Green Screen

During the last unit of the year, each third through fifth-grade class is making a movie. The students picked if they wanted to be on the cast or crew. Each class picked the play they wanted to perform from a list I gave them. There are about 8-12 acting parts in each script.

Starting tomorrow, students will begin filming their movie. Instead of spending a lot of time making backdrops or rearranging the classroom furniture, the groups will use an app on the iPad called Veescope to record the acting in front of a green screen.

I have tried to use a green screen in the past but did not have much success. One time the material was wrinkly, another time the green paper was too small, no matter what I tried I could not get a green screen that would show a solid backdrop.

I had a green double bed top-sheet I tried to use in the past. For this project, I decided to sew pockets on two ends and put the sheet in a PVC pipe frame. I took the sheet home along with four lengths of pipe and four elbow connectors. I cut open the large hem on one side. The one-inch PVC pipe fit in the pocket nicely but it wasn't as long as the sheet. I decided to leave the sheet uncut across the top which meant I would need to get a longer pipe for the frame on Monday.



I used the longer PVC pipes I had at home to determine the length I needed to cut the sheet. I added three inches for the pocket and one more inch for the hem. I used a marker to draw where I needed to fold the sheet. I ironed the sheet along the marked line and then sewed the sheet using the folded edge and the side of the pressure foot on the sewing machine to help guide me.

This morning I found some pipe that worked. It was a bit longer than I needed but will do the job of holding the sheet taught. Ta Da! A green screen that should work. It looks like I'm going to need to iron the sheet.




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