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The Keys To Chromakey: How To Use A Green Screen

Green Screens and blue screens were the keys to chromakey in the 1970s, the use of blue or green screens as backgrounds for use with chromakey became widespread amongst local TV news programs, conjuring up images of cheesy weathermen in garish plaid polyester jackets standing in front of superimposed maps. The goal of that new technology was to shoot the weatherman in the studio against a blue or green screen, then delete the background color and insert various images, from maps to pictures. But very often, the key would be imprecise, causing said weatherman in his garish plaid polyester jacket to appear to be dematerializing into his map, usually somewhere around the Great Lakes or Sheboygan.

But that was long ago. These days, chromakey and related technologies, such as blue and green screen effects, have gotten so exact, they're the key to Hollywood blockbusters ranging from the recent trilogy of Star Wars prequels to such quasi-comic book films as Sky Captain, Sin City and 300. One reason these effects have taken off in the past few years is that compositing via PC has become incredibly sophisticated. And that technology has recently trickled down rapidly to the consumer level.

While Hollywood films still have multi-million-dollar budgets, they have saved considerable sums with green-screen effects, as sets are built in a computer, not by draftsmen and riggers. Similarly, because compositing via PC is now inexpensive enough that the average serious hobbyist can afford it, green-screen effects allow one-man video podcasts to have an extremely slick look, even if they're shot in a garage or a basement. So let's look at some of the elements involved in producing a successful…