If one is interested in Filmmaking then one must have heard the term Green Screen. But it is doubtful whether somebody has heard the term Blue screen. There are various differences in the term blue screen vs green screen. One will break them all in this post. Blue screen back grounds are used slightly less than those green screen but both are very much widely used in the industry. There are differences when it comes to blue screen vs green screen. The two are slightly different scenarios and of course two different colors. But otherwise the same for all intents and purposes.
What is a blue screen background?
A blue screen background is evenly lit monochromatic background that actors perform in front of the Blue or Green is then replaced with desired background through chroma keying. Many films today heavily utilize blue or green screen. There is hundreds of industry specific term that is common in production offices on film sets and in post production. It is a good idea to familiarize oneself with as many as these terms possible. If one is interested in a career in filmmaking one need to understand all these term.
How blue screen special effect works –
A flat monochromatic background used within a shot allows that portion of the frame to be easily removed and replaced during editing. The background is colored chroma key blue. This chroma key technique is not limited to props, production design elements and even whole costumes which may be created as chroma key or green and it is keyed out during post production process. This is one of the most common VFX technique used in modern film industry. It is very much possible to pick out people objects and background and achieve a blue screen effect without using actual green or blue screen. This is a non chroma key technique that happens regularly.
The color of cinema– If somebody has ever watched a behind the scene blockbuster one has many a times seen actors performing in front of green and blue screen. One needn’t have to become a professional filmmaker in order to enjoy the benefits of a blue or green screen. Even somebody is amateur filmmaker shooting a short film in the back yard or a youtuber making a small video hanging something as a simple or blue sheet in the background of a shot it gives the power to just add astonishing VFX during post production process by using a method called chroma key compositing. In old days blue made it easier to key things. The digital cameras green has become very much popular. Even in modern film one use blue screen for specific reason. They are prospects and consequent to both.
Chroma key is the key when one lock into a specific color that is different from a shot and one may eliminate it completely. Sometimes that is green, because it gives on the best separation. But one may have video editing technology to lock into any shade of whatever color one wants. Blue and green are popular background color for film making as they may be separated from most human skin tones hair colors and clothing. So it is important to note that the actors don’t wear anything that matches the color of the screen behind them. If the actor wears blue clothing in front of blue screen their body will be chroma keyed out of shot along with screen in front of them. This is because the chroma key process keys out and removes everything that is the same color as background screen.
Which screen color is the best? Blue Screen vs Green Screen
Whether to us blue screen Vs green screen ultimately it depends on circumstances of the shoot.
Lighting– One key factor is luminance or the reflection capability of a particular color. A green background has a higher luminosity than a blue one making a green screen a better choice for daytime scenes when one wants his shots to look brighter and well lit. But a blue screen may be handy in scenes where one never needs much light.
Costumes and hair color– If the scene one is shooting for need a character to wear green one need a blue background. But if the colors don’t match the background it might still create problem. Blond hair may be difficult to key out on green screen because the way lights reflects through it. A blue screen gives a much stronger contrast with blond.
Environment- If one is filming a blue or green screen in an outdoor environment one should be very much concerned with colors of the background as one is with the actor’s costumes. If one wants to show trees and grass in one shot one should better use a blue screen. If there is a large body of water in the scene then green is the only way out.
Fine details – Because blue screen has lower luminance there is much less chance of color spill around the edges of your actors. If one is filming a shot where actors and chroma key background are very much near to each other one should use blue screen as it will ensure that the spilling of color is much less.
As an aspiring VFX artist one may have seen tons of behind the scenes footage of movies and may have used advanced VFX techniques to create fascinating visuals for the audience. Some common things are used in blue and green screen. Science fiction period and fantasy genre movies use them all the time. Though it seem blue screen is much better than green screen to some extent it is very much right. It doesn’t have its own down side too.
Blue screen requires twice as much light as green screen thus it is very much costly choice. The difference in luminosity results in less color spill than green screen. Even though blue gets upper hand, green is still the most popular choice for chroma key composting, since it is cheaper and has lesser depth with respect to the surface. Nevertheless one may need to use both the screen in various circumstances.
So readers if you aspire to get into this field you need to just click us and register to avail a free demo class.
