I'm not sure how useful this will be to most people on this board, but hopefully someone will benefit. Floating around the net I found this tutorial where a guy built an ultra cheap bluescreen.

http://www.hiddenphantom.com/Tutorials/Bluescreen/Bluescreen.html

I've seen that some screens retail for close to $170. I went check at my local party store and sure enough the supplies were just about $7.99 for 4ft. x 100ft roll. As with all things I'd be willing to bet its not the same as a pro quality (and definately not the same as chrommate screen), but the sample clips the guy has on his site are pretty good.

If anyone likes I could do a few tests of my own and post some samples within a few days.

Looks interesting. I would think that plastic tablecloth might create lighting problems due to its reflective properties.

That's kinda what I'm thinking too, but from the clips on the site (though they are compressed) it seems to work fairly well. I'll run some tests tommorrow (hopefully) but I imagine if you diffuse the light enough or light at the right angle you can eliminate most of the problem.

The biggest issue really ends up being the shadows from the seam through the middle. I've gotten around that now using broader blue painter's masking tape. If the screen stretched well to elliminate wrinkles, and it's lit properly from above, there's no shine at all.

This screen was built four years ago and is still standing and in use today. It works just as well as anything else I've worked with, including CineAlta shots from professional greenscreen sets.

Proper lighting and whitebalance during shooting, and a complete understanding of your compositing tool are all you'll need to get great results. Without these, even professional-grade screen materials will yield less-than-ideal composites. :)

Basically, this is a great way to start experimenting with bluescreen effects ... without having to make a steep investment. Save that part for when people are paying you a premium to incorporate bluescreen shots into the project you're producing for them. :)

Have fun.

How about painting a wall in your garage green? Get a flat or matte paint to avoid reflections.

If you want to be that permenant then go for it...hope you don't plan to sell your house soon lol. I would suggest using one of those compressed air spray painting devices though.

I agree with that paint; mostly to avoid wrinkles that cause shaded areas