Two Interview Lighting Tutorials That'll Kick Your Footage Up a Notch 7 Simple Steps to Help You Shoot an InterviewChoosing a lighting kit for conducting documentary interviews is an important task, and if you’re going to be shooting sit down interviews, your production values depend on it. Size, weight and wattage are both factors for many filmmakers to consider when picking out lighting gear, because unless you’ve got a dedicated grip truck or a permanent studio, you’ll want to be able to pack away your equipment in a case or two so it can be easily transported to and from locations. The good news is, with the proliferation of LED and CFL-based lighting systems, interview lighting setups are now lighter and more easily-transportable than ever before. Not to mention more affordable! Here are some documentary film interview lights and accessories you’ll want to check out: Lowel DV Creator 44 Kit with TO-83 Case (Check reviews & prices) This Lowel kit is great for documentary filmmakers looking to stock up on what they need all in one go (though you’ll still probably want to pick up a pair of heat resistant gloves since these lights can get hot).

This kit includes four tungsten (“indoor”) balanced lights as well as the gels to convert them to daylight, plus a softbox, three sets of barndoors, an umbrella for light diffusion and a hard carrying case. The full kit puts out 1650 watts– nothing to sneeze at. The lights included are: a 300w max. Rifa-44 collapsible softlight, 500w max. focusable Omni-light, and a 250w focusable Pro-light & a 750w max. StudioPRO Double 600 S-600D LED Photography Lighting Panel and Light Stand Kit (Check reviews & prices)Best Nike Shoes For Standing All Day This kit with two flat LED lights and two stands is a great affordable option for documentary film interview lighting kits. Vinyl Tile On StairsBecause they’re LED-based, you can dim the lights with a convenient dial on the back of the light, so you can get just the right amount of light without having to mess with diffusion, ND filters, or having to move the light stand further away from your interview subject. Black Lab Puppies Bloomington Il

Although the stands are set at full-height in the picture to the left, they are adjustable to the height of a seated interviewee. You can also purchase padded carrying case to go with the lights to protect them. SePhoto VL9026S3 3000 Watt Continuous Light Kit with Carrying Bag & Stands (Check reviews & prices) This kit includes three CFL lights (each with sockets for 5 bulbs), as well as the light stands to go with them, a carrying case and softboxes that fit over the lights to diffuse them and cast an even, flattering glow on your interview subject. Because CFLs are not dimmable as LEDs are, you can adjust how much light each lamp emits by individually switching on and off each bulb (each light has five lights witches on the back of it). Softboxes like these are used for documentary interview lighting setups because they help cast soft light on your subject in an even pattern. This full kit weighs a little over 30 pounds, making it surprisingly portable. Lowel Pro Pak, Pro-Light Kit with 250 watt Bulb, Lightstand & Stand (Check reviews & prices)

The Lowel Pro light is a small light that documentary filmmakers often use as a hair light. It is placed behind the seated interview subject (sometimes on a boom arm so it’s directly across from the camera) to create some “background separation” between the subject and the environment they’re in, like an outline. It also creates a nice, soft glow around the subject. The Lowel Pro is great because it’s small, lightweight enough to be hung on a boom arm, and uses relatively little wattage, plus the lamp itself is so small that you can attach reasonably sized lighting gels to change the color of the light. If you want to dim the Lowel Pro, you’ll need to pick up an external power dimmer, such as a router speed control (we’ve tested these and they work great with the Lowel Pro). Instructional DVD: “How to Setup, Light, & Shoot Interviews”, Instructional DVD (60 minutes) (Check reviews & prices) We pretty much swear by this instructional tutorial DVD. It’s a 60 minute, no-frills crash course in how to set up, light and shoot documentary film interviews.

The instructor (an experienced camera guy who’s shot for television news programs like 60 Minutes) shows you in detail how to set up lights in a variety of location situations to achieve a high production value lighting effect, whether you’re going for a modern look, a dramatic look or a classic look for your interviews. The instructor also shows you the best settings to use on your camera when you shoot your sit-down interviews, and teaches you how to deal with common situations like how to make a conference room that you’re stuck film in look look less, well, conference-room-y with your lighting kit. Note: the same DVD is also available in a specialized version for those with LED lighting kits. Sandbag safety weights for lighting stands 10 Must Have Accessories for Your Film Lighting Kit The Best DSLR Audio Adapters for Sound 5 Things to Consider Before Buying A Documentary Film Camera Lavaliere Microphones for Documentary Film List: Top DSLRs for Documentary Filmmaking

Best Cheap Documentary Film Cameras in 2016 Best Tripod Carrying Cases (Hard & Soft Tripod Cases) A typical three-point lighting setup Three-point lighting is a standard method used in visual media such as theatre, video, film, still photography and computer-generated imagery.[1] By using three separate positions, the photographer can illuminate the shot's subject (such as a person) however desired, while also controlling (or eliminating entirely) the shading and shadows produced by direct lighting. The key light, as the name suggests, shines directly upon the subject and serves as its principal illuminator; more than anything else, the strength, color and angle of the key determines the shot's overall lighting design. In indoor shots, the key is commonly a specialized lamp, or a camera's flash. In outdoor daytime shots, the Sun often serves as the key light. In this case, of course, the photographer cannot set the light in the exact position he or she wants, so instead arranges it to best capture the sunlight, perhaps after waiting for the sun to position itself just right.

A portrait with three-point lighting: a 300 watt key light, a 150 watt back light, and fill light from a bounce board An animated demonstration of three-point lighting The fill light also shines on the subject, but from a side angle relative to the key and is often placed at a lower position than the key (about at the level of the subject's face). It balances the key by illuminating shaded surfaces, and lessening or eliminating chiaroscuro effects, such as the shadow cast by a person's nose upon the rest of the face. It is usually softer and less bright than the key light (up to half), and more to a flood. Not using a fill at all can result in stark contrasts (due to shadows) across the subject's surface, depending upon the key light's harshness. Sometimes, as in low-key lighting, this is a deliberate effect, but shots intended to look more natural and less stylistic require a fill. In some situations a photographer can use a reflector (such as a piece of white cardstock mounted off-camera, or even a white-painted wall) as a fill light instead of an actual lamp.

Reflecting and redirecting the key light's rays back upon the subject from a different angle can cause a softer, subtler effect than using another lamp. The back light (a.k.a. the rim, hair, or shoulder light) shines on the subject from behind, often (but not necessarily) to one side or the other. It gives the subject a rim of light, serving to separate the subject from the background and highlighting contours. Back light or rim light is different from a kick in that a kick (or kicker) contributes to a portion of the shading on the visible surface of the subject, while a rim light only creates a thin outline around the subject without necessarily hitting the front (visible) surface of the subject at all. A three point system in theatre can be used in a variety of ways to help set a mood of the character. By having bright key light, but minimal fill and back light, this will give the effect of anger, whereas if the scene is very brightly lit with little shadow on the actor, this can make the scene look very happy.