Video background – Black or Green?
The web video background you use for your web video filming may seem at first to be a small and unimportant detail. However, this is not necessarily true. When you are viewing a video, you tend to look behind the subject from time to time, so it is important that you have a satisfactory background. There are two choices, to use a piece of fabric or to use a ‘green screen’ and then edit later.
The Black Choice
A very useful colour to use for your small business videos back drop is black. This can be a sheet or a piece of heavy fabric. You will need to make sure the fabric, whatever you use, is clean and wrinkle free, as the camera will pick up any slight crease or dirty mark. A heavy fabric is especially good as it will hang nicely. Don’t chose a multi coloured piece of cloth, as your viewer will be focusing on this and not on what you are saying, You need of course to have a stand to hang the fabric on.
You also need to consider what you will wear in front of the screen. If you are using a black background, a dark colour such as navy blue will simply blend into the back drop. You need to wear clothes of a contrasting colour, such as white or a pastel shade.
The Green Choice
A great favourite with video makers is the green screen, as it allows you to edit out one image and replace it with another. Green screens are used a lot in movie making. After shooting, the green colour can be edited out by chroma keying in iMovie.
Lighting is very important when you are using green screens. There must be lighting from two sources, and the subject must be lit separately. Otherwise, you will get light reflected from the screen onto the subject which will give the subject a green glow. It is a little complicated and you will need about five lights to use a green screen properly.
Using a green screen is not the easiest choice, and you may need some professional help if you decide to use a green screen, at least in the initial stages. When it is not done cleanly, and the edges a left a little ragged, it can look very rough and take away from the value of your video. Only use a green screen if you are able to call on some professional advice regarding web video background, or if you have been trained to use them yourself.
A great tip for green screens is to go to Spotlight and get yourself some green lycra to use. It is excellent, as it will stretch and there are no creases, and it is fairly inexpensive to buy. You can get yourself about ten metres for $40.
The web video background may seem an unimportant detail, but getting the small details right all add up to a professional video, and one which will achieve the results you want.
Now you have a quick guide on how to start gathering the right equipment and supplies for quality video production. Click here for more strategies on how to create stunning videos for your website promotion.
