USING A GREEN SCREEN FOR A FUN ROMANTIC DATE
Looking to plan a date soon? Why have dinner and a movie when you can have dinner in a movie!
For an out-of-the-box idea for a fun romantic date, try using a green screen!
Below, I explain how a green screen works and what equipment you might need. If you already know this information, then click here to skip below and see how to use a green screen on a date.
WHY USE A GREEN SCREEN?
Using a green screen will add extra fun ways to be creative that are different from recording normal videos.
Ever wonder how they do it in Hollywood? All the crazy CGI and exotic fantastical locations are actually put in place with the use of green screening.
The good news is that with today’s technology, the power of Hollywood can be harnessed right from your home.
I am going to explain how simple and easy it is to make your own green screen videos. And how to turn simple filming techniques into a fun quirky date!
And better yet, the whole thing can be done for really cheap!
WHEN DID GREEN SCREENS COME OUT?
Here’s a fun fact. The process known as green screening has its history dating back as early as 1898 according to shootsystems.com. Click here to learn the history of the green screen.
HOW GREEN SCREENS WORK
The process of green screening uses technology to recognize a specific color range. In this instance, we are talking about the color green.
The green color is physically put in your footage as your background through the use of large green fabrics or a painted wall or even green light.
The green color is then “keyed”, or taken out of the footage, using video editing software. This leaves an empty background that can be replaced with literally anything!
Anything that was green in the original footage will now be replaced by a video or picture that you put in its place using your video editing program.
DO GREEN SCREENS HAVE TO BE GREEN?
You can key out any color you like using your choice of software, but it’s better to use colors that aren’t typically found in anything else you would find in a video.
For instance, you will find skin tones, facial hair or clothing can accidentally be keyed out when using black, browns, reds, whites, and pinks, as your colored background.
Unless it’s the aim of your particular project to key those things out, avoid using colors that will be mixed in with your key color, or the color you intend to use as a background, that you will key out.
The two most prominent colors used are green and blue to replace backgrounds in the process known as green screening.
Chroma keying is just another name for green screening. The only difference is again that you don’t actually have to use the green color.
Especially if you know you have green items in your footage that you need to remain there. You can alternatively use a color not present in the footage to key out the background.
HOW TO MAKE A GREEN SCREEN VIDEO
This process can range from really simple to advanced depending on your equipment and lighting techniques. However, the basic premise remains the same.
1. Not everyone has a painted green wall to use and so you might have to purchase a large green screen online.
2. Set up a green screen along a wall using a removable adhesive or pin. If you have an actual backdrop holder you can use that as well.
Just be sure to keep it as flat as possible using clips or whatever you have available. Wrinkles or folds will cause shadows to appear. This will alter the color of the green in some places on your screen. Thus making it harder to key the color evenly.
3. Next you will want to light the screen as evenly as possible. Using actual lighting equipment will make this easier. Just remember that uneven lighting will make it harder to evenly key out the specific shade of green you’re using.
If you don’t have actual lighting equipment then no worries. Luckily, you will still be able to key out the color using a room light or even daylight from a window.
You will just have to make a lot more tweaks in your video editing software to get it just right.
And for the purpose of a date, it doesn’t have to be perfect! Remember your doing this for the fun of it, not to sell it to Hollywood.
4. Be sure to have a light on your subject as well. Subjects meaning you or your date.
However, don’t use the same light that’s lighting the green screen as this will cast a shadow on the screen. As mentioned above this will cause uneven lighting on the screen and cause distortion in your keying of the green color.
5. Have your recording device start recording the footage you need. You can use anything from a phone to DSLR camera, or a professional video camera if you have one. Just don’t forget to hit the record button!
6. Go ahead and record yourself doing whatever it is you want to do just be wary of your clothes. Make sure you don’t have green in them or that part of your clothing will disappear with your background.
