Green Screens

Why they work and how to use them

Green screens have taken film-making to the next level. They enable actors and characters to travel to places without actually being there. So how do these magical time machines work?

Green screens work because of amazing technology invented by Larry Butler. This technology is able to detect the green of the screen, and replace it with an image of your choice. If a camera can detect many colors, then why does the screen have to be green?

Well, the truth is that it does not have to be green! Green is used because it is the color that is the farthest away from natural skin color.(Unless you have seen someone with green skin.) It is not a very common clothing color, so therefore it is used for a wide variety of projects. Green screens are great, but say you are the hulk or Oscar the grouch, then can you use this technology?

 "Green screens" do not have to be green, they can also be blue, or any color for that matter. Filmmakers use blue screens for filming when green screens do not work. Green and blue screens are very common, but most other colors are not used. 

In reality, neither the material used for the green screen nor the camera is the time machine. The use of a green screen, or chroma key has to do with what you do after you film. After filming an action-filled scene, you use chroma key technology to replace the green(or blue) with you favorite background.

 To try out green screens on your own, you can use apps such as Stop Motion Studio ( http://appcrawlr.com/ios/stop-motion-studio ), or Do Ink (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8). There are a plethora of other apps that range in prices; so just explore! Although there are many different apps that you can use with green screens, they all have one thing in common: filters. The technology filters colors, which allows it to take the green, and only the green out.

For more information about green screens, check out the links below.

The science behind green screen                                                                                                        Who Invented the Green Screen?
                                                                                                                                                                Do you need a special camera for green screen?                                                                                                                                               Difference Between Chroma Key and Green Screen
What is Green Screen?