The Practicalities of Green Screen 1

I thought it was important to understand the green screen process, particularly within the sound stage environment as I am designing a set that incorporates green screen elements. I looked at various videos and books and came up with a few pointers in terms of what is needed.

The position of the green screen:– This needs to be at least 8 ft from the actor being filmed (though video suggests 10-15 ft)

Lighting:- Both the screen and the actor have to be lit. The best results can be achieved by using a three-point lighting set up to lit the screen as evenly as possible.

Green Screen:- Needs to be hung in such a way that there are no or few creases or shadows that will make the post-production process more difficult. Fabric needs to be non reflective.

Footage:- Two sets of film footage is needed, one of the actor in front of the green screen and one that is replacement footage such as a matte painting or scene.

(BYRNE, B., 2009)

A good colour for a green screen is anti-reflective Rosco chroma key green, this provides the cleanest green screen  (info at http://greenerystudios.com/green-screen-studio/)

 

Image available at http://www.innovativethinking-inc.com/greenscreen.html [sourced on 29/06/2014]

 

I also found a video that explains some of the processes.

My problem is that the area that needs to be green screened is the ceiling. I found some studio images showing part of the ceiling screened but there needs to be lighting rigs and the image shows this.

Image available at http://www.halastudios.com/studio/studio.html [sourced on 29/06/2014]

The question is, is there a way to green screen a ceiling and allow lighting or does the scene need to be pieced together filming several scenes with more than one green screen shot? Or, does the screen even need to extend that far?

This studio image below  shows a green screen ceiling with lighting rigs in front of the screen. I need to research this further in terms of the practicalities and find out how easy it is to film this and whether the lighting rigs would just be digitally painted out like the scaffolding support was in Inception.

Image available at http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/greenery-studios-burbank [sourced on 29/06/2014]

 

References:- BYRNE, Bill. The Visual Effects Arsenal. Oxford: Focal Press, 2009.

Visual References:-

http://greenerystudios.com/green-screen-studio [sourced on 29/06/2014]

http://www.innovativethinking-inc.com/greenscreen.html [sourced on 29/06/2014]

http://www.halastudios.com/studio/studio.html [sourced on 29/06/2014]

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/greenery-studios-burbank [sourced on 29/06/2014]

 

You Tube :-

 

 

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