How to Use Blue Screen
- 1). Plan the shots, and decide how big your blue screen should be for your project's visual requirements. The size of the blue screen is essential to the success of your shoot. If your chroma shoot requires mostly close-up and medium shots of about one to three people only, a 12-feet-by-12-feet-sized blue screen may do. However, if the subjects are moving from left to right during the take, you may need a much bigger blue screen. In the same way, if you have a very large scene involving many actors and actresses moving around, you may need to have a blue screen set up of a big studio's walls.
- 2). List the lighting equipment you need. This varies depending on the lighting design you plan for the shoot. Any blue screen shoot relies on how even the lighting of the blue screen is and how accurately you light your actors, sets and props.
Make sure your lighting is geared toward what the supposed background to replace the blue screen would look. For instance, if you plan to replace the blue screen with a beach background, make sure your subject is lit in the same manner as your supposed sun-lit background. It is a challenge to ensure that the blue screen background itself is lit evenly from top to bottom. - 3). Set up the blue screen in preparation for the shoot. Then, set up the scene's art requirements including the props and sets, then start lighting the scene according to your final shooting set up.
- 4). Rehearse your on-camera talents and how the camera should move for every shot. At the same time, make adjustments to the lighting to ensure that the blue screen background is lit evenly and that the scene is lit accurately according to what background will replace the blue screen. There should also be no unwanted shadows, reflections or cables. Adjust the camera settings to get the best exposure for each shot.
- 5). Start filming. List every take and make appropriate notes on the shot list, if necessary. This will be very helpful to the post-production stage, which will be the time when the blue screen will be replaced by the final background and/or visual effects.
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