The Mind Blowing Green Screen Effect Taking Over Talk Shows

COVID-19 restrictions have created a need for creative workflows for media production. Audiences have learned to tolerate mediocre video calls on broadcast shows. As in-person interactions became slightly safer, there has been more in-studio production - although that usually involves multiple tests and very distanced shots. 

So what is a creative solution to make it look like two people are just chatting next to each other like it’s February 2020? Shows like The Drew Barrimore Show and The Oprah Conversation have used a *MIND BLOWING* process to use *MAGIC VIDEO TECHNOLOGY* to *DO TV*.

If you can’t tell by my excessive use of caps and asterisks, I’m not as excited about this technology as others are.

Don’t get me wrong - I like TV to look like TV. I discussed this months ago in my article “It’s Time To Make TV Look Normal Again” - and more specifically on the subject of guests, “Make TV Guests Great Again.” In fact, I love that this very kind of thing is happening! My issue is that people are calling this a technological marvel using a multitude of brand new systems that have never been used before. That’s just not true. 

Alright, when I say “that’s just not true,” I should preface that I don’t know the exact systems or process that either show is using. If I was a more responsible person and a legit journalist, I’d have done some deeper research and interviews. But you already read this far, so let’s do this. 

The basics of the system is that the host does their show as usual from their studio, and that the guest goes to a separate studio in a different location, and the two shots are melded together so it looks like they’re talking to each other in the same space. They use multiple camera angles of the guest and of the studio to replicate the look of a regular interview. Both people see each other via a monitor that keeps their line of sight correct. 

The first, and possibly most important challenge, is to match the lighting and physical elements of the remote studio to the main studio. The angles, color temperature, the kind of chair, the shadows, the microphone, the sound quality - they all have to be identical in both locations. This can involve having elements from the physical set in the remote location, or a full floor-to-ceiling green screen can work if it’s well done. 

Another big challenge is getting the signal between the two locations, with as little sync as possible. You can get pretty reliable sub-second latency over the public internet. You can also use bonded cellular technology like LiveU for stronger and more reliable broadcast signals. For live and live-to-tape broadcasts, I’d imagine they are using multiple shots using multiple signals. They may be sending ultra-low-latency signals for the monitor/eye line shots to get them as close as possible. If there is time for the show to go into post, or with real-time processing, the delay can be completely eliminated for the end user. 

A limitation of this process is having camera shots with motion. I’m not sure if anyone is doing slider or zoom shots - but that involves a lot more tracking and fancy robotic camerawork. Perhaps you could get fancy with 4K pan and scan to make it sync up better. Single shots are easier to shift around because viewers don’t know the exact framing that was originally intended.

As for merging the shots together, with a good enough switcher and/or software that can do this in real time, the task can be accomplished. Floor shadows are going to be a challenge - so it’s best if the shadows are either on a physical set in the remote location, or that the set is lit to eliminate shadows. You can also have fake shadows on set - the average viewer won’t notice. It looks like The Drew Barrymore Show, presumably doing this live-to-tape, us using a combination of green screen and softening the edges of the shot to match the two physical sets in each location. 

So yeah - I’m happy this kind of thing is happening. TV should look normal, even during COVID-19. But when you break down the pieces of the puzzle that make it work, little to none of the technology is new - and most of it is years or even decades old. That being said - it still takes a whole lot of coordination and effort to get it done. It's cool - I'm just not as impressed as others are.