Essential Tips: Shooting Green Screen for Chroma Key

Premium Beat by Danny Greer

Shooting video on blue or green screen can be tricky. Follow these tips for success and pull the cleanest key possible!

When done professionally, green screen can provide an excellent way to achieve unique effects in your video projects. When shot incorrectly it will be the very bane of your existence (especially if you’re the editor!)

To start, let’s shed some light on this debate: Should I use a green screen or blue screen for my chroma keying?

Today, green screen is the most common color for chroma keying. The sensors of video cameras are most sensitive to green, so green will most often produce the cleanest key. This is due to the fact that “the green channel has the highest luminance of all three (red, green and blue) digital channels, and thus the sensors deliver the least noise in that channel” (from AWN.com). It’s also worth noting that “green is the color that is furthest away from human flesh tones” (from Lightcraft).

There are some instances however, when a blue screen may be more appropriate. If you’re shooting someone with blonde hair, it is often easier to pull a key with a blue screen (green can spill into light colored hair). Of course, if you have any green elements in your shot, such as foliage, it may also be best to use blue to avoid keying issues. read more...