How to Light a Computer Monitor

S

staninbrooklyn

New member
I need to shoot people using a computer. The client has a flat screen LCD screen. When I'm done shooting the "on-screen" part I need to import it into FCP and edit it. So I need the on-screen footage to be as clear and crisp as possible. (I'm aware there are screen capture programs; can't use them for this project.)

Any thoughts on lighting and how to shoot it. The location can be anywhere. I just need to capture the on-screen footage.
 
Have a 250 watt kicker off to the side or above the screen so there's no reflection. This should do it. We lit a screen in our first movie and didn't have too much trouble.

-Nate
 
Do you only need the on-screen part? Because that is pretty simple, just center your camera exactly in front of the screen, no additional lighting to avoid reflections, adjust focus and f-stop, and you're ready to go. Looks pretty good. With LCDs you don't have to use the shutter, LCDs don't flicker. With crt monitors you have to adjust the shutter exactly to the monitors refresh rate to avoid flicker.
 
Set a hard rim light to add depth to the monitor, reflect the light as a fill. You should not get any reflections from that. When filming that way you could add a "user" to the picture, just shoot overshoulder to the monitor.

Did this all the time for BMW... ;)
 
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