Informative

Why Is Green Screen Background Used For Animation And VFX?

We Believe What We See But Is Everything We See Real??? The answer is NO, especially when it comes to filmmaking. Green screen background or chroma effect is widely used to create both real and imaginary backgrounds. It’s more common in sci-fi, fantasy, and action movies, to name a few take the example of MCU movies.

captain america civil war green screen comparison

Your superheroes fighting with aliens in the backdrop of a city where you hardly see a human, Can it be real? Of course not, it’s impossible to shoot such high-risk scenes in a real-world environment as it costs an infinite amount of money to filmmakers. But Why Green and not any other color? And How does a green screen work? The answers are here.

Why Are Green Screens Green And Not Blue Or Black?

Although any color can be used as a background in film production, but green is chosen not because it’s special. Here are the real reasons

how does green screen work

via:medium

Reason 1– The reason lies in the ease of blending the colors of the subject with a CGI (computer-generated imagery).

The CGIs are added at a later stage by replacing the screen once the scene is shot. It requires special skills to perfectly blend the two and results are unbelievable if done properly. Viewers won’t even realize that there are no actual buildings/cars or any other fictional setting behind the subject.

Reason 2- Another reason to shoot in green is the colors used by the subjects. Since black, blue, and other colors are common, adding them will make editing difficult. In that case, parts of the subject in that color will disappear as they would be edited during post-production.

Reason 3– Third is the high luminance of green color which makes it brightest of all. In other words, final results have better quality.

Blue is the second choice in chroma keying for two reasons- less color spill that makes it ideal for nighttime scenes and color correction. In fact, blue produces cleaner edges than green but it requires too many lights hence increase the budget.

Disadvantages of Green Screen

why are green screens green

via:theBAMmusicblog

Green screen animation may not be ideal for everyone due to these 3 reasons which can defeat its purpose.

• First is lighting, If lighting is not balanced properly then the final effects will appear unrealistic and artificial.

• Secondly, green screens are not cost-effective for filmmakers who are producing low-budget films.

• Setting up the entire set takes a lot of time and detailing which means it needs both time and money

Once you are ready with the pre-requisites, you can move forward and learn how it actually works. The next section is exactly about this.

How Does Green Screen Work?

The entire process is done in few steps as follows:

how does green screen work

via:blackmagicdesign

1. The scene is shot in a room filled with green screens

2. An expert editor will use chroma key software to replace the screen with desired background, the rest of the subjects remain the same

3. A technique called Screen compositing will be used to bring all the visual effects and elements to one image.

To make it work, the subject’s costumes and every prop used in filming are carefully chosen. Chroma keying is an important element in almost every field related to cinematography. However, it’s popular in video gaming, newscasting, and animation.

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