Why the $10 million dollar studio is completely dark (Patreon)

People are always shocked when they see my studio in person for the first time. "It's so dark in here". 

And they're right. Everywhere you look, it's black carpet, black walls, black curtains covering green.

I thought I'd give you guys a little insight into why that's the case: One of the secrets to my production is my obsession with painting with light, and specifically... painting with a blank canvas. 

The world of virtual production is endless, there's a million different scenes you can shoot on a greenscreen... but where everyone always messes up is on the lighting...

It's always lit incorrectly, from the wrong angle, or has green spill. 

It drives me completely nuts!

The correct way to do a green screen is to achieve two seemingly impossible things simultaneously, 

1. evenly light a green screen (as small as possible to avoid green spill but fill the camera frame)

2. light yourself with dramatic lighting that fits the scene.

This is impossible, unless you start with a blank canvas. Otherwise the lights hitting your green screen, will affect you as well. 

The solution is complete separation. Meaning your two light sources are completely separate, and there's no outside light influencing the scene. Hence, black everywhere. Now that you have a blank canvas, you can light yourself for the scene. 

I shot a quick test to show what a blank canvas looks like when done properly, and improperly, and then how good it looks when you paint with light from scratch.

This took me years to figure out, and I hope I can pass on some lessons, and encouragement. Going that extra mile with such small details is something 99% of people won't notice consciously, but over time they will feel the difference.