Watch: Oprah Winfrey Interviews Barack Obama During The Pandemic Using Incredible Green Screen Technology
The coronavirus pandemic has ripped through our society, leaving death and disruption in its path. One of the least important changes it has caused is that pretty much every interview now has taken on the same dull, boxy aesthetic because they're almost always captured using programs like Zoom.
Leave it to Oprah Winfrey, arguably the most famous interviewer in the world, to liven things up. In a new episode of her AppleTV+ series The Oprah Conversation, Winfrey interviewed former President Barack Obama about his new book, his reaction to Joe Biden winning the presidency, and much more, and through the magic of green screen technology, it appears as if they're both seated in Oprah's home. Check out a behind the scenes clip below.
Oprah Obama Interview Clip
Did y'all know that me and former President @BarackObama weren't even in the same room for this interview? He was in D.C. and I was in California. But thanks to the power of technology (and @DrewBarrymore), now I may never leave my house 😂 pic.twitter.com/ysNBpo7IEv
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) November 19, 2020
Pretty cool, right? I mean, it's not exactly up to the level of something like The Mandalorian in terms of pushing the envelope – people like George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez have been doing stuff like this on the big screen for decades – but this is more akin to "David Fincher in Zodiac" usage of green screen technology, in which the end result is fairly seamless. Aside from that, on a pure gut level, I still find peeks behind the curtain at things like this to be really entertaining.
And thank God we're not just seeing yet another pair of floating heads trapped in Zoom windows here. I know the pandemic has opened the world's eyes to how much work can be accomplished remotely, but I think when this is all over, we're all going to want to take a break from the Zoom aesthetic for a good while.
The full episode premiered a couple of days ago on AppleTV+, and will be accessible to anyone for free (not just subscribers) from now until December 1, 2020.