Lighting a Crime Scene Reenactment with Virtual Production

Chris Kimling
1 day ago
3 min read

I recently worked as the Gaffer on a crime scene reenactment for a documentary, and this ended up being a very cool setup. We filmed inside a soundstage using a virtual background built in Unreal Engine. The camera had trackers attached to it, which allowed the background to move correctly with the camera and create a much more realistic environment than a normal static backdrop.

Another great part of the shoot was the picture car. We were filming with a pristine vintage 1960s car, and it looked incredible on camera. The combination of the car, the lighting, the virtual background, and the camera movement made the whole setup feel very cinematic.

Check out how cool this looks:

Vintage 1960s car on a green screen soundstage in Atlanta, lit for a documentary crime scene reenactment with film lights, diffusion, and camera crane setup.

(More behind the scenes photos at the bottom of the post)

I felt very prepared going into this project because I had worked on a similar setup about six months earlier. On that project, I was also the Gaffer, and we lit a 1970s sports car in front of a green screen for a short film. So I already had a good sense of what worked, what to watch out for, and how reflective cars behave in an environment like this.

We filmed this project inside the studios at Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta campus. The car was wheeled in and placed on a set of wheel dollies that allowed us to move it in any direction. That ended up being extremely useful because whenever we needed a new angle, we could quickly rotate the car instead of completely resetting the camera and lights. It was a very smart setup and made the shoot move much faster.

For this shoot, I brought out the best lights I had at the time. We also had a crane operator on set, which helped us capture more cinematic shots with movement. My main key light was an Aputure 600D pushing through an 8x8 diffusion frame. I used my Litepanels Gemini 1x1s for fill and accent lighting. For a few of the scenes, I also used my Aputure Spotlight Mount to create the look of moonlight coming through trees. I defocused the pattern so it had a softer, dappled light effect. The Director of Photography really liked the way it looked.

One of the bigger challenges with this kind of shoot is lighting the green screen correctly. You need an even wash of light across the green screen so it can key properly in post. At the same time, you have to be careful with spill, especially when filming a reflective vintage car. Older cars with clean paint and chrome can pick up the green from the screen very easily, and that can create problems later if you are not paying attention on set.

I have also worked as a Director of Photography on this documentary, filming a number of interviews for the project. But for this reenactment scene, I was asked to step in as the Gaffer. I was glad to be part of it because this is exactly the kind of environment I enjoy working in. It combined documentary reenactment, virtual production, greenscreen lighting, car lighting, and practical problem solving on set, which made it a really fun project to work on.