The purpose of this blog, presented by BizVid Communications- a San Diego video production company, is to give you a behind the scenes look at the use of the lapel microphone and a green screen.
http://youtu.be/oHWF8KJ4hIY
Obviously, the lapel mike, also known as the lavaliere or lav microphone is often used to more discretely capture a person’s voice during on-camera appearances. Different from the larger, handheld microphone, the lavaliere can be placed inconspicuously on a lapel or collar. Here, I’m holding it in my hand, so you can see it clearly.
We are also using this video to illustrate the use of what is commonly known as “green screening” or chroma keying. Using this approach, a separate background can be keyed (or imbedded) electronically behind the speaker (or any foreground element desired). The software identifies a certain color, in this case, our green screen, upon which to incorporate a secondary scene or background. This can be done with any color, but the two most common colors are a light blue or a green. The challenge is to find a color that your on-camera subject is not wearing. If they are wearing a similar shade of green, the camera will likewise replace that color with your secondary background.
In this blog video, we are including a green screen application, as an example. Green screens (or blue screens) can add great flexibility for the videographer, allowing them to incorporate their on-camera activity with a desired background. This same approach is commonly used in motion pictures when it looks like actors are interacting within backgrounds (or monsters, or surreal scenes) which would be difficult or impossible to incorporate with the live action. These individuals are actually in front of green or blue screens. To further “sell” this illusion, often props are placed in the foreground to tie everything together.