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One of the first questions that come up when getting ready to shoot for chromakey is, "Should I shoot against a blue or green screen?"
Some people will insist that you always use a blue backdrop, while others will always say use green. It actually depends on the situation. Obviously if you are shooting someone wearing a blue jacket, you wouldn’t want to shoot them against a blue backdrop, or if you were shooting someone wearing their Green Lantern outfit, you wouldn’t want to shoot them against a green backdrop or you will end up with floating head syndrome. Certain color and skin pigments will work better with a blue screen, while other items will work better with green.
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| Purchasing chromakey green or blue paint will insure a better key, but it can be pricey. |
While chromakey green and chromakey blue paint will ensure a consistent color match and work perfectly with an analog video system, it can be expensive. Typically a five-gallon can of Rosco Ultimatte green sells for around $273. Even if you find it slightly cheaper, if you have to paint a large area or have to do multiple coats, it can add up quickly. In the past, I have been able to go to the local paint store and request 100% green and 100% blue paint and have had it key perfectly in an analog setting. In this digital postproduction era it really doesn’t matter what color your chroma backdrop is, just as long as it isn’t a color that is found in your foreground subjects and the color is consistent across the backdrop. I would recommend you stay with green or blue for convenience and ease of use since the video signal is still dealing with Red, Blue, and Green (or in some cases YUV) information.
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The last question is, "What should my chromakey background be made of?"
There are lots of different answers for this, and again, it depends on the situation. I have done a lot of chromakey work over the years (both good and bad), and have found you can use just about any material as the backdrop. On the low, low end you can always use rolls of green or blue photographers' paper. These are those huge rolls still photographers use as backdrops when they are shooting subjects. They can be used, but be aware that the paper can tear, it crumples, causing unevenness in the lighting and usually isn’t wide enough.
If you are really desperate, you can even shoot against a solid blue sky, providing there aren’t any clouds or birds flying around.
The next step up would be to buy some muslin and paint it with 100% green or blue paint. You can stretch the muslin over a wooden frame and then paint it to make the fabric tight. With muslin you can have large areas that are seamless, but muslin does soak up the paint and you will probably go through a couple cans before getting a nice even screen.
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| Cloth backdrops, likes this chromakey blue studio curtain, are colorfast so they won't fade in the wash. |
These drop cloths or portable screens vary in price depending on the size. 10’ x 12’ cloths usually go anywhere between $200 - $300. If you are a wise indie producer, you will know that you can go to auction sites and purchase equipment, and even green screen stuff much more cheap. One person on an auction site is selling several large screens with an average closing sale price of around $125. This guy has plenty of screens, so don’t everyone rush out and start bidding on these before I can get a couple.
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