Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Green screens used to be reserved for those with access to, well, a green screen. This method has been around for a long time: allowing creators to superimpose a photo or video onto a background in a film or video. Traditionally, that means using a setup that has a large sheet of (usually) green material behind the subject. The solid color makes it easy to digitally remove that color in post-production and add whatever image or video should be there.
Now the idea of green screens has gone digital as a way to hide backgrounds in meetings or to create fun videos on social media. TikTok has taken this idea and run with it by creating an effect within the app that does basically the same thing. While not as polished as a traditional green…
