Avoiding Pitfalls in Green Screen Shots

H

Heartfelt

Well-known member
I am about to shoot some interviews and in my relative lack of experience, I have been
looking around and researching other people's work. It seems there is some great green
screen work done and some that is not so great.

I would like to avoid the latter. :D

On thing I see a lot is a green halo around people or objects that are green screened. That is
something I hope to completely bypass.

What other problems have you seen in GS footage and how can it be avoided?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Rob
 
As someone who has made pretty much every mistake possible, I'd say watch out for: Disappearing eyeglasses, Disappearing noses in profile, Jagged edges from nasty matt shrink, Lighting mis-match (subject does not match background) and of course the ever-popular Perspective mis-match. Also -- if you are keying a low-light scene (night-time car-ride, etc) don't try to shoot it low-light and key it later -- grain will eat your lunch.
 
light your screen to around 65 ire. Use a proper greenscreen fabric. Use the best camera you can afford ( stay away from dslrs ). Take your subject as far away from the screen as you can, this will minimise the green spill. Don't be afraid to put flags in the shot to minimise this spill. As long as the subject doesn't cross the flag, it's easy to garbage matte out. I like to put up a black flag or sometimes white foamcore behind the subject when I'm lighting them. It can help you visualise the completed shot better as the green can sometimes fool your eyes.
Use a good keyer like keylight in after effects.
 
Thanks a bunch.

NVentive, I have indeed seen the disappearing glasses, already. haha. I do have person wearing glasses. It seems like trouble waiting to happen. How have you avoided it?


LowDown, Forgive the basic question but regarding flags and their usage, Are you talking about reflections off of the green to other reflective surfaces back to the subject and blocking that with side and top mounted "flags"?

For this project, I am using an Panasonic HMC40 and but will have to purchase something for future work and was considering DSLR's. Do you mind sharing your thoughts on DSLR's inability with greenscreen?
 
Most of my disappearing head-parts fun came back in my old SD days. LowDown pretty much nailed it -- use a good screen (I use foam-backed) and keep the talent forward. I also shoot with 6K lighting and rim-light with 3200. Shooting 1080P, 4:2:2 on P2 helps a lot, too.
Also -- BE SURE that you shoot some of your screen sans talent. Most keys have a 'set key' function that loves a blank green screen. Good luck!
 
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