VIDEO SPECIAL EFFECTS

Combine layers using green screen techniques

IT WILL TAKE

YOU WILL LEARN How to creatively combine layers using keying effects

YOU’LL NEED Adobe Premiere Elements 2020

For decades, the film and TV industry has used compositing techniques to tell stories in creative ways. After filming an actor against a green background, editors can key out (remove) the green colour and replace it with footage from a different location.

Thanks to Adobe Premiere Elements 2020, you can use this compositing technique to enhance your own productions. We shot the footage for this special effects tutorial against a green curtain, but you can buy a large sheet of card from a stationer that will provide a usable green background for Premiere Elements to work with. You could shoot against a blue background, but an actor’s blue eyes would also become transparent when the blue colour is keyed out from their video clip.

Evenly lit footage

To produce a clean key (where every trace of green background becomes transparent), you need to light the background evenly. Different shades of green may cause some background areas to remain partially visible. Try to avoid the actor casting a shadow on the background or these areas may become semi-transparent.

Our example footage features some shadows and creases in the green background but, fortunately, Premiere Element’s powerful Ultra Key effect has a range of tools that can fine-tune the effect to remove shadows, creases and unevenly lit green backgrounds, enabling us to place our actor in any location. George Cairns

Layers Here are two clips with an actor against a green screen. Location footage is placed on the bottom layer. Key Color After selecting the eyedropper we can click on a layer’s green background to turn it transparent. PART 3 OF 3 1 Fine-tune To remove unevenly lit green areas, creases and shadows, adjust these sliders for a cleaner key. Recompose We can make the background layer actor look smaller and reposition him by dragging the control handles.

You can place your subject in a variety of interesting and exotic locations using green screen keying effects.