We all know that what we see in movies and tv is not reality (even reality tv isn't reality). There are many effects that are added in post-production that make the scene much cooler and more unreal.
CGI is used a lot of the time to enhance sets and actor's abilities and for all of that to happen, a green screen is there to make the difference. Check out these green screen pics that will show you just how Hollywood really does it.
The Hobbit
The whole of J.R.R. Tolkein's fictional world is, well, fictional. It also contains a lot of unrealistic characters and locations and so a green screen was used to create the fantastic world.
Director Peter Jackson went over everything with the actors so that they knew what to expect while filming.
The Wolf of Wall Street
The yacht scene in The Wolf of Wall Street was not shot on a real yacht but rather on set with a green screen in the background to simulate the sky and other surroundings.
The film made a cool $392 million at the box office, which is a nice number considering production was also very high.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road showed audiences the post-apocalyptic world that George Miller and Byron Kennedy originally created back in the 70s. Audiences loved it, while critics hated it.
Here we see Charlize Theron with the green screen behind her and the green glove on her left hand where metal would be simulated in post-production.
Game of Thrones
Obviously Game of Thrones would have used CGI in nearly every episode. Specifically, any episode with the dragons were done with a lot of green screen time.
The show was set in a world unlike our own, with magic and all sorts of unrealistic things. This is where CGI comes in.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Green screen was aplenty in the Harry Potter films. The massively successful book series came to life on the big screen in 2001 and continued until 2011.
This image is from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where we see Hermione taking books without touching the book shelf itself... or is she?
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Star Trek may be from the 60s originally, but the last films that were shot were done with the futuristic power of CGI and green screen to give it an even more unbelievable tone.
The world around the characters was entirely made up of green screen time as it does not exist and fans would not settle for cheap sets.
The Dark Knight
The 2008 film brought us a side of Heath Ledger that we hadn't seen yet. The Joker was the most disturbing character of the Batman world for certain. In this rendition, Ledger used a lot of green screen to create the epic scenes.
Here we see him hanging down by a rope surrounded by the infamous green surrounding that would be made into a city around him in post-production.
Shutter Island
The majority of Shutter Island took place in an eerie insane asylum. The movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio and was based on a Dennis Lehane novel. Green screen was added to the set so that the director's vision could come to life.
The movie ended up making $300 million in the box office worldwide. Director Martin Scorsese was very happy with the result.
Wonder Woman
DC and Marvel are known for needing to use green screens in their films since they are so (literally) fantastic. Wonder Woman was no exception, as there were many areas that the character was in that did not exist anymore considering the time period.
Actress Gal Gadot is seen here walking through a battlefield with the green screen peaking from behind her.
Avatar
Nearly the entire Avatar movie was done in CGI considering the actors became characters that were essentially animated throughout the film. James Cameron, the director, heavily relied on CGI to create his movie.
It all ended up working out quite well as Avatar was one of the highest grossing films in history.
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom
Where there are dinosaurs, there is CGI. The movie brought in over $1 billion in its 2018 release. People wanted to see more dinosaurs on the big screen!
CGI and a blue screen were used to create the world that was seen on screen. Little tid bit - the green screen doesn't have to be green, it can be blue too.
Blade Runner 2049
One of the most loved sci-fi films of all times was recreated when Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling agreed to take part in the remake that did not do well at all.
However, we are here for the CGI and there was plenty of it. In order for the dystopian world to be created, major green screen was used, just as we see here where Gosling at this green screen ramp.
Justice League
Justice League was the result of The Avengers. The film did not succeed in the box office like some of the others, but it did introduce us to new characters and their eventual spinoffs.
Wonder Woman and Aquaman were introduced into our lives, not to mention Flash. In this film, green screen was used to create the city around them.
Titanic
James Cameron always knew what he was doing when it came to CGI and other effects. The film Titanic was not shot on a ship the whole time. Some of the ship was recreated in pieces depending on the scene.
There may not be much green screen here, but the recreation needed to make this look real and to pull it off on such a massive scale shows the amount of work that went into it all.
The Matrix
This classic sci-fi flick left people in such awe and appreciation that it became the classic that it is. Keanu was in a harness for a lot of the movie and a green screen was present in almost every scene.
The movie used a massive amount of CGI to pull the storyline off, which is why the set was pretty much all green.
Men in Black: International
Green screen isn't just for the background, but also for characters; especially if they are meant to be invisible or some other odd looking character.
In the newest Men in Black, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson were the duo who were set to fight aliens, and here we see them trying to do just that.
Gravity
The epic space film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney was a hit with audiences when it came out in 2013. It ended up making around $700 million in the box office and made a great name for itself.
