picking apart two different interview lighting strategies (screen shots w/analysis)

[FlintMI]

1. First shot is a very well lit face, with the 3/4 moon concept. It appears there is just one softbank here with a rim/hair/kicker (your choice) coming from behind to accent the shoulder and rear of the head. I don't see any evidence of a fill light cause the right side of his face is quite dark but they might be using a bounce card to provide a tad bit of texture.

When I first saw this, I thought it was too dark, but it grows on you and its quite nice in the end.

2. Here is a face lit with two evenly placed softbanks, so key and fill are almost the same. Technically the fill should be much less power, but it is what it is. There is also a kicker from left rear providing some light on the shoulder and the subject's right temple and face. I liked this at first, but with time I think its too much light. Also, there are two big reflectors in his glasses (or eyes if he wasn't wearing them) and I find this a bit annoying as well.

In general, and just your gut feeling, which technique, (or another, please describe) do you like best for interviews?

 

[Noel Evans]

Agree with you entirely. Except one point. I like the concept of the first. Although he seems thin and gaunt I would have used at least some fill to round him out. Also Im not entirley happy with his position based on the room layout.

Also in second his face seems too red with the red background. Maybe a little CTB would have fixed this. Apart from the reflection in his glasses his chubby face is being made to look chubbier by the lighting not very flattering IMO.

 

[filmat11]

Based only on your two examples, based purely on the locations that you have shared, and on the particular subjects that you have left for examples....I would choose your first image(man in what appears to be a recording studio), as the strongest image.
At any given moment, I have at my disposal, over 30 lights. I like less as more these days. Would the next guy add a little fill light or bounce card for shadows..,maybe. But it works, and it's a nice image. If you must shoot several more of these types of interviews in the future. Stick with one type, as best you can , and use it through out your shoot for continuity.
Now that said, not every location you come to will be as conducive
to your lighting examples. The physical surroundings, types of windows in the room, time of day. These will all play a part in your decisions and approaches to your lighting choices.
To make a small suggestion for your first image, I would have your subject turn into the light just a smidge more, so that your side(key light) light would light up his opposite cheek just slightly more. But just an inch.. maybe during your interview he was faced slightly more to HIS right, but this screen grab he moved his head. This is just a personal point of taste for me. I really do like the screen shot from your first image, and my comment comes from the producer in me, my comment as a shooter, thinks it's edgy and cool. I may have also decided to add an edge lite to the top of his computer, and maybe a kicker, or edge to his speaker as well.
Your second image is also lit nicely, but a couple of suggestions come to mind right away. I have shot on a similar location many times,and find the seats in the background ,both interesting and distracting at the same time. For me, I would have lit it perhaps a little differently.... First off, to get rid of eye glass reflections, you can do a couple of things. Most people either raise their lights up slightly higher, ask the talent to lower their chin, ask them to raise the temples of their glasses up slightly to angle the lenses downward(which usually looks stupid) move the lights completely, or in some cases, ask the person being interviewed, if we can remove the lenses from their frames.. ( I carry one of those pocket, dome shaped,
eyeglass repair kits in my grip bag for just such a situation).
Next off, I would have perhaps chosen a slightly different angle to shoot this, maybe a lower angle, had him lean forward and rest his arms on the seat in front of him, and then backlit him from directly behind his head, or from off to the side, then, if you could see the back wall of the theatre in the shot, perhaps added a light to the back wall, to give the room some depth. The backlight or edge light could also rim the backs of several chairs.
You could also use the same angle, and use a light or two to fire a slash of light across a few selected chairs at an angle as well. I wouldn't have evenly lit him like this, people are three dimensional, and sculping their face and figure is important. Television and film are barely two dimensional, make up for it by making the lighting more interesting, that's what I tell myself anyway.
Nice shots, good work, keep it up....

 

[craigbowman]

Save yourself a lot of guesswork...

http://www.bluesky-web.com/dvd1headshot.htm

 

[MotionMagic]

Besides what has been mentioned, I would get a little light in the eyes of the top image. Maybe rake a little light across that back right corner to just give it a little something; maybe from a high or low angle that cuts across that corner and hits the speaker. I would also like to see more detail in the speaker front. I do like the image, but the background could be spiced up.

I like the chairs lit the way they are in the lower image; kind of matches the squares in his sweater. Fill needs to be less intense, glare in glasses are distracting, and maybe lower kicker a little. You've got some good diagonals from the lighting.