The Pros & Cons of Green Screens
Ever wanted to use a green screen in your video? Many clients ask about using green screens for their video and promotional content. Green screens are ever popular in this day and age, but they definitely have a time and a place. It is important to understand when and when not to incorporate a green screen.
Here at Olivedia Productions, we utilize green screens on occasion, and Adam illustrates various examples throughout the video. That said – green screens are not our preferred background option.
Truth is, green screens are fairly easy if you know what you’re doing! They can simplify the process of setting up a shot, make it easier to light a scene, and can fit in almost any space! So the question becomes, “if you’re good at doing green screens and they’re so easy, why don’t all your videos have them?”
Well let’s first talk about the purpose of chroma keying, or the process of green screens. The first use of chroma keying dated all the way back to 1900s, when filmmakers used black screens to negate the background from windows. Iin more recent years, videography methods have gotten considerably more sophisticated. Videographers will use green screens or sometimes blue screens now as it often stands out from the rest of the colors an editor might want to retain. This effectively enables two objects that weren’t there originally to be combined in one scene. It’s the only way Adam can stand next to himself without actually cloning himself.
One issue that has continuously come up is that most of the folks we have in front of a camera aren’t professional actors. They’re business owners. And if being surrounded with camera equipment and lights isn’t enough to make someone uncomfortable, then removing them from their natural environment can do the job. Little things like this can make a big difference in how a message is presented, so that’s another reason we prefer to shoot “naturally” instead of with a green screen.
Next, for the style of video we typically create for our clients, the background of the video is really important. The background is designed to bring the focus to the presenter and their message, and that’s why a majority of the time you’ll see backgrounds that are out of focus. This is where many beginner videographers may get it wrong. If we use chroma key to put us in space…or sitting on top of the white house…or on Pikes Peak, though it can be cool, it ends up being more of a distraction than anything else. We’d be better off using a completely plain background to bring the focus back on the person speaking.
The best case scenario is shooting “naturally”. That’s where we excel at Olivedia. But if we had to use a green screen, you likely wouldn’t even know it was there in most scenarios because the background shouldn’t be the subject of the video. The presenter should be the main focus. If we can find a use case where we can chroma key a presenter in a natural seeming environment, then we have a win!