Using the greenscreen effect in iMovie

June 13, 2009 in film making, tools

A Green Screen made from wide bright green poster paper for classroom displays

This week my class have been film making and they are really enjoying the experience. I recapped the use of story boards and after demonstrating the use of Windows Movie Maker (and warning them that it might crash constantly) I pointed them towards this wonderful site from the BBC called me and my movie for extra tips on camera shots, lighting, story boards and editing.

As the class worked on their story boards I noticed that they all wanted sfx such as scenery and sound. That’s when I remembered that iMovie’09 on the Mac can put Green screen effects onto a movie. What this means is that you can change the background of a video clip to any other background as long as the first clip is shot in front of a green screen. I thought that obtaining a green screen would be expensive but I decided,

‘Why not try bright green poster paper?’

I did and the effect has been more than I could have hoped for. Here’s a short video demonstrating it. If you want to do this yourself then make sure you have a Mac with iMovie’09 installed and follow these instructions.

Tags: chroma key, classroom tech, film making

4 Comments »

http://www.mrwarner.com/ Mark Warner

Wow – that works really well. I’ve always wanted to try ‘green screen’ and you’ve just provided the inspiration for me to have a go myself. Thanks!
http://www.mrwarner.com Mark Warner

Wow – that works really well. I’ve always wanted to try ‘green screen’ and you’ve just provided the inspiration for me to have a go myself. Thanks!
kvnmclaughlin

I was quite surprised at how well it did work even though you can see the poster paper join line at times it’s not that noticeable to make it unusable as a very cheap green screen. I can’t wait until I see my class to morrow and think of more ideas for the green screen.
kvnmclaughlin

I was quite surprised at how well it did work even though you can see the poster paper join line at times it’s not that noticeable to make it unusable as a very cheap green screen. I can’t wait until I see my class to morrow and think of more ideas for the green screen.