Green screen or Chroma Key is a film or video technique where one object is superimposed over another still or moving image. Some films today are shot entirely against a green screen background, with the actors later dropped in against footage that was made or taken elsewhere.
I’m using inexpensive Movavi software for this experiment. I bought two green plastic folders at Walgreens and taped them together. Then, I moved my hand across this green screen while shooting a video of it.
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First video showing green screen from Thomas Farley on Vimeo.
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I added this footage to what is called an overlay track in Movavi. It’s the top track you see in the photo below. I then added some footage of video I recently filmed at Red Rock.
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A few clicks of controls in the Movavi program resulted in the video you see here. I now need to make or buy a larger green screen if I want to appear in front of moving landscapes, outer space scenes, or walking into a volcano.
The video you see below is not simply my hand in front of the computer monitor, it is within the film itself.
You can’t shoot yourself in front of a monitor because all sorts of weird halo effects occur. You’ll notice these in the video below because I shot that footage with my iPhone off the monitor.
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Second video shot off of monitor with halos from Thomas Farley on Vimeo.
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Now notice this footage, this is the final video, no shooting off the screen. Much cleaner. You can make a green screen as big as you want. Just get a tripod and some heavy duty green paper. Don’t move quickly or you will leave green traces as you see in the video. Photography stores sell complete kits including proper lighting.
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Final product, not shot off of screen from Thomas Farley on Vimeo.
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Green screen seemed daunting by the descriptions I read but the process is straightforward. I’m looking forward to more experimenting.