History Main / ChromaKey

* Used extensively and to great effect (sometimes) in {{Filmation}}'s ''The Ghost Busters'' for the Ghost Dematerializer visual effects.

If any part of an actor or prop is colored the same as the background, that part will disappear. Thus, sometimes the background color is chosen because of the colors to be used in the foreground action. The original run of ''Series/DoctorWho'', for instance, used green or yellow backgrounds even when blue was the most common color at TheBBC, because a large number of its effects shots involved the TARDIS, a timeship that takes the form of a blue police phone box. The problem with using yellow was that foreground objects and actors always had a prominent yellow fringe around them. Normally, wardrobe and prop designers simply avoid using greens in the capture range, but this is not always possible; you'll occasionally see bloopers where weather forecasters have part of the meteorology map show up on their ties, for example.

** In an interview, [[Creator/JonPertwee Pertwee-era]] producer Barry Letts said that while the rest of the world calls it Chroma Key, "TheBBC always insists upon calling it [[InsistentTerminology 'Colour Separation Overlay']]". (This was probably a result of the BBC's general aversion to the use of trade marks and brand names.) Even today, ''Doctor Who'' fans tend to refer to the technique as "CSO" as something of a {{Shibboleth}}.

** In an interview, [[Creator/JonPertwee Pertwee-era]] producer Barry Letts said that while the rest of the world calls it Chroma Key, "TheBBC always insists upon calling it [[InsistentTerminology 'Colour Separation Overlay']]". (This was probably a result of the BBC's general aversion to the use of trade marks and brand names.)

* Part of the trope we in ThisWiki know as
RTP-StylePeriodPieceLocationShooting.

* The PBS astronomy show ''JackHorkheimerStarGazer'' is done entirely like this.

[[quoteright:347:[[{{Series/Smallville}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/greenscreen_377.jpg]]]]

-->'''[[MysteryScienceTheater3000 Mike Nelson]]''', ''PumaMan''

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** The fact that only blue screen was available for ''A New Hope'' caused Luke's squadron to be changed from Blue to Red to avoid problems with blue markings.
*** Also in ''Return of the Jedi'', the only reason Luke's new lightsaber is green is because the battle that takes place on Tatooine happens to have a bright blue sky. In some early trailers, Luke's saber is blue, but they chose to change it to green so it would show up against the sky properly.

* ''{{Sanctuary}}'' is shot almost entirely in Chroma Key.

* ''{{Lost}}'' has used green screens on occasion. In particular, most of the helicopter scenes in season 4 were done this way.

* While a lot of the scenes actually were filmed on location, in some of the cosmic calendar and Library of Alexandria scenes in ''Series/{{Cosmos}}'', you can see this effect around Creator/CarlSagan. It's combined with motion control to make it look as if he's walking through model sets. Apart from a few full-size props the entire Library of Alexandria is actually a model, and the effect is highly convincing.

* The 1943 version of H.G. Wells's ''Film/TheInvisibleMan'' used the black velvet effect in close-ups where Griffin removed his bandages.

* TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland'' used this extensively. The sets seem to consist of nothing but green walls in the proper shape, along with platforms. Only things the human characters touched actually existed on the set, and most seemed to be green and were textured via CG (The Tea Table seemed to be an exception, due to the hatter walking on and knocking stuff off). The staff comments in the "Making Of" stated it was an "Odd Mix" of Full CGI (too many to list), motion capture characters with the actor's head pasted on, normal actors human (mainly Alice), and edited normal actors (the Red Queen and her giant head).

* The first film to use the chroma key process was ''Film/TheThiefOfBagdad'' back in 1940. It was invented by Larry Butler, who won the Oscar for it.

* Music/{{Yes}}'s video for [[http://youtu.be/Gz0s7-uGWJ8 "Leave It"]], while groundbreaking for its time, has some notable Chroma Key issues with the white shirts on the white background. (Most notably at 2:58 in the video)

** In an interview, [[JonPertwee Pertwee-era]] producer Barry Letts said that while the rest of the world calls it Chroma Key, "TheBBC always insists upon calling it [[InsistentTerminology 'Colour Separation Overlay']]". (This was probably a result of the BBC's general aversion to the use of trade marks and brand names.)

** In an interview, [[JonPertwee Pertwee-era]] producer Barry Letts said that while the rest of the world calls it Chroma Key, "TheBBC always insists upon calling it [[InsistentTerminology 'Colour Separation Overlay']]".

The color used is now entirely arbitrary. Blue was a popular choice in the early days of color motion pictures, because it is complementary to the reds found in human skin. Green became popular because digital editing systems can isolate green with less light in the background, and because lime green is less common than bright blue in costuming[[hottip:*: There were also a few actors who also had Blue Screen-colored eyes; ''Film/BrokenArrow1996'' offers an example, where an astute viewer can occasionally see special effects in John Travolta's irises.]] Magenta is sometimes used, as is black, but the latter is problematic, as it's almost impossible to shoot a person without having some black visible on their person, in eyes or shadows.

