Just saw some behind the scenes footage of how CGI is done in movies like planet of the apes (actors in spandex suits & other little technology on the suits— presumably to identify spots with joints/limbs?) and in this specific case, the actors were wearing deep blue spandex suits.
I imagine this particular color selection had to do with shooting the scene in a forest— green suits would be more difficult to distinguish against a background with green foliage— but are there any other variables that are considered? I was just wondering why they would choose blue over, say, hot pink— I imagine some of the plants might have blue undertones and I would think that hot pink would also stand out and make it easier to add CGI. Are there any colors that are off limits, or don’t do the job as well (obviously dark/non-neon colors would be difficult to work with, but what about highlighter yellow or tangerine, or bright magenta?)?
Additionally any fun facts/video resources about film production would be cool & much appreciated! I just learned about the “pink haze” in copies of sailor moon apparently resulting from the degradation of the cyan & yellow inks and I find that super interesting, so I’d love any filmmaking facts along those lines. Thanks in advance!
In: Technology
It’s for a process called Chroma Key, where objects of a certain color are used to mask out elements that will be replaced in post-production. [Here’s a good primer](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/chroma-key-guide) on how Chroma Key works.
Chroma key compositing is a visual effects technique that involves using green screen technology, including chroma key software, to manipulate an image captured with a camera. By automatically selecting a specific color in post-production, video editors can remove the background from the image or an object within a scene that is that color. Substitute backgrounds can place actors in a new setting, and background videos might feature interactive animations. Object substitutions can allow CGI animators to replace live-action actors with computer generated enhancements or animated characters. Colors used for Chroma Key objects and backgrounds are usually certain shades of blue or green that are easily isolated by post production software and optical techniques.
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