I am planning on using a green screen for filming. I have went all over the internet looking for information on green screens but they all have the in-depth, huge budget thing. Could someone explain to me in simple terms what I all need to do for using chroma key?

the background needs to be PERFECTLY flat green. no gradiation of color, no shadows, etc. then you import the footage into a NLE like premiere or FCP and key out the green using a filter (the program's manual will give you the details)

it's kind of hard to do - the light needs to be SO GOOD, and DV cameras don't technically support chroma keying because the format records larger color pixels then brightness, so you'll get little fringes of green left over unless you're really lucky/skilled.

yeah lighting is important... everything needs to be well lit, and like titanium said, it needs to be flat!

now depending on what you have, some chroma jobs will be easier than others...
e.g. i use after effects and the plugin KEYLIGHT...
works perfectly...

green is a good choice, it has more color info...
just remember to have the screen/fabric FLAT and WELL LIT....

other than that, cross your fingers, and if you run into problems, get creative...

I know you've said you searched the web already, but take a look at these two articles. They are the best I've seen about shooting low budget green screen:

Chroma Key Basics for DV Guerrillas

Chroma Keying in Final Cut Pro HD
This is a brand new article. Even if you don't use Final cut pro, it'll help because it talks about color smoothing, cropping with mattes, and a few other non-intuitive techniques.

all the best

Thanks for the tips. If I can't get the chroma key working with a DV I could always try renting a small studio. That is if I could find some money (That always seems to be the toughest part of movie making).

also it helps if you shoot your green screen one stop less than the subject.

I just graduated from a LAUSD high school where our film department owned 2 cameras, one computer, and no working audio equipment (for a class of 40-- 30 of which took the class for an "easy A")...so I know a lot about doing things on a very low budget. We used a green screen on a project and pulled it off pretty well for having no money. We tried using green fabric, but it didn't work that well. Surprisingly, what worked the best was really cheap green paint. We painted a wall in a back room and then covered all the other walls with black fabric so that light wouldn't reflect off those walls. Then we went through the tedious trial-and-error process of focusing the lights. Keying it in wasn't a problem. We used premiere and we used the green screen key. Just make sure the green on the wall matches up with the green on the screen and you should be good to go. And that's how we made a green screen for under 30 bucks. I'm not as experienced as the majority of the people here, but when it comes to figuring out how to do things on a tight budget, I've had lots of practice. Yeah Los Angeles Public Schools! Good luck, man.