Shoot a Video Using Green Screen

By filming someone in front of a green screen, you can use chroma key to replace that shade of green with another image, making it look like the person is in front of a different background. Green or blue are the colors of choice because they're the furthest away from the color of skin, ensuring that pieces of the actor don't blend into the background (which is what will happen if they wear clothing in the color of the screen). You can buy expensive green screens to shoot your special effects or use this guide to make your own.

Steps

  1. Go to your local hardware store and select a few paint swatches in the bright green color area. Some of more effective colors exist in the "kid's room" paint area. Choose about six different shades of green and take them back home.
  2. Spread the different colored paint swatches out on the floor and without your videos lights, shoot the swatches for around :30 seconds.
  3. Capture the footage and place the green screen filter on the clip (in your favorite editing program). Depending on your editing program, create a layer just below the one you just captured and place a solid black jpg. Adjust the controls until you find which color "keys" out the best.
  4. Go back to your local hardware store and have the paint department create a gallon of the green paint that you chose (satin finish is best). Then go to the floor covering department and purchase the least expensive piece of linoleum they carry.
  5. Paint the back of the linoleum with the green paint and when dry, hang it up and shoot away.

Tips

  • When shooting on green screen, it's best to have even lighting on the background. On any camera, your results will be better with lighting. Three point lighting [1] is the best way to light your green screen, but any light on your background will be an improvement.
  • For a more temporary solution, go to the fabric store and look for fabric that is close to the color swatch that "keys" the best.
  • While many editors such as Final Cut, Vegas, and Premiere have the ability to key a green screen, editors such as iMovie (iMovie does it for you but it's not very good at it) and Windows Movie Maker do not. If you're satisfied with an editing application such as iMovie, but still wish to work with green screens, FXhome [2] offers somewhat cheap and simple programs. Other programs such as After Effects can also key green screens, but that's only if you want to dish out $1000+ dollars.

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