Green Screen with Makedo
A green screen is commonly used in video shooting to mask the background for merging with other background. It is visual effect technique quite easily achievable with video editing software such as iMovie (for Mac computers and iOS devices) and the Simple Green Screen App (for Windows) or Movavi Video Editor (for both Windows and Mac). In this maker project, we are going to make a small green screen using Makedo, cardboards and some green colours papers.
The Makedo tools are 3D printed. Those displayed on the left include 2 x 120 degrees brackets, 2 x 90 degrees brackets, 2 screw drivers, 9 screws, 1 cardboard cutter and 2 hole punchers, 1 hinge, and 1 set of latch. They are safe tools for young children to construct objects using cardboards as we did in the Robotronica event.
To make a green screen, we used 3 pieces of 40 cm x 40 cm cardboards and green poster papers, 6 x 90 degrees brackets and 12 screws, and of course, a screw driver and a hole puncher are needed. The idea is to make a green screen corner. Below are some photos of the construction.
Back view. Fitting the brackets is fun and allow young children to develop their motor skills. They can decide where they think is the best place to fix the bracket.
Front view. Three pieces of cardboard are nicely fitted in 90 degrees angle. There is a small parts of the screws visible but no worries, they will be covered by green papers next.
Lastly, sticky tape or glue on the green paper makes a good looking green screen corner, isn't it? The question is, how can this be used for?
We have not yet produced any video from this green screen corner, but we plan to make some slowmation or stop motion videos with it.
At Makerclubqut, we have 3D printed a few characters such as robots, boats and animals. They will be good resources for teachers and students to make creative videos.
There are certainly other ways to make a green screen. Here we just put together some interesting resources to provide opportunities to engage young children to use 3D printing, engineering tools, and develop their creativity when they start to make videos.
What do you think? Do you want to make one? Leave a comment below and let us know. :-)