Chroma Key

Anna_Banana

Hey guys,

I’m filming a music video for college in the coming weeks.
As part of it, I need to shoot some blue screen footage.

We haven’t really done much of it in college, so I’m really just doing it with trial and error. I wanted to challenge myself instead of just doing another simple documentary :P

If anyone has any experience with this, I’d love to hear any advice you have to offer

Average-Ro

What are you editing it on? Or to be more specific, what program will you be using to key out the green/blue?

Anyway, advice:

- Light the screen seperately from the subject. The more that the subject pops out from the screen, the easier you'll find it to key out in post. A backlight on your subject is a good option.

- Know exactly what is replacing your screen. No point lighting them with tungsten if whatever is replacing the screen is set outdoors. Make sure they match, not only the type of light but the light source, intensity etc.

-Don't have your subject wear anything even SIMILAR to the colour of the screen. Also, don't have them wear white, this reflects the colour around them and you end up keying out the edges of their arms and the like. Black is a good choice, but dont go overboard on it.

- If they have any props, maje sure they aren't reflective, otherwise they'll pick up the colour of the screen and they'll also be keyed out.

- Know EXACTLY what shots you need. No point getting a shot where the subject's legs are cut off and in post you find that you need a full shot. On that subject, also make sure that all you angles are correct.

The best thing for you to do is to shoot some test footage and do some rough keying on it. This will make sure you know what shots and angles you need. Then on the day you can spend time getting the lighting right and not worry about covering all the shots. Good luck!

Anna_Banana

Thanks for the help!

I’m using FCP 7 to edit.
I shot some test footage last week to play around with, but my subject had blue check on his shirt. I told the silly billy not to wear blue!

I had him backlit, and had him standing a good 2 or 3 meters from the blue backdrop.

Because I’m working in a small-ish studio, low ceiling and limited backdrop, I’m going to stick with mid shots and close ups.

These shots are really only for cut aways, they won’t make up the main bulk of the video.

I’ll be back when I’m editing for more help most likey :P