News: Lighting the green screen

Fig. 1 Filmmaker IQ : 3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits (2013)

Three-Point Lighting:

Three point lighting comprises of a key light, fill light, and back light arranged to light a subject evenly (see fig.1).

Key light = Since this is most often the strongest light, it is the source of most of the light shining on the subject (3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits, 2013).
However, when it is pointing straight at the subject, it makes them flat and shadowless, therefore it is best to set it up "at an angle so that it's illuminating about three quarters of the subject's face", creating a hard shadow on the subject's opposite cheek (3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits, 2013).

Fill light = This is placed on the opposite side of the camera from the key light, at a similar angle to light the subject evenly (3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits, 2013).

Back light = This light separates the subject from the background, therefore it should be placed at 45 degrees above the subject so that it highlights detail on the top of their head and shoulders (3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits, 2013).

Also, setting up each light individually with the others turned off helps to show how each light is shining on the subject, and having the stands set at just above eye level gives more "direct, pleasing light" and less harsh shadows (3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits, 2013).

Green screen lighting:

Lighting a green screen uses the concept of three-point lighting, however, the background needs to be even and the subject needs to stand out (Using constant lighting for photo and video, 2018). This is so that when the background is put in during post-production it looks realistic and doesn't have any random harsh shadows.

To achieve this it is important to, "get the lights as close to the background and get as much light back there as possible" (Lighting the green screen, 2018).

However, the lighting can look different to the eye than to the camera. Therefore, before starting to film doing some test shots can help to ensure that all the lights are set up correctly to illuminate the background and the subject (Lighting the green screen, 2018).

List of illustrations

Figure 1. 3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits (2013) [Filmmaker IQ Webpage] At: https://filmmakeriq.com/2013/04/3-point-lighting-with-different-lighting-kits/ (Accessed on 15 October 2018).

Bibliography

3 Point Lighting with Different Lighting Kits (2013) [user-generated content] Pres. McCormick, N. Filmmaker IQ.com At: https://filmmakeriq.com/2013/04/3-point-lighting-with-different-lighting-kits/ (Accessed on 15 October 2018).

Lighting the green screen (2018) [user-generated content] Pres. Shapiro, A. & Harrington, R. Lynda.com At: https://www.lynda.com/Photography-tutorials/Lighting-green-screen/112587/119709-4.html?autoplay=true (Accessed on 15 October 2018).

Using constant lighting for photo and video (2018) [user-generated content] Pres. Shapiro, A. & Harrington, R. Lynda.com At: https://www.lynda.com/Photography-tutorials/Using-constant-lighting-photo-video/112587/119710-4.html?autoplay=true (Accessed on 15 October 2018).