How To Capture On Color Screen The Right Way

5 Quick Tips

When implemented correctly, color keying adds a powerful skill to your toolbox of knowledge. The limit of what you are capable of achieving is always being redefined. Here are 5 tips that will help you nail the perfect setup.

1. Evenly light the background. (color screen)

When attacking the background lighting, the best way to go is soft light. LED fixtures create the cleanest and most efficient output. It doesn't taper off harshly common to hard light and won't burn through your nets! The leading popular option right now is the Arri Sky-panel. Creating an even background with soft light also prevents spill onto the set and possibly your subject caused by reflections or ambient bounce. The most common mistake is assuming brighter is better.

2. Your camera settings will determine a lot.

• Avoid high ISO settings.

• Use a slightly faster shutter speed to reduce motion blurring. (1/80th in 24fps or 1/160th in 60 fps)

• Keep your lens aperture open to an F4 or F5.6 to blur the background slightly and blend your background lighting in camera.

• Set your camera to the highest recording bit-rate possible for smoother color capture.

3. Create separation from the screen and subject and light them independently.

Not every filmmaker has the ability to shoot on a stage of The Avengers magnitude. Whatever setup you are shooting on, be sure to create a healthy distance between the subject and the background. Creating the proper 6-10 feet of separation will allow you to light the subject differently and won’t splash onto you background.

4. Light your subject for the scene.

If you execute everything right, you still need to light your subject for whatever lighting situation you plan on placing your keyed subject into. The more you shoot and chroma- key, the faster these concepts become second nature.

Film Riot has a great video that demonstrates additional techniques and what quality keying looks like.

5. Fixing blue/green spill in tight situations.

Have you ever found yourself shooting on a blue or green screen and some of the reflective light casts a spill onto your subject? This usually occurs in tight shooting situations when you can’t create the separation you desire. This quick fix if executed properly, might save your key.

Hair-light your subject with ½ Magenta effectively balancing out the color.

With these new concepts, get out there and create some awesome videos!