7. Once your footage is recorded you can then use video editing software like DaVinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere to key out the green-colored background. I’ve linked some YouTube tutorials below:
8. Then you just add whatever background you want! Whether its a still image or a video, just add it into your video editing software where you just keyed out the colored background.
You should see your subject now placed in that background of your choosing.
HOW TO USE A GREEN SCREEN FOR A DATE
So maybe you know how to use a green screen already and you’re wondering how to have a fun quirky date using one. Know that this is all in the creativity of the people on camera. But here’s a couple tips to lead the way.
FIRST OFF
Have it already set up and ready to go. Let your date know what you have planned. It’s likely to sound like quite the adventure but they will be looking to you to lead since it’s your idea. As such, it’s better to be prepared with some ideas ahead of time for what exactly you want to do
JUST BE SILLY
Start off by just being as ridiculous and goofy as you want. Be sure to get close-ups, far away shots, and use different levels of height, even costumes or props.
Dance to the sound of music if you like. Enjoy a little liquid courage to get a little loose!
Then after making a whole montage of videos of just being silly. You can then replace the background in a video editor. See your silliness come to life as you can cleverly edit your footage into a ridiculous music video.
You can be silly anywhere in the world, or even out of this world. Be silly in space, underwater on top of buildings, in a desert, or even on a pirate ship. The sky is the limit.
BE IN A MOVIE!
If being random is too difficult and you need something a little more coordinated, then you can always be in a movie!
One of my favorite things to do is find some scenes from a movie I think would be fun to act out. Maybe a romantic movie but it could really be any movie.
Go ahead and record yourselves doing the lines of the movie. Alternatively, you can even make up your own lines. A little improv can go a long way in making fun memories.
SHOOT THE SCENE AS SIMILARLY AS POSSIBLE
You will want to record yourselves at the same angles as the shots that are in the scenes you chose from the movie.
If it’s a closeup shot of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens just try and mimic the shot as close as possible. Just make sure to have the green screen in your background and as evenly lit as possible.
Finally, when you key out the green background you can replace it with that scene from the movie!
So go on and get ready to change lines or endings to your favorite scenes.
It’s usually a ball to act out serious romantic moments as you naturally will get a laugh out of trying to mimic the skills of professional actors and actresses.
Especially when using household props to mimic the on-set props in the actual movie!
PETS ALLOWED
You can even do these videos with your or your date’s pet.
Check out this video of a green screened cat in a Jurassic Park trailer!
PICTURES
Not everything has to be a video. You can do a photoshoot over the green screen too!
You will be able to edit out the background and place whatever background you want behind it using programs like photoshop.
Learn how to remove a green screen background in Photoshop here
GREEN SCREEN ILLUSIONS
As stated earlier, you usually don’t want to wear colors that you are keying out. However, this does make for some very creative videos.
Wearing a green screen mask can make you seem like a walking talking headless person. Or even replace your face with something else.
Wearing green clothing can hide your body to just leave a floating head. The same can be done with other body parts or objects.
USING OBS TO CHROMA KEY LIVE
OBS is a unique program in which you can actually chroma key the green background out and replace it with whatever you want and see the effects in real-time.
OBS is a free open-source software that lets you stream your videos live to twitch, youtube, and other websites.
To use this method you will need a camera and a method to have the footage from the camera picked up by OBS on your computer. This can require a video capture card depending on the device you use.
Once you can see the footage from your camera in OBS you can follow these steps to chroma key the green background.
You can then replace the background with whatever video or image you like and see yourself in real-time.
Keep in mind that using this method means you will have to be recording wherever your pc or laptop is. This may not necessarily be the same place you have your green screen setup.
CONCLUSION
If you’re looking for a fun, out-of-the-box idea for a date, try having a green screen date. Put you and your date in the scenes of your favorite movies or make ridiculous music videos.
It’s a fun way to let loose, have your creativity shine, and have some laughs.
Best of all, it will be a lasting memory because it will be recorded!
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