Lighting Bluescreen for HD
by Michael Brennan

Zebras are pretty easy to see and faster than a meter, they also give you the exposure where it counts on the ccd, thus making allowances for less than perfect lenses.

Quantel prefer 1/2 to 1 stop under key. Contrast is key. Don't light to the same level as the subject if you can avoid it.

If you are leaving the camera on while a gaffer lights then leave the monitor on, select blue only, wind contrast up and brightness down this is a good indicator.

Light the subject as it should appear in the composite... a huge flat source lighting subject and cyc is fine if the subject is meant to be flatly lit.

An alternative to a yellow rim, which doesn't occur in real life often, is to limit the area of bluescreen you are lighting, thus reducing bounce back.

Concentrate on removing blue contamination within the subject, like reflections from buttons, sides of spectacles ect. If you are not shooting the floor cover it with a black or white cloth (which ever is more appropriate for the subject) this reduces bounceback.

Don't use super blue backgrounds with HMI on a tungsten balance.

If possible light the subject slightly warmer (if you are using bluescreen)....that contrast thing again.

Finally latest trick is to use the new 1 stop Schneider polariser, if you have the lighting budget.

Having said that it is possible to key less than ideal setups. I shot a guy, full length dancing 2 feet from a bluescreen, where the bottom of the screen was simply fabric on the ground (no infinity cyc available) and using multiple plug ins it was keyed ok, took about 20 minutes with a top operator... and then very successfully transferred to 35mm film.

About the Author
Director of Photography Michael Brennan specializes in shooting High Definition and is Europe's first HD owner Operator. He is experienced in High Definition Aerial Photography using Cineflex V14 as well as using Viper Filmstream for TV and theatrical release. In 2004 he began editing High Definition Magazine Europe's bimonthly specialist publication. In 2002 he founded ClipHD the worlds first HD specialist stock footage library.