TikTok launched a new feature today that combines the existing duet and green screen formats, letting people use other TikToks as the background for their own. “Green Screen Duet” now appears as an option in the duet layout menu. Like all duets, the creator of the original video is tagged in the caption of the new one. This could be great news or a portent of even more sensory overload in the app, depending on your sensibilities.
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The new feature will likely be a useful tool for people who already use TikTok’s “green screen” to put images in the background of their videos, or edit videos to create a similar effect. It also might make TikToks that are reactions to other TikToks more visually cohesive than Duets (where videos are tiled next to each other) and Stitches (where a clip of the original video plays for a few seconds before the new one starts).
TikTok continues to roll out new formats as other companies add TikTok-like features to their own apps. Instagram’s Reels can now be “remixed” like TikTok duets. Snap says its TikTok competitor Spotlight reached 100 million users two months after it launched, and YouTube is planning to pay creators who use YouTube Shorts to encourage them to keep posting.
For a better idea of how the feature works, here’s someone adding sign language interpretation to a TikTok that’s already a running bit between several users:
