# Green Screen Edits > Green Screen Edits is a video remix format originating from Stephen Colbert's 2006 chroma key challenge, spawning viral edits like Shia LaBeouf's motivational speech and John Cena's "Are You Sure About That? Green Screen Edits are a long-running internet meme format where footage of a person filmed against a chroma key (green or blue screen) background gets remixed by the community with new backgrounds, scenes, and visual gags. The format traces back to at least October 2006, when Stephen Colbert invited viewers to edit green screen footage of himself, and has since produced dozens of viral sub-memes including Eddy Wally's "Wow," Shia LaBeouf's motivational speech, and John Cena's "Are You Sure About That?" ## Origin The earliest major Green Screen Edit meme came in October 2006, when Stephen Colbert aired a segment on *The Colbert Report* challenging internet users to create their own edits using a green screen clip of him performing a lightsaber battle[4]. Colbert called it the "Light Saber Challenge" and encouraged fans to go wild with the footage. The response was massive, with YouTube users creating hundreds of remixed videos. However, Viacom's legal team ordered YouTube to take down the clips for copyright reasons, sparking backlash from fans and media commentators[6]. Mark Glaser at MediaShift wrote an open letter criticizing Viacom's decision, arguing it went "against the spirit of Internet sharing and viral promotion" that had helped make Colbert's show popular in the first place[6]. Some edits survived the takedown, but the incident highlighted the tension between participatory meme culture and corporate copyright enforcement[4]. - **Platform:** Comedy Central (source footage), YouTube (community edits) - **Creator:** Stephen Colbert (first major green screen challenge), community-created format - **Date:** 2006 ## Overview Green Screen Edits rely on chroma key compositing, the same technique used in film VFX and news broadcasts to replace a solid-colored background with any image or video[4]. The meme format works because green screen footage is easy for amateur editors to manipulate. Anyone with basic video editing software can key out the green and drop the subject into a completely different scene. The humor usually comes from the contrast between the original performance and the absurd new context: a sad man on a rollercoaster, Shia LaBeouf screaming at anime characters, or John Cena popping up to question someone mid-sentence. What makes this format distinctive is that many of its biggest moments were intentional. Creators and celebrities deliberately film green screen clips knowing the internet will remix them, turning the release of raw footage into a kind of creative invitation[6]. ## How It Spread The format lay relatively dormant as a named trend until new green screen source clips emerged in the late 2000s and 2010s. **Eddy Wally's "Wow" (2007-2014):** On October 8, 2007, YouTuber djvensterke2 uploaded a clip of Belgian singer Eddy Wally appearing in front of a blue screen, saying "Wow!" and winking before exiting the frame[4]. The clip accumulated over 261,500 views over seven years[4]. Wally, a schlager singer known for his campy stage presence and flashy outfits, became an unlikely internet star[5]. In 2014, YouTuber Rabbi Cartman uploaded a green screen version of the clip, and the footage quickly spread into montage parodies. YouTuber sonic007m created a 10-hour loop, while Garonen made an "Eddy [MLG] Wally is illuminati" edit that same year[4]. **Shia LaBeouf's Motivational Speech (May 2015):** On May 27, 2015, a video titled "Shia LaBeouf delivers the most intense motivational speech of all-time" was uploaded by Mike Mohamed, accumulating over 1.4 million views in five days[4]. The footage came from a collaborative art project between LaBeouf, Nastja Säde Rönkkö, Luke Turner, and Central Saint Martins students, originally uploaded to Vimeo with the title "#INTRODUCTIONS"[4]. Because LaBeouf performed in front of a green screen, the remix potential was immediate. Redditor ridris submitted the video to r/videos, where it gained over 3,700 upvotes in two days[4]. YouTuber Michael McNeff's "Shia LaBeouf TED Talk" passed 1 million views in two days. Another remix, "Damn It Shia" by millerwa4, hit 775,000 views in a single day[4]. **Sad Green Screen (July 2015):** On July 29, 2015, YouTuber Devin Norris uploaded a video of a man looking sad with his arms raised against a green screen, gaining 54,900 views over four years[4]. Reddit users jumped on the footage, creating parodies that placed the sad man on a rollercoaster, in a World War 2 documentary, and alongside Shia LaBeouf's screaming motivational speech[1]. HuffPost covered the trend on July 31, calling it "the best new meme on Reddit"[1]. **Filthy Frank's "It's Time to Stop" (December 2015):** On December 24, 2015, YouTube personality Filthy Frank uploaded multiple green screen clips to an alternate channel, stating that fans had requested raw footage for editing[4]. The most popular clip showed Frank shaking a large clock while repeatedly yelling "It's time to stop," which received over 900,000 views in two months[4]. Pyrocynical's parody hit 1.5 million views over four years[4]. **John Cena's "Are You Sure About That?" (June 2016):** A Cricket Wireless hidden camera prank video uploaded on June 29, 2016 featured wrestler John Cena surprising people who thought they were auditioning to introduce him[4]. One scene where Cena rips a piece of paper and shouts "Are you sure about that?" was isolated as a green screen clip by YouTuber UFKinWotm8 the very next day[4]. The original prank video gained over 13 million views in two weeks before being taken down. The isolated clip became especially popular on Vine as a way to comedically question what someone in another video had just said[4]. **Russian YouTube Grandmother (July 2016):** On July 2, 2016, a YouTube channel called Канал Татьяны uploaded its first green screen video, which gained 141,000 views over three years[4]. The channel's creator, an older woman, used chroma key effects to place herself in fantastical scenarios. Her most popular video, an underwater adventure posted on March 4, 2017, hit 921,900 views in two years[4]. BuzzFeed News reported on the channel's popularity, calling her a "YouTube star" who had learned to use green screen technology[2]. **Stephen A. Smith (March 2019):** ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith deliberately filmed himself in front of a green screen and released the footage for meme use. Business Insider covered the resulting edits, which included Smith being composited into Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" music