* As did the film adaptation of ''ComicBook/SinCity'', in order to re-create all those stylistic comic-book-style angles.

* Used in "Music/{{Friday}}", as Music/RebeccaBlack herself {{Lampshaded}} in her appearance on "Funny Or Die". ("I'm talking about riding in a car with a 13-year-old driver, whether on the road or on a [[SpecialEffectsFailure windless]] green screen cityscape.")

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* Referred to in Creator/TomClancy's novel ''Debt of Honor'' as a ruse.
* ''Literature/TroyRising'': Tyler Vernon uses this and relayed broadcasting for misdirection to protect him against alien invaders that want him dead, while giving a televised interview.

* ChromaKey.

* The 1943 version of H.G. Wells' ''Film/TheInvisibleMan'' used the black velvet effect in close-ups where Griffin removed his bandages.
* ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' (2004) had almost no real sets or props, relying on ChromaKey in every shot.
* As did the film adaptation of ''SinCity'', in order to re-create all those stylistic comic-book-style angles.
* ''MirrorMask'' does the same, in a very ''very'' trippy way.

* The ''StarWars'' prequels helped pioneer the idea of minimal set design through ChromaKey.

*** Also in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'', the only reason Luke's new lightsaber is green is because the battle that takes place on Tatooine happens to have a bright blue sky. In some early trailers, Luke's saber is blue, but they chose to change it to green so it would show up against the sky properly.

** In Superman III, there is a short instant where you can see him flying through a canyon sporting the teal outfit.

* Bad chroma key is deliberately invoked in ''CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', when the mayor appears in front of a freeze frame of the Baby Brent Sardines commercial to promote his unveiling.

* At the Walt Disney Studios, UbIwerks developed the sodium vapor process, in which the actors were filmed against a white backdrop lit with powerful sodium lights. A special prism in the camera separated the image and exposed it simultaneously on two different film stocks: regular color film, which did not pick up the sodium light, and black and white film sensitive to sodium light, which created the matte. The process was used for most Disney productions, including ''SongOfTheSouth'', ''Film/MaryPoppins'' and ''Film/TheBlackHole'', and was also used for ''Film/TheBirds'' and a number of Creator/RayHarryhausen's films. Although it provided better results than blue screen, and saved time by creating the matte simultaneously with the foreground footage, the process proved too expensive and was discontinued by the 1980s.

* In the ''Film/HarryPotter'' films, the invisibility cloak is, of course, created with a chroma key green cloak. Chroma key is obviously also used for scenes with {{Flying Broomstick}}s and so forth. As as far as sets go, the ''Potter'' filmmakers tend to prefer building real sets and usually just use chroma key to fill in scenery out a window, for example. However, there have been at least two all-CGI sets in the series, the Hall of Prophecy from ''OrderOfThePhoenix'' (because they couldn't do the scene where all the shelves crash down for real) and the Chamber of Secrets in ''DeathlyHallows, Part 2'' (the original Chamber set from ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' was real, but wasn't saved after filming).

* In ''StuckOnYou'', a 'blueberry' suit is used to keep Bob out of Walt's scenes on ''[[ShowWithinAShow Honey and the Beaze]]''

* ANTFarm uses this when Olive paints Chyna's bedroom wall green during a slumber party, Chyna uses StockFootage from a movie for her background while video chatting with Lexi, to prove that her slumber party is cooler than Lexi's. Everyone in the background is at least 10 years older than Chyna and are dressed like they're in a nightclub. [[IdiotBall It works even when Olive puts on a hoodie the same color as the green wall]], which blanks out everything except her head until Chyna covers it up. Lexi doesn't catch on until [[StockFootageFailure a ninja drops in and]] attacks the people in the nightclub.

** In an earlier ceremony, SteveMartin presented the same award wearing a blue mask and his trademark fake arrow through the head. That time the effect was done properly, and the audience saw a headless Martin with an arrow floating over him.
* This is the method behind Shadow-Rama of MST3K fame, by merit of how cheap the effect is to do.

* ''Series/TheColbertReport'' uses it for Formidable Opponent, in which Colbert debates himself; to create the other Colbert, in addition to mirroring the shot, the ChromaKey changes the background he's standing in front of, and the color of his tie.

** In an interview, [[JonPertwee Pertwee-era]] producer Barry Letts said that while the rest of the world calls it ChromaKey, "TheBBC always insists upon calling it [[InsistentTerminology 'Colour Separation Overlay']]".

-->'''EricIdle''': That's clever, how did they do that?

* Seen from time to time on the ShowWithinAShow segments of ''ICarly''. Relatively light on the StylisticSuck, considering they're supposed to have been done ''live'' by an amateur on a [[strike: Mac]] [[BrandX Pear]] laptop.

