How to Get a Great Green Screen Shot for the Talent

Green screen studio owners have a propensity to ask a number of

questions about lighting, background materials, shooting and

compositing techniques.

Questions to ask beforehand:

When must I use green or blue screen?

What type of cameras should I use?

What type of materials should I use?

How do I light the talent?

To accomplish good output from your project, here are some techniques that may help:

Bouncing Light

The common problems with poor green screen studio shots result from:

- improper lighting

- incorrect positioning

- use of backgrounds with wrong colour

Solution:- If you light off of anything such as umbrella or ceiling, the POWER OF BOUNCING LIGHT is harnessed.

- But be aware that reflective surfaces like metal, silver and other shiny surfaces absorb less light.

Tips for Lighting the Actor/Actress

- Light the talent for the proposed setting they are to be composited into. The talent lighting is independent of the backing lighting.

- Turn off the backing lighting in order to set up the lighting for the talent. Then, turn the backing lights back on and re-meter after the lighting is set up for the talent.

- Keep the talent 8 to 10 feet from the backing. The closer they get to the backing the more spill light lands on them.

- Make sure the talent lighting does not hit the backing. Make sure the backing light does not hit the talent.

- Watch out for reflective objects on the talent such as rings and other metal objects as they will reflect the backing color.

- Never counter-light the edges of the talent with a complementary color of the backing (yellow for blue screen and magenta for green screen).

- Place small lights out of frame and slightly behind the talent to subtly rim light them.