Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish! After I save that background render, do I hide the background and do the area renders with just the figure? Or do I do an area render taking into account the background too?

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi