Tailored Media is a video production company with over 15 years experience making films. We have worked on innumerable occasions in Green Screen studios for commercial and corporate video productions, as well as White and Black studios – having gathered important skills and a valuable ‘know how’ when it comes to filming in studios.
There are many things a video production company needs to prioritise and bare in mind when working in a green screen studio – here are some basic tips to start with:
Lighting – it is important to check if studios have a pre-lit solution for you. Most studios will be able to light the screen up for you, making sure it is nice and even and well lit by the time you turn up to setup your cameras. Our Cinematographers and DoP will often prefer to do it them selves, to have better control over the final output. They will choose the right amount and kind of lights (spot lights, diva lights, HMI, flicker free, LED, high CRI, gels and diffusers etc) there’s a whole universe to choose from… there is no ‘one solution’ but rather a a variety of options that work for each kind of project and creative brief. One of the most important things to do is Back-lighting the subject to allow it to stand out from the background and have a better outline contrast, sharper and clearer for when it comes to key out the green in post-production.
Choice of lenses:
Again this is really something for the Cinematographer / DoP to decide. The general rule of thumb is that if you are needing to match your green screen shots with other shots that were taken before or after, make sure you use the same gear (lenses / camera) as well as a similar lighting style and temperature. An important thing to bare in mind when filming in a green screen studio is to make sure you don’t overdo with the Depth of Fiel effect, or using the lenses wide open. This will make it harder to key out the subjects, especially the finer detail (like hair).
Studio Size:
Things to bare in mind when planning your video production, are choosing an appropriate size for the studio, how many actors, presenters, or objects need to be lit and highlighted and will they fit in the available space once they move around and props are being laid out. We have a list of studios that are perfect for different jobs (some are larger, some are sound proof, some have easy access for larger props, like cars). We can find the best fit for your brief. Another important tip is to try and not have the subjects too close to the screen, as the screen is effectively a big green reflector… a green hue will bounce back and spill over your subjects if you’re too close to the wall (this spillage will make it harder for the editor to achieve a clean key), so this is something our directors and DoP are able to asses when setting up.
Here are some very kind words from one of our clients after we did some filming in a green screen studio for them:
“Working with Tailored Media was a breeze. They turned an impossibly tight deadline and low budget project into a professional video production. We can’t recommend them enough. Their team was friendly, skilled and hard working. We felt from the very start that we were in safe hands.”
