film which utilizes the green-screen effect.
In regards to lighting:
What kind of light should I use?
-Hard light so there is a deffinate contrast between charactor and background?
-Soft light?
What should I focus on in lighting?
-I know that the background needs to be consistant. Any other comments?
Thanks for your help!
You guys and awsome!!
Guardianvm
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SPaulovich
05-18-2005, 08:19 PM
I'd say the most important factor is to be mindful of shadows, they're problematic in keying.
A strong light placed just above the screen, aimed down, will go a long way to prevent shadows falling on the screen.
Use the softest possible lighting in the foreground.
Here are my semi-coherent thoughts :)
- As SPaulovich said, use a soft light for the screen. It will help hide any wrinkles you have (an inevitable problem).
- Use a low power light from behind the actor. This helps differentiate the actor from the screen. You can even get really creative and use this to help counteract "spill" if you play around with colored gels.
- You can light the actor however you wish, just make sure the screen is lit evenly! Lighting the screen separate from the actor can be difficult though if you only have a small screen. It's not impossible but it's harder since you can only get the actor so far from the screen.
Depending on the software you use you can sometimes get away with less than perfect setups. For instance, I used After Effects to do some key work in a short (darn thing is still in progress) recently and it came out quite well despite my crappy setup.
Spatula
05-19-2005, 12:42 PM
Surprised you didn't direct him to your awesome tutorial Spaul!!!
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=6629
Krishna
09-27-2005, 07:44 PM
Just make sure you don't get shadows on your screen.
Boz Uriel
09-27-2005, 11:12 PM
I found that backlighting the actors and props helps a LOT. Good tut there Steve. ;)
jaxshooter
10-01-2005, 09:40 AM
You might also use some bastard amber gel on your backlight.This will provide some extra separation between actor and green screen.
knightly
10-02-2005, 09:53 AM
www.dv.com (registration etc.) Just ran a coupla articles on lighting for green screen in their craft of lighting articles.