Five video interview lighting setups – and how we shot them
Video interviews are a crucial part of a filmmaker’s skillset. They play a huge role in creative video production and are essential for effective storytelling, whether in a documentary, corporate film, or personal project.
Lighting plays a big role in setting the mood and atmosphere for an interview. Here are five examples of interview lighting setups from different projects that we’ve produced recently, along with an explanation of how we put them together.
1. Documentary-style interview – Mercedes-Benz Vans
B Cam
A Cam
We filmed this interview as part of a brand documentary project for Mercedes-Benz Vans with Grenfell Athletic Football Club. The interview was with Rupert Taylor, who founded Grenfell Athletic to unite those directly affected by the Grenfell Tower fire in the aftermath of the tragedy. The subject matter was serious and we wanted a clean interview lighting setup that focused attention on Rupert, while still maintaining a sense of atmosphere and without becoming too clinical.
The setup
The room we had to work with was a Crossfit studio at the leisure centre used by Grenfell Athletic FC for training. The black walls helped control the light within the space. We set up a large book light as the key light, which we brought in as close as possible to the interviewee, and then added a small amount of fill with a lantern to the left. We hung two tube lights from the Crossfit frame to add a bit of detail into the background, and put a gentle slash of light across the back wall to pick out some of the more reflective elements of the rowing machines propped up against it. In the end, we preferred the cleaner frame of the B Camera, so that shot took priority in the edit, but it was useful to have both options available.
2. Case study interview – BT Group
A Cam
B Cam
This was filmed in the bar and café at the sports centre where Bristol City FC’s walking football team meet up to play, and we had access to the café prior to opening, from 7-10am. We wanted a natural feel to the interview, and from a quick look at the room, it made sense to position the table and chair close to a window and light the interviewee from outside.
The setup
Our key light was positioned outside, fitted with a fresnel, and pushed through a 4x4 magic cloth. We then pushed a second harder light through the window to throw more light across the table and onto the interviewee’s upper body (but not her face). A third light was added to the interview setup to provide a subtle rim to gently separate her from the background. We also tried some additional lights through the windows further back in the room but ultimately decided to go without them as the practical lights in the room gave enough background level for the look we wanted.
3. Vertical interview – Dove
It might seem unusual, but we wanted to include an example of a vertical video interview as we’re getting asked to do more and more of these – and it’s a trend we don’t expect to stop anytime soon.
The setup
We had limited time for setup on this shoot, and it was filmed in a hotel room with an immovable four poster bed, so we had to fit everything around that. We set up two Colorama backdrops at a 90-degree angle to each other, intending to use the same light to key both people. We were able to get a lantern in close enough that the key light still felt relatively soft, and using just one light to key both people significantly cut down on the grip we needed to squeeze into such a tight space. We then added tube lights just over the top of each Colorama to provide both a rim light and some gentle fill on the person sat opposite.
4. Corporate interview – Dojo
A Cam
B Cam
We’ve included this example because it shows how much of a difference a good space can make! This was filmed in a large open-plan office space with big windows and lots of background shape. We had to move at speed on this shoot, staging multiple interviews in different locations, but the room made it far easier to achieve the results we needed without an extensive lighting setup.
The setup
This light setup for the interview was incredibly simple. It involved only one light (with a lantern for diffusion) to give some extra punch and wrap from the window-side of the room. The windows and plants, along with the lines of the long table, did a lot of the heavy lifting in making this an attractive interview frame.
5. Editorial interview – University of Liverpool
A Cam
B Cam
C Cam
Unlike the other setups on this page, we ran three cameras on this shoot. The A and B cameras are fairly conventional static angles, but the C camera was handheld and took in parts of the set as well as the interviewee. For longer interview pieces, this extra angle often provides a good option for breaking up the static angles. And in this case, the interviewee was a TV presenter, so including the equipment on set felt especially appropriate to the topic.
The setup
This lighting setup was one of the more complicated setups we’ve worked on recently. The studio we had booked for the shoot was essentially a blank canvas. We had planned to shoot the interview against a Colorama backdrop, but after consulting with the client at the start of the setup, we decided to opt for the texture of this plastered wall instead.
We set up a large book light as the key light, positioned just to the right of the frame. The rim light was positioned high on a C-Stand, just out of shot, and pushed through a Light Dome Mini III to soften it up a little. The grid that comes with that modifier is helpful for keeping rim/edge lights nice and focused.
But the background felt a bit flat (it was just a flat wall, after all), so we added another light coming in over the top of the book light with a flag to help cast a subtle slash of light across the back wall. We also added a tube light at around 3500K to bring just a bit of warmth into the back wall.
The black poly board to the left of the interviewee was primarily there to block out light spill from a fire exit sign that we couldn’t switch off, but it also helped to add a little extra negative fill to the shot.
