Creating the Perfect Documentary Interview: Lighting Checklist

Interviews may seem simple when you watch them on-screen, but they require a lot of effort and set-up to get them looking engaging, cinematic, and professional. To get the scene just right, you need to capture your footage using the best tools and products out there, and a vital part of this is your lighting! Here are our tips for creating a fool-proof lighting set up for your next interviews, no matter where you're shooting. 

Recommended Lighting Techniques

Three-Point Lighting

Three-point lighting is a great place to start with lighting interview set ups for a few reasons. While three may seem like a lot of lights (especially if you're a beginner), this setup allows you to fully control the lighting within your shot, overpower ambient light, and create depth and contrast in your footage. 

• Key Light: Use a soft, diffused light as your main source. This is best as your most powerful light, and should be paired with a large scrim or softbox modifier to diffuse the light with, which will flatter your interviewee's skin. Position it at a 45-degree angle to the subject for depth.
• Fill Light: Use a softer light (or bounce) to lift shadows on the opposing side of your interviewee. The fill light is typically less powerful than the key light. This helps balance the overall exposure of lighting on your interviewee.
• Back Light (Hair Light): Position a light behind the subject to create separation from the background, adding depth and dimension.

Read similar: Portrait Lighting Styles

2-Light Setup

For a more pared-down setup, two lights can also work well with the right technique. Similar to the Three-Point lighting setup, you can use a Key Light in the same place, plus a hair light or background light (depending on the situation - a background light is great if you'd like to highlight specific items in the background of the shot, such as if you're shooting in a museum) to add more depth. 

To add more lighting to the interviewee's face, you can use something as simple as a 5-in-1 handheld reflector to bounce light into any shadows and help brighten the image. This is a great way to shoot interviews on a tighter budget or with less space. 

Natural Light
You can also utilise windows as a natural light source for interview shooting, either as a fill light for your subject, or as a practical light in the background. Window light can be a very weather-dependant, so make sure you have some lights that you can control so your footage will look consistently lit throughout. 

Ensure that any additional lights are set to a Daylight Balanced colour temperature so they match the light from the window! 

See similar: Creating a Documentary: Equipment Checklist
 
Practical Lights
Incorporate lamps or other light sources within the frame in the background for added interest and warmth. This creates a more immersive setting, and warmer colour temperatures will help the background seem more homey and cosy, and less clinical. 

If you're looking to create a more dramatic backdrop to your setting, try turning off or flagging overhead room lights where possible. The lighting on your interviewee paired with practical lighting, such as lamps, in the shot will help to create a darker background and add more contrast.

For more fun content matter, RGB lighting can work well as a practical option to add a pop of colour in the background. You can do this with something like the Godox KNOWLED C7R and C10R practical LED Bulbs! These use an E27 light fitting so will fit in normal household lamps and light fixtures, but can be controlled via remote or bluetooth from a distance. The C7R also has a built-in battery if the fixture doesn't have any power. 

Tip! Interviewing a sports team in a studio-style setting? Set RGB practical lighting to the same colours as the team's kit for a fun pop of colour. 

Lighting Equipment for Interviews

Godox UL-60 Super Silent Fanless LED Video Light

The Godox UL60 is a 60w LED that comes with a lightweight, continuous studio light that uses COB LED technology to produce a bright but silent LED light. The high-intensity light head has a fanless heat dissipation mechanism which makes it ideal for capturing audio without interruption or noise. The light itself offers impeccable colour accuracy and is highly recommended by filmmakers and videographers shooting in natural lighting.

The light head also features eight built-in lighting effects, making it a versatile item for shoots. The wireless control allows for easy accessibility and adds to its user-friendly nature. At 60w, this light is great for indoor and studio applications.

Godox M300BI 300w COB LED

If you need to take things up a notch with a more powerful light, the Godox KNOWLED M300Bi is a great option, packing 300w into one light. Or, go even higher if you're shooting outdoors and want 600w of output instead.

Designed for professional film productions, these lights are tested for flicker rates of up to 12,000fps, the M Series has high CRI and TLCI colour ratings for super accurate colour reproduction. With a Bowens S-Fitting, the M Series LEDs fit with a huge range of softboxes and other modifiers for easy and efficient light diffusion, plus a super-quiet cooling fan allows for minimal audio interference.

Read Similar: An In-Depth Look: Godox KNOWLED M LED Light for Filmmakers 

The M Series also has the option to be controlled remotely, either via the Godox App, or by remote control!

PiXAPRO 30x140cm Strip Softbox (with Grid)

Strip Softboxes are super versatile modifiers used by photographers and also by filmmakers and videographers too. The long, narrow strip shape is perfect for side lighting your interviewees and will create a nice, controllable strip of light right where you need it. The long 140cm length is also great for ensuring that your interviewee is lit evenly from top to bottom, and is especially handy for full-length shots and lighting. 

The strip design with the reflective interior helps to reduce sharp shadows, making them softer thus giving you a more natural looking light when paired with the diffusers. This is probably the easiest and most effective solution to diffuse shadows, for a soft, even light which is flattering on interviewee's skin. 

Additionally, it comes with a 5cm honeycomb grid that allows you to spread the light more evenly. The grid also gives you greater control over the light direction and prevents it from spilling onto the background.

PiXAPRO 80x120cm Softbox and 90cm Octagonal Softbox

Our PiXAPRO rectangular and octagonal softboxes are from the same range, and also offer bright, diffused lighting which is perfect for lighting interviews. Offering a wider spread of light than the strip softbox option, these softboxes are great for lighting multiple interviewees at one time (the larger the softbox, the wider the spread of light!) and can be easily used as part of a one-light setup for those on tight budget. 

These shapes offer a natural light fall off, with the octagonal shapes being the best for replication a round catchlight in the eye (as the closest to a sun shape).

Our softboxes offer the option for an interchangeable speedring when purchasing, so you can buy the right fitting for various studio light brands.

80x120cm Rectangular FlatPak Compact Softbox	90cm Octagonal Easy Open Softbox

PiXAPRO Helios Dual-Colour Special Effects Gel Set

Gel sheets are excellent for creating dark and moody visuals for your documentary. These can be placed in front of the primary lighting source to project colour onto backgrounds, or onto your interviewee if you're aiming for a particular style. The PIXAPRO Helios Dual Gels do exactly this. Comprising of five Dual-coloured gel sheets, it gives you plenty of creative opportunities to enhance your shots and add a dramatic element to your footage.

PIXAPRO 30x30cm Colour Correction Gel Pack

The Colour Correction pack is another great option for adding special effects. This set comes with six sheets and is light on the pocket, making it a great investment for filmmakers on a budget. Use these to adjust the colour temperature while shooting and create special effects by matching the sheets with ambient lighting and cool tones.

Looking for some more advice on your cinematic video interview lighting kit? Get in touch with our advisor team at info@essentialphoto.co.uk and they can help put together the perfect kit for your next project!