A Short Guide On Green Screen: How To Use Effectively

By Phillip Guye

The arrival of satellite TV saw the virtual explosion of television channels, broadcasters, production homes and content producers. The reason is because cable TV and direct to home platforms have indeed pushed the frontiers of TV broadcasting beyond all conceivable limits and onto a worldwide scale. It is little wonder that television networks across the world make use of the utilization of a Green screen.

One of the common techniques that are utilized in television program production is that of using a Green screen in the background of the studio where a particular program is being shot. This is an element of the strategy of chroma key which deals specifically with the removal of certain images in the background of the shot and superimposing this with some other image, which is more suitable for the production. For instance, one can use a screen that's green in color behind a broadcaster who is reading out the weather reports. When spectators watch the program, the green or blue screen as the case might be is replaced with a weather map or scenes of certain towns or satellite photographs being shown instead.

A Green screen is particularly helpful for chroma key uses, on account of the fact that the standard human skin tone has little elements of green in it. This provides help in high quality of image superimposition as well as the replacement of background, without interfering much with the general view of the broadcaster who is standing in the foreground. If there had been any green hint or tone in human skin, parts of the body would became invisible when using the other colored screen, making the effect quite peculiar and highly inappropriate and incongruous.

One of the main advantages of using a Green screen is that it is fairly straightforward to execute as well as being cost effective. If one were to employ a huge plasma or HDTV screen behind the broadcaster, the effect could be marvelous, but the cost would be far larger than using a green screen. In these days of recession, where cost management is the key, the dice is loaded in favor of using less expensive options.

One can easily make a Green screen that can be employed in television program production. For this, something as simple as a table cloth can be employed. This material has to be uniformly painted, so that there are no smudges or uneven areas that would stand out when the show goes on air. One can also use a plain wall that is uniformly painted in green to form the colored background. One of the suggestions to remember when using such a screen is that if the background image is one of trees or forests, green is a more suitable color to use than blue for the background, while if the image is of the sea or the sky, green would not be so apt. Using a green screen is therefore an effective means of utilizing chroma key system in television program production, which is popular due to its simplicity and inexpensiveness. - 29967

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here