video[7]. ## How to Use The basic process for creating a Green Screen Edit: 1. Find or film footage of a subject performing against a solid green (or blue) background 2. Import the footage into any video editor with chroma key support (Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, even CapCut or iMovie) 3. Key out the green background to make it transparent 4. Place a new background video or image behind the subject 5. The comedy typically comes from placing the subject in an incongruous situation, like dropping a sad man into a rollercoaster video or having John Cena interrupt an unrelated clip ## Cultural Impact Green Screen Edits bridged the gap between professional VFX techniques and amateur internet comedy. The format lowered the barrier to video remixing by using the same chroma key technology that Hollywood and news studios rely on daily[4]. Stephen Colbert's 2006 challenge was one of the earliest examples of a television personality deliberately inviting internet participation, predating many later "social media engagement" strategies by years. When Viacom pulled the resulting videos from YouTube, the backlash became a flash point in early debates about fair use, remix culture, and corporate control of fan creativity[6]. Media commentator Mark Glaser argued that Colbert had "used the Internet in the way it was meant to be used, to generate buzz, get people involved and build a true online community whose own work could be showcased on your TV program"[6]. The format also democratized video editing skills. YouTubers like Jacksepticeye built recurring content series around reacting to fan-made green screen edits, creating a feedback loop where fans produced content and creators amplified it[3]. The Russian grandmother behind Канал Татьяны showed that the tools were accessible enough for anyone to use, regardless of age or technical background[2]. By 2019, celebrities like Stephen A. Smith were proactively releasing green screen footage, recognizing the promotional value of letting the internet remix you[7]. ## Fun Facts - An asteroid (9205 Eddywally) is named after Eddy Wally, whose "Wow" green screen clip is one of the format's most iconic examples[5]. - Shia LaBeouf's motivational speech was actually part of a fine art project with Central Saint Martins students, not a standalone internet stunt. The original Vimeo upload was titled "#INTRODUCTIONS"[4]. - Viacom's takedown of Colbert's green screen challenge edits happened even though Colbert himself had called the creators "heroes" on air[6]. - Filthy Frank uploaded his green screen clips on Christmas Eve 2015 as a gift to fans who had been requesting the raw footage[4]. - The original John Cena prank video was pulled from YouTube after gaining 13 million views in just two weeks, but the isolated green screen clip lived on[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are Green Screen Edits? Green Screen Edits are internet videos where footage of a person filmed against a chroma key background is remixed by replacing the background with different images or video, creating humorous or unexpected combinations[4]. ### Where did Green Screen Edits come from? The format's first major viral moment was Stephen Colbert's Light Saber Challenge in October 2006, when he invited viewers to remix green screen footage of himself from *The Colbert Report*[4]. ### What does the Green Screen Edits meme mean? The meme is about creative remixing. By keying out a solid-colored background, editors can place anyone into any context, and the humor comes from the absurd contrast between the original performance and the new setting[3]. ### How do you make a Green Screen Edit? Use any video editor with chroma key support to remove the green background from source footage, then layer in a new background. The format works best when the subject's original emotion or action clashes with the new scene[3]. ### Are Green Screen Edits still popular? Yes. The format remains active across YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms. As recently as 2019, celebrities like Stephen A. Smith were releasing dedicated green screen footage for fans to edit[7], and the underlying technique is even more accessible now with mobile editing apps. ### Who started the first Green Screen challenge? Stephen Colbert launched the first major green screen meme challenge in October 2006, though Viacom later ordered the resulting YouTube videos taken down for copyright reasons[6]. ### What happened with the Colbert green screen takedown? Viacom's legal team ordered YouTube to remove fan-made edits of Colbert's green screen footage despite Colbert having invited the participation. Media commentators criticized the move as contradicting the spirit of internet sharing that had boosted the show's popularity[6]. ### Who was Eddy Wally? Eddy Wally (1932-2016) was a Belgian schlager singer known for his camp style and limited vocal range. His "Wow" clip from 2007 became one of the most recognizable green screen meme sources, used widely in montage parodies[5]. ### Why was Shia LaBeouf's motivational speech filmed on a green screen? The speech was part of a collaborative art project called "#INTRODUCTIONS" with artists Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner and Central Saint Martins BA Fine Art students. It was originally uploaded to Vimeo as a fine art piece, not intended as meme fodder[4]. ### What is "It's Time to Stop"? A green screen clip of YouTube personality Filthy Frank shaking a large clock while yelling the phrase, uploaded on December 24, 2015. The clip became a popular reaction video used to express disapproval, with Pyrocynical's parody reaching 1.5 million views[4]. ### How did John Cena's "Are You Sure About That?" become a meme? A Cricket Wireless hidden camera prank video featuring Cena was uploaded on June 29, 2016. The next day, a user isolated Cena's green screen outburst, and it spread rapidly on Vine as a way to humorously question other videos' claims[4]. ## References 1. ['Sad Green Screen' Is The Best New Meme On Reddit | HuffPost Weird News]() 2. [This "Grandma" Has Become A YouTube Star After She Learned To Use Green Screen]() 3. [Hilarious Green Screen Meme Reactions]() 4. [Green Screen Edits - Know Your Meme]() 5. [List of Internet phenomena]() 6. [Eddy Wally]() 7. [Stephen Colbert: Don’t Love and Leave YouTube]() 8. [VIDEO: Stephen a. Smith Got in Front of a Green Screen for the Memes - Business Insider]() 9. ['Sad Green Screen' Is The Best New Meme On Reddit | HuffPost UK Weird News]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/green-screen-edits Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library