Outlaw News: A green screen can make your imagination reality

By Chris Davis Outlaw Partners Videographer

The Outlaw Partners video crew recently purchased a gallon of chartreuse green paint, commandeered a room in our Town Center office and happily got to slathering the walls, floor to ceiling with a generous coat.

You may have seen these bright green or blue screens in news studios or behind-the-scenes footage of Hollywood films, but do you know how they work?

Chroma green is the choice color for digital videography for two main reasons: This color differs most distinctly in hue from human skin tones; and sensors in digital cameras, much like the human eye, are most sensitive to green. This allows the camera to allot more pixels to the green channel.

Since the camera so easily recognizes this shade of green, we’re able to take our footage into the editing studio and program the software to delete, or ignore the color. Once we tell the software to do this, we’re left with just the subject, and we can add a layer of video – anything you can imagine – in place of the green.

For purposes of illustration, refer to the two photos that accompany this story.

Figure one: This is a photograph of me in front of the green screen.

After I decide what to place behind my image, all I have to do is act accordingly. With a bit of movie magic I can then occupy any space I can dream up…

Figure two: I’m magically soaring over downtown Nairobi, Kenya.

Chroma-keying can be used to create everything from otherworldly landscapes to simple interview backdrops. The beauty of using our green screen is not only that the sky’s the limit, but that we have total control over everything from lighting to audio.

What sort of lofty dreams do you have for photo or video? Give the Outlaw Partners office a call at (406) 995-2055, and we can help you make them a reality.