Green Screen: How To Use Effectively

By Phil Guye

The advent of satellite television 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 television broadcasting beyond all conceivable limits and onto a global scale. It is not surprising that TV networks across the globe use the utilization of a Green screen.

One of the common techniques that are used in television program production is that of using a Green screen in the background of the studio where a selected programme is being shot. This is a part of the method of chroma key which deals in particular with the removal of certain pictures in the background of the shot and superimposing this with some other image, which is more acceptable for the production. For example, one can employ a screen that's green in colour behind a broadcaster who is reading out the weather news. When viewers watch the programme, the green or blue screen as the case may be , is replaced with a weather map or scenes of certain cities or satellite images being shown instead.

A Green screen is especially helpful for chroma key uses, on account of the fact the standard human skin tone has little elements of green in it. This provides help in high standard 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 tint or tone in human skin, parts of the body would became invisible when using the other colored screen, making the effect quite peculiar and extremely unseemly and incongruous.

One of the main advantages of using a Green screen is that it is fairly easy to carry out as well as being cost effective. If one were to use a huge plasma or HDTV screen behind the broadcaster, the effect might be wonderful, but the price would be far larger than using a green screen. In nowadays of economic downturn, where cost management is the key, the dice is loaded in favour of using less expensive options.

One can easily make a Green screen that may be employed in TV programme production. For this, something as straightforward as a table cloth can be used. This fabric 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 employ a plain wall that's evenly painted in green to form the coloured background. One of the guidelines 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 wouldn't be so good. Using a green screen is therefore an efficient method of making use of chroma key technique in television programme production, which is popular due to its simplicity and inexpensiveness. - 30542

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