GREEN SCREEN THE GAME CHANGER
lighting can be game-changing when it comes to Green screens. Not only can you film anywhere in the world and use custom backgrounds and special visual effects, but you also have endless backgrounds, settings, locations, and creative choices. There is a name for this. It is known as chroma keying, which is when you remove the coloured background.
GREEN SCREEN LIGHTING
It is essential to ensure the green screen’s lighting is done correctly. Lighting your green screen correctly will make it much easier when it comes to the edit. If it is done incorrectly, you will waste much time trying to correct this edit, and sometimes, if the lighting is that bad, you won’t be able to fix it. It would help if you ensured the green screen was flat and smooth. You might need to iron out the creases.The best way is to put it up and then use a streamer to iron out all the wrinkles and make it as smooth as possible. It is also recommended to film on green screens in high resolution.
LIGHTING ORDER
You must make sure you light your screen first before lighting the subject. Remember that you must not light the screen and matter as one. Your screen must be evenly lit. From my experience, I would say 40 to 50 percent luminance. You can use a waveform monitor to help you; when you see a flat line across the monitor, you will know that the green screen is lit correctly.
GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
People often go out and buy cheap screens, and all I can say is that this causes all types of problems when editing your footage. Rather spend the extra dollars to get a better quality green screen. Typically, the cheaper screens come with lighting, but this lighting is not enough to light up thE screen. These one or two lights usually are only for lighting the subject and not for lighting the green screen. If you don’t have the dollars to buy lights, renting the right amount and good quality lights is extremely important.
LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
I would recommend using two 1000-watt lights. These lights would be used to light up the screen only. You can also use softboxes around them, which is a diffusion method. When it comes to lighting the subject, you would need a 650-watt light and a 500-watt light, using softboxes for diffusion. After a sharper look, you can add a hair light between your subject and background.
lighting the background and subject correctly can either make or break your project.
EVERYTHING GREEN WILL GO
It is also important to remember when using a green screen that when editing, everything green in those shots will be removed. Therefore, the subject cannot be wearing a green shirt or hat as this will be taken out in the edit—the same for using green props in the background. If you want to wear or use green, you would need to use a blue screen background and vice versa. This is the same for any sold background color you treat as a ‘green screen.’
HERE IS A RECAP OF THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN USING THE GREEN SCREEN
- Do not buy cheap
- Make sure the screen is flat and smooth
- Light Correctly
- Distance of 10-15 feet between subject and screen
- Light the subject
- Remember, everything green will go.
CONCLUSION
We used green screens while filming Dreamlife. It made the masters stand out. It can help your production value if done correctly.
Contact us anytime and ensure it’s done correctly.