week 6- adriel,sarah,nicole

These days movies are not produced by just having a long cut acting shot but instead to make it interesting, people from the movie industry has since begun to use special effects to attract audiences' attention and hold it on for a very long time. By using blue screens which is known as chroma screens in television terms, these movie makers can do wonders to the effects they want to create. In the world of special effects now, chroma key allows one to film against a solid colored background and insert a desired background later. Special effects are basically any on-screen physical effect that is not done by the actor themselves. This can mean atmospheric effects such as smoke, wind, rain, haze or simulated conditions such as boiling pots, exploding cars or campfires.This also includes any movement of objects in front of camera such as falling dishes, floating furniture or breaking glass. One mundane example of the technique is the television news weatherman who on screen appears to point at a map. He is actually being recorded standing in front of a blank screen. On the sides of this screen are smaller televisions projecting a front view of the weathercaster, so they know where and when to place their hands.

Chroma Keys or Blue Screen is a term used often in the film making industry. It is a film making technique that allows the video editor to choose a color from a range of colors that become transparent. This is done by creating and using an even-lit monochromatic (having or creating only one tone of color) background to replace a different image or scene.

For example, the scene from E.T where Elliot and E.T rides on the bike that flies- blue screen is used. Although in reality there are strings attached to the bikes and other techniques are used, blue screen helps camouflage the strings attached and makes it invisible.

For blue screen technique, it is important that the lighting of the screen is absolutely even because fluctuations in intensity of lighting will cause the color or "key" to appear choppy or broken. For example, if the lighting for the E.T wasn’t set in the proper and even intensity, the strings attached to the bikes may be revealed in certain parts- causing the whole scene to be a flop.

Blue/green screens are also used in commercials as well. As commercials are becoming more animated so that they'll be able to sell their product or services, they are many things they won't be able to show without bluescreens. Directors for these commercials may want to do a commercial with a background that cannot be attained in real life, so they will describe to animators what background they want and these animators may then superimpose their background onto the bluescreen and have the actors or actressess act out their scenes. Actors would have to then imagine the background and act accordingly. Animated characters can also be put onto bluescreens by computers.

The bluescreen technique has been a most useful tool and the thing is that there are improvements yet to be made.