* The whole concept of ''{{Knightmare}}''. The contestants wear a ridiculous helmet with instructions from their friends, because they would otherwise only be able to see a blue or green backdrop with a few physical props and people.

* The British version of MTV2 has a flagship show called Gonzo, consisting entirely of host Zane Lowe sat on a brown couch in front of a blue screen. The show is "as live" and therefore no corrections are made when items like guests' clothing match the background and disappear.

* While a lot of the scenes actually were filmed on location, in some of the cosmic calendar and Library of Alexandria scenes in {{Cosmos}}, you can see this effect around CarlSagan. It's combined with MotionControl to make it look as if he's walking through model sets. Apart from a few full-size props the entire Library of Alexandria is actually a model, and the effect is highly convincing.
* When [[MyNameIsEarl Earl's]] list item of the week involved a television news anchor, he and Randy went down to the studio. Randy wandered into the green corner, wondering why it was there, when he noticed himself on the monitor, standing in front of a weather map. When he unzipped his jacket to reveal a green shirt, he freaked out, seeing himself as just a floating head and hands. He later figures it out enough to do a PacMan impression.
* ''SuperSentai'' suffers this in some of the early series, particularly ''DengekiSentaiChangeman'' at the end and sporadically throughout ''ChoushinseiFlashman''. By the time ''HikariSentaiMaskman'' aired, the production staff no longer used it.
** More recent ''Sentai'' series abuse this for finisher attacks to give off that anime effect. Most of the explosions and sparks are overlayed through ChromaKey nowadays as well.
* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' uses ChromaKey for mainly Clock Game and a few other parts of the show.

* Some criticism of the third and fourth seasons of ''{{Chuck}}'' focused on less-than-convincing green screen sequences which became more prevalent due to the show's reduced effects budget.
* On ''{{Cougartown}}'', Travis' college roommates have a green screen set up to make funny videos (and attract the chicks, somehow). It gets used by Bobby and Andy, and later Jules and Grayson.

* The music video ''Music/ShineOnMe'' by Chris Dane Owens abuses the hell out of it.

* {{Yes}}'s video for [[http://youtu.be/Gz0s7-uGWJ8 "Leave It"]], while groundbreaking for its time has some notable Chroma Key issues with the white shirts on the white background. (Most notably at 2:58 in the video)

* The video made to promote Strawbs' album ''Grave New World'' makes extensive use of ChromaKey, with no pretense at making the compositions look realistic. For instance, one scene shows a dancer performing in front of aerial StockFootage of clouds, while another has the band hovering over Piccadilly Circus.

* The FMV for ''VideoGame/WingCommander III: Heart of the Tiger'' was filmed exclusively on greenscreen, predating Star Wars by a good half a decade (and stealing MarkHamill from them while they were at it). ''[=WC4=]'' made the shift to actual sets.

* WebVideo/{{Smosh}} uses lots of this, but [[SpecialEffectsFailure usually not very well.]]

* Parodied on ''KingOfTheHill'', Luanne is hired as weather girl not because of her acting, but because her conservative blue dress with a white top melds perfectly with the background.

* ''Literature/TroyRising'': Tyler Vernon uses this and relayed broadcasting for misdirection as protection him against alien invaders that want him dead, while giving a televised interview.

** In an interview, [[JonPertwee Pertwee-era]] producer Barry Letts said that while the rest of the world calls it ChromaKey, "TheBBC always insists upon calling it [[InsistentTerminology 'Color Separation Overlay']]".

* At the Walt Disney Studios, UbIwerks developed the sodium vapor process, in which the actors were filmed against a white backdrop lit with powerful sodium lights. A special prism in the camera separated the image and exposed it simultaneously on two different film stocks: regular color film, which did not pick up the sodium light, and black and white film sensitive to sodium light, which created the matte. The process was used for most Disney productions, including ''SongOfTheSouth'', ''Film/MaryPoppins'' and ''Film/TheBlackHole'', and was also used for ''Film/TheBirds'' and a number of {{Harryhausen Movie}}s. Although it provided better results than blue screen, and saved time by creating the matte simultaneously with the foreground footage, the process proved too expensive and was discontinued by the 1980s.

* As mentioned above, Ray Harryhausen used the sodium vapor process on a number of [[HarryhausenMovie his films]]. For instance, it's used to achieve some of the scale effects in ''The Three Worlds of Gulliver''. More subtly, in ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts'', in the scene where Jason is talking to Medea at the stern of the ''Argo'', you have to look closely to realize that they were filmed in the studio with location footage of the rest of the ship matted in behind them.

* How the no-budget spoof series ''WebOriginal/TheJerrySeinfeldProgram'' manages to take place in the apartment from the show.

* How the no-budget spoof series ''TheJerrySeinfeldProgram'' manages to take place in the apartment from the show.