In this green screen shot, we see Bullock swimming with a green screen around her to make it look as realistic as they could post-production. This was super creative of the filmmakers to do.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Another DC movie and another version of where Wonder Woman kicks behinds and takes names. Green screen is all the way around, as well as CGI effects on the character Wonder Woman is fighting.
Gal Gadot is fighting with a guy wearing sensors, but when we see it on the big screen it will surely look like a terrifyingly different character.
Deadpool 2
Making Ryan Reynolds into Deadpool is just one of the ways that makeup is life altering in film, but a blue screen in this film also allowed us audiences to experience the crazy world he is hilariously trying to save as if it were real.
Deadpool may break the fourth wall in many scenes, but the movie itself was actually filmed within four walls too. Blue, er green, screen for the win!
Ready Player One
Green screen made the movie Ready Player One possible. The universe that it exists in does not well, exist, in reality and so needed to be entirely created with CGI.
The actors were also covered in sensors to complete the sci-fi look that they had in the film, along with their futuristic weapons.
It
In order to get to that level of terrifying, computer assistance would have to be involved. The 2017 remake of the film was a huge hit with audiences, earning a whopping $700 million.
While the majority of the movie was shot outside, there were certain scenes that needed to be shot indoors and with the assistance of the green screen as we see here in this photo.
Godzilla
Originally from Japan, the Godzilla franchise made its way to the US. With unreal monsters come the need for CGI and so a blend of motion-capture performance and CGI were used to make the film.
This photo is from the scene where the military are getting into position to try and defeat the huge threat to the city.
The Walking Dead
This hit television show used quite a bit of CGI to make their dead. The makeup and the effects held no stops to make this production a winner.
Walkers, also known to the rest of us as zombies, were mostly done with makeup. However, blue suits were used from time to time.
Judge Dredd
The film may have not done well in the box office, but it was 1995 and it starred Sylvester Stallone so it could have been worse.
Green screen was used in the scenes where he was on his hovercraft since they don't actually exist, as you well know.
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad got a lot of heat from fans despite it grossing $700 million in the box office. The movie starred Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, and Will Smith, to name a few of the supervillians who were brought out to help.
This helicopter scene is where Jared Leto's character comes to save his girl, so what you would see is the city around him in the film rather than green screens.
Pan's Labyrinth
The Spanish fantasy film was well received and regarded by audiences and critics alike. It was a truly creepy movie but it won hearts with the characters and high quality set.
The monsters were done with such detail and the set itself was surrounded by all things green. Pan's Labyrinth's world was done nearly entirely post-production.
I, Robot
Will Smith fights robots that are out to get him in the 2004 film. The subject of humans versus machines is coming up more and more with technological advances that we're having.
The movie used a lot of CGI in the fight scenes and the robot's abilities. There was talk of a second film, but it never ended up happening.
American Horror Story
AHS debuted in 2011 with Murder House. The cast was made up of nutty characters who all had magical powers. The show is still on air and is continuing to garner fans everywhere.
Scenes in this show are done with CGI help all the time as there are many things that don't exist that are need to make their way onto the screen one way or another.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu
In 2019, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu was released to animated fans everywhere. Since the character is not human, a lot of CGI help was necessary, as we see here with the green outfit to make sure that they can put the character on top of his person.
What you see in green is actually Pikachu himself, you just can't see him quite yet.
Rampage
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been in nearly every genre of film. Rampage was based on an arcade video game from the 80s. Johnson is sitting near debris.
What you don't see is the mountain of rocks and other junk that will be added thanks to the green screen behind him.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The huge battle scene in the last of the Harry Potter films was done thanks to a lot of green screen and added effects. There is magic in this film after all and so flying witches and wands with light coming out of them will need to be added.
Here we see Daniel Radcliffe and Helena Bonham Carter in between scenes. They may be enemies on screen, but off they are friendly as can be.
Aquaman
Reviews may have been bad and fans may not have LOVED the film, but Jason Momoa tried his best at being Aquaman. The movie still made $1 billion worldwide so it wasn't a total wash.
This movie used CGI for the non-human characters in the film and not on the set. There is a second film set to come out in 2022.
Doctor Who
Doctor Who was initially a show from the 60s that ran through the 80s. The reboot of the series came about in 2005 and has been on the air since, keeping BBC afloat.
Once the show was showing signs of not going anywhere, the budget for it got bigger and so green screens and CGI were introduced to the production, making the show that much more incredible.
Preacher
AMC's television show Preacher is premised around a comic book series that has the same name. The show ended in 2019 but the production value of it is still talked about today.
There were not many photos of production, so this is a gem. Here we see the crew using a green and blue screen to create the eerie vibe of the scene. The white sheets are made to help with the lighting.