This interview style lighting

Rob Ine · July 1, 2014

Hi Guys,

Wanting to re-create look for a interview. Looks like they had a soft source from above but that's not really an option for us so looking at using a soft fill from the side with hard backlights.

Just wanted to know how you interpreted their setup and how you would best replicate it with the following equipment:

2 soft boxes
3 Dedo 150W hard heads

cheers,would appreciate any advice or thoughts

Rob

David Landau · July 10, 2014

They lit this with a top light, you can see the shadows of his hair over his eyes. There is a kicker off camera left and a light adding a glow to the background below his shoulders, producing a soft graduation of whiteness - darker on the top than on the bottom. He has raccoon eyes and a deep shadow under the chin. Since he is talking about something sad, this works. It almost looks like he's been crying. I would not recommend doing this for a happier interview. He doesn't come across as an expert or someone to look up to, rather the lighting makes us feel sorry for him. So it's great for the piece, but would not be the best for any interview. It all depends on the subject matter - the lighting should always support the story.

Alex Fuerst · July 13, 2014

I agree with David. Lighting always, always should support the story.

Look at the subject's eyes and watch for the reflections of the lighting setup. To me, it looks light they had a space light hung from overhead (probably a 1K or 2K with a skirt), the visible kicker from camera left and a light on the background (looks like it might even be backlighting the background material). There might be a fill light or bounce coming from camera right.

It's going to be a challenge to get the same results with the lighting you listed above. Using one Dedo as the left kicker is the easy part. You could hang one from above and aim the other hitting the background with one soft boxes but I'm not sure the ratios will work out well. You'll probably have to get the top light pretty close to the subject's head.

I'd suggest borrowing or renting lights with higher output and soft light.

What camera are you shooting with? With only 450w of light your camera will need to have good low light performance to work with only the Dedo lights.