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Ok - I have a 10' x 8' foot DIY green screen. Since I am newbie I have not yet purchased any lighting. I do have a set of circular reflectors, and a lightstand with a boom and clamps that I was "thinking" of using for fill light. What inexpensive light set should I get? Do I need to light the green screen with 2 softbox lights? What should I use for the key light and back light?

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  • Using 2 lights with softbox would be great for your background. The goal here is to get the background lit equally on all sides. You can use the zebra on your camera to help achieve this.
  • Avoid shining your background lights onto your subject. That's what your key and fill are for.
  • Make sure you keep enough distance between your subject and the background. This ensures you have little/no shadows on your green screen. Also, it helps to remove the green spill bouncing back from your background onto your subject.
  • Please spend twice as much energy on lighting your subject. People tend to spend more time and energy on the part of the image that they will throw away (green screen) and forget about the part that they will use in their film.
  • Keylight is a difficult decision and might be different for each project. For a regular MC/CU another light with softbox would be great!
  • Those reflectors will work great as fill light. Depending on what Keylight you chose. They might be less optimal when using certain LED sources. In that case you might need a second LED as a fill.
  • We kind of skipped the backlight of you subject. Sure, this is optional. But it could really help your footage to the next level.

Good Luck,

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  • Thanks for the helpful suggestions! Should I use yet another softbox for the backlight? Do I need a boom on that, so I can point it above the subject?
    – David P
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 18:50
  • Hi David, softboxes are not ideal for backlights. Although they could be, especially on larger sets. Personally, I prefer the smaller hardlight sources. For instance, a 300watt fresnel light. These are quite affordable these days. You can definitely use a boomarm or, maybe look into a way to mount it to the seiling. Best position is not really above the subject, but more from behind the subject only just above the top of the frame (camera). Obviously, this depends greatly on the situation and the look that you're trying to achieve.
    – Remco Hekker
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 10:46

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