Starting your own business is not easy, so today I’d like to send some words of encouragement and praise to my nephew Lane Bowers, who has launched his own company, Barnacle Doctor. Lane grew up on the water and has loved boats for as long as I can remember. He’s turned that passion into a business servicing boats in the South Florida area. Please hit him up if you’re in need of their services!
Shooting a Green Screen Video
What Does a Green Screen Do?
If you’ve ever seen a video where someone has a background that doesn’t seem ‘natural’, then they’re probably shooting in front of a green screen. The green screen gives you the ability to customize the video’s background in a way you can’t by shooting normally.
Why is it Called a Green Screen?
‘Green screen’ is a slight misnomer since the majority of green screens are either made of fabric or a hard surface that’s green, not an actual screen. Also, the color doesn’t have to be green, but that’s probably the most common color.
How Does a Green Screen Work?
Shooting on a green screen begins normally enough. After you’ve set up your green screen and ensured it is lit evenly, your subject stands in front of it and does whatever they are going to do for the video. It’s recorded normally as well; no special settings are needed for the camera.
The magic happens when you edit the video. If you are using software like Adobe Premiere Pro you will drop their effect (called ‘Ultra Key’) onto the video, select the same green color as the background, and, poof!, the background will disappear. You can then add in whatever you want for the layer ‘behind’ your subject.
Why is it Green?
It’s actually not always green! This has to do entirely with what your subject is wearing. As long as they don’t have any green on, then a green background works perfectly. However, if they are wearing something green or close to it, you’ll need to select a different color for their background. This is necessary because when you tell the software to eliminate the color, it will eliminate that color everywhere. So if your subject has on a the same color as the background it will eliminate that as well. Make sense?