As DCCC made a quick move to online, Chemistry instructor Michael Liu decided to try something new. This is not the first time Michael had thought about dabbling in video for his courses. With the change to online, he revisited the idea and found "the learning curve to be less steep and a plethora of YouTube videos on every single aspect of how to get this setup."
Michael was specifically interested in Chroma-Key or green screen technology. "As soon as I heard about the paradigm shift in the college, Chroma-Key was the first thing I had thought of. In the past 10 years, I have noticed an increasing amount of streamers, including pre-college aged kids overlaying their images over Minecraft, etc. The production values led me to believe these were all done in-house, rather than being sent out to an expensive million-dollar post-production facility."
With his school issued laptop and webcam, he began to set up video production. "I placed a solid bright green sheet of solid green material behind me that covers the field-of-view of the webcam and also had lights both on my face and on the screen. Some of these were re-purposed LED plant lights I had been using to grow plants in my office for fresh air (the plants are now on my patio in real sunlight)."
Michael admits that he is still learning as he goes. "I'm still very much on the increasing side of the learning curve and have not yet reached the inflection point. Each snippet I prepare adds something new in terms of production values, techniques, or tweaks."
And if this continues through summer, Michael is considering painting his basement green. "It sounds more expensive than it really is, but it is regular paint that can be sourced from Lowes or Home Depot (Behr Premium Plus Sparkling Apple), although it has to be a specific color (Sherwin-Williams Neon Green)."
Michael anticipates that this could help some students who are apprehensive about online. "It gives some students assurance that I am still here and interacting with them." Michael has not gotten student feedback regarding this new strategy, but he does have students engaging with him and reaching out with questions.
Michael is willing to share more about what he is doing and his set up, if you are interested.
