To Greenscreen or not to Greenscreen?

PPG recently completed shooting and editing of HR-focused videos for the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, Whistler.com, and a few other companies who are host to the Whistler Spirit 2010 conference, on behalf of keynote speaker Stuart Ellis-Myers of Uniquely Speaking. Stuart initially wanted a greenscreen shoot, so that the background could be replaced with some of Whistler’s stock tourism promo footage.

The content, though, of what the on-camera interviewees would be speaking had nothing really to do with the footage that Whistler had available.

We also noted that, if we were to use footage behind the speaking interviewee all the time, it might distract from what they were saying.

Instead, we suggested that, if appropriate footage was provided, it would be more effective to cut to it while the speaker’s voice continued underneath.

Really, unless your using Greenscreen to place your subject in a completely different location, or you want the flexibility of replacing the background with a colour (that can be chosen later), greenscreen is not a make-fix solution for every project.

For Whistler’s HR videos, we suggested a clean white background, and emulate the look of the Apple TV commercials -- not only to register with a younger audience, but also to connect with what Whistler is famous for: its skiing and snow. Email us at info@pacificproducersgroup.com, and we'll send you a link to one of the HR videos we shot .

And if you are planning on shooting greenscreen material, there are a healthy slew of resources available online, especially at the CreativeCOW site. We'll post a follow-up on some of the helpful tips and tricks that my crews and I have used in the past to get clean keys from green (or blue) screen shoots, as one of the things not mentioned in the CreativeCOW posting is the use of KinoFlo's super-green "Green Spike" and super-blue "Blue Spike" fluorescent lighting tubes.