Throughout the history of film, many artists have discovered different ways to "key out" or make a matte in their films:
Today, with the common use of the green screen, it it always a little interesting to
see where the technique originated from.
The Magician's Medium:
Q: What was the magician's medium and how did it work?
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| We can all thank this Melies guy for going through this process in the name of ART. (And illusions. Mostly illusions) |
A: The magician's medium was one of the first matting techniques used in film,
allowing the filmmakers to expose certain parts of the film at a time and
expose each to a new image separately upon re-filming. This was achieved
with the use of black paint on each separate square of film. Other methods
using painting included the tactic of painting over a pane of glass in front
of the camera to create the fake scenery. While long and monotonous, this
process was one of the first steps towards the fancy green
using painting included the tactic of painting over a pane of glass in front
of the camera to create the fake scenery. While long and monotonous, this
process was one of the first steps towards the fancy green
screen technologies we all know today in our weather forecasts and movies.
(Or even movies about weather forecasts, if that strikes your fancy)
A: Black screens! Since the black and white films didn't have to worry
A: They used the Blue screen to chroma key their subjects out!
Q: If they couldn't use green screens in black and white films, what did they use?
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about colors and the subtle contrasts involved with those, they could rely
solely on lightness contrast to key out their subjects. The dark black of
the screen would easily contrast with any lighter colors on there parson or
object involved making for a much more efficient method than
painting over frames one by one!
Q: Did they only use black screens in Back and white films?
A: No, in fact, they began using the blue screen, or Dunning Process, in
black and white films around the time when the mighty King Kong arrived on
the big screens. Similar to the black screen, the blue screen helped create
contrast in the subject, but instead of simply laying out black and white
contrast, they brought out the differences between blue and yellow. However,
this technique would not be transferable to color film since to gain the correct
contrast, the actors were lit in a bright yellow light.
Q: What did they do when they switched to color?
A: Well, this was not the case for any company but Disney, but the
Yellow screen (Developed by Vlahos in the 50's) came into use in the films
The Parent Trap, Marry Poppins, and more. With similar techniques to that of
the previous screens, the Yellow screen was keyed out with a special
prism camera.
(Owned exclusively by Disney, of course)
This method was used by Disney for 40 years.
Q: What about everyone else?
A: They used the Blue screen to chroma key their subjects out!
As shown by the graphic above, it took a lot of keying to get the subject
out from a blue screen, but without the use of Disney's exclusive yellow
screen and prism camera, they had to make do.
Q: So, if they had that, why do we only hear about green screens today?
A: Well, green screens came into use due to their cheaper nature, greater
obscurity in most outfits, and they've even made cameras that are more
sensitive to the green light. That doesn't mean the other colors have
fallen into oblivion, however. The blues and yellows are still used today for
various needs and purposes.
(Information gathered from here)
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