Green Screen Induction

I found that I learnt a lot in our first green screen induction session and there is a lot more to green screening than just standing in front of one and replacing the background! In fact, I even found out that green screens are mostly green because that is the colour that is least found in skin undertones, as they are usually pink or yellow. Blue is also commonly used as a green screen if there is a lot of green in the scene as it would become much more complex to mask out afterwards.

We also went over the 'basics' of lighting a lot, and all of it was foreign to me. Although we had the photography induction last year which I loved, I have found that I don't incorporate enough of the skills into my work. Lighting can become so complex whether you want a low lighting scene, one half lit or one that follows the time of day, there are so many things to think about! 

What is most important for us, is the 'Three Point Lighting' system. I am still trying to remember what each light's purpose is, but once applied altogether and at the right angles, you can completely change a scene and make it look much more thought about and sophisticated. 

The first light which goes to the back left of the scene is the 'Edge' light. This is the most powerful of the three lights and therefore needs to be considered more intently. It mimics the position and strength of the sun, so can be used to distinguish the time of day/evening. It can also be used to direct shadows. For example, when there is a close up of a person on film and one side of their face is lit, but the other is more of a shadow, this is due to the placement of the edge light and the consideration of what the director wants to highlight. I think this is extremely interesting, because you can fix the tone of a scene just by the placement of an edge light.

 Edge light (left).         Edge light & fill light (right).

The next light is the 'Fill' light. The fill light is important I believe, because it will 'fill' in any unwanted shadows that may be created from the other lights on the scene. For example if your edge light is casting too much of a dark shadow on a characters face, then with the fill light you can soften the shadow, or even eliminate it, without disturbing the other purposes of the edge light. This can be extremely helpful, and it can also give you more options when being worried about dark shadows.

Then lastly there is the 'Key' light, which is there to illuminate the scene by reflecting light from other objects onto the main one. This is not as prominent as the other two lights, but I think it would be very beneficial when wanting to have more detailed lighting, or focussing on the overall mood of the scene. 

Overall when you apply these three lighting steps, you can create a beautifully lit scene which is much more intricate than one spotlight. I didn't realise there was so much more to lighting than what I learnt and I would definitely see myself having a go at applying these steps into an animation. I would also really like to try green screening in general and I can't wait for the next session.