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How to Make a Photography Green Screen Light Box

Television newscasts have used the green screen special effect for years. The weatherman stands in front of a solid green, or blue, backdrop and points at it while watching a monitor. The editing team selects the green, removes it and replaces it with maps and drawings. To the viewer, it looks like the reporter is actually in front of a map. The same effect is easy to achieve using still photography. To get a clean image of a single item, place it in a green light box, take the photo, process it in an image editing program to remove the green and replace it with any color or image desired. The light box is easy and cheap to construct.

Things You'll Need

1-inch PVC pipe
1-inch PVC tees
Hacksaw
White muslin fabric
Green poster board
PVC cement
1/4-inch plywood, size for your box
Green spray paint

Instructions

- 1
  Build the frame. Cut PVC 1-inch thick PVC pipes 3-feet long, Cut 12 of them with a power saw or hacksaw. Use tees to put them together to form a box. Form each side, top and bottom by taking a cut pipe and inserting each end into a tee. Then, form the side by inserting the other pipes into the two downward tees and one across the bottom. Do the same with the other three sides, top and bottom. Attach the sides, top and bottom using the tees.
- 2
  Make the bottom. Cut a piece of 1/4-inch plywood into a 36-inch square. Cut out a semicircle at each corner and fit it into the bottom of the box. The plywood will rest onto the bottom PVC pipes.
- 3
  Spray paint the plywood a bright or neon green. Allow it to dry.
- 4
  Cut white muslin fabric to fit the over the PVC pipes on the two opposite sides, back and top of the box. Wrap the ends around the PVC pipes and place a small slit in the four corners next to where the cloth wraps around the pipe. Secure it by placing plastic ties through the slit and around the pipe.
- 5
  Cut poster board. Use a bright or neon green that matches closely with the painted bottom. Pick a green that will not be common to any of the items to be photographed. The color must stand out and be even toned so it is easily selected in an image editing program. Push the board into the box and up the back of the box. Leave enough material so it bows at the bottom of the back piece and forms a seamless piece and extends across the bottom and to the front edge.

Photography