5 point lighting.

Kevin Briggs

Kevin Briggs

Well-known member
Hey all,

I just did an interview with my 92 year old great grandma. I used a britec 300/600 set at 600 watts with a soft box for key light, 200 watt britec spot for hair highlights, 300 watt britec for backlighting shooting through a container of vegetable oil for a yellow tint on the flowers, the table lamp, and ambient sun light coming through back left of frame. I also brought a lamp shade and a bottle of blue mouthwash for more filter options. :) What do you guys think of the grabs? I set this up in 15 minutes, and the room was so small that I could not get any dof. This is my fist attempt at lighting an interview. I learned a bunch of good tips from Walter Graff's site.

-Kevin

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I hate to say it but you still have some work to do on lighting. there are several things that I don't like about you setup:

1. the frame doesn't work for me. the flowers by her head should have never been there, not to mention they're not lit right.

2. the wall in the background is blah, there should have been something on that wall to give us depth of field and it, say a painting or something, in softer focus, which can be achieved by pulling out the couch and light away from the wall.

3. The wall on left side has a blue cast, leading me to believe you were mixing light, which can work, if done effectively, but here it is just distracting.

4. your key light isn't placed properly and as a result you character is sitting right beside a practicle and yet has primary light coming for opposite side where you fill light should be.

5. there appears to be an outside corner wall on right side top frame which is also distracting. You should have framed it out, or flagged off the hot side to even it out.

6. the white thing on top of the couch blends into the white hair, making the scene messy and washed out in the area where we should be concentrating. You needed contrast here. The white thing should have been removed.

7. the plant below the practicle shouldn't be directly in front of it, it should be to the right.

8. your key is reflecting badly in her eyes. better to use creative bounce in these circumstances to avoid that.

9. I think you have excess ambient light in the room, making it appear flatter than it needs to be.

10. Please, always remember to try and keep light off of you walls.

I hope the above doesn't seem to harsh, not trying to be hard on you, just pointing out the things I look for when trying to setup a shot. It takes time and practice to learn these things. And again, this is just one persons opinion, doesn't mean either one of us is wrong or right.

I hope some of these comments help you out.
 
Icarus,

I agree with almost everything you've said. I was under a time crunch and I only had 15 min max to set up all my lights and rearrange the room. I could not frame anything with soft focus because of the room’s size. I did pull the couch about 5' from where it was to try just that, but I think I would need another 5-10’ to make it work. The room was 15'x20. I put the flowers in the shot where I did because there was nothing to frame on the walls. They were plain white. The blue cast light from the left side is coming in from the window through the closed vertical blinds. I guess I could have thrown a blanket or something over the window, but I just didn't have the time.

Yeah I should have framed that wall out. I should have removed the doily. I had her change her white jacket to a red one for contrast, but obviously I missed some things. I forgot all about bouncing the key light. Good idea.

With my limitations on space and experience setting up lighting I should have named this post "how to mess up 5 point lighting".

I really do appreciate you taking the time to critique my setup in such depth. I look forward to my next interview so I can improve in all these areas. I'll update this post with my next interview screen grabs so people can see the improvements and critique my lighting further.

Thanks,
-Kevin
 
For a first attempt, I would say that is pretty damn good! Icarus2005 makes some very good points though, so take note of everything he says. Personally that setup is superior to most interviews on the news, but would love quite flat if in a documentary.

Personally I would try and bring more contrast to the scene, preferably reducing light on the back wall to emphasis the lady's face. The frame is also a little cluttered, but that depends on the subject and style of the film. However, objects like the corner of the wall should not be just in frame like that, as it adds nothing. I do like the texture of the face. It is soft but without washing out the characterful wrinkles. Again more contrast would help, and a less confusing practical. I actually like the light reflected in her eyes, adds a bit of depth and sparkle IMHO.

It is certainly a strong start, although it has its flaws, keep experimenting and filming and you will have the technique nailed. Keep it up!
 
mmm,

Thanks for the comments. Is the "Practical" the lamp? I'm such a noob to lighting. I really should have given myself more time to tweak the scene. More contrast, yeah I agree. This forum is so invaluable to me, and as I learn more from people like you and Icarus I can help others with what I've learned. I've got the right lights, I just need to learn how to use them correctly. In my opnion good lighting is the biggest sepparation between professional shoots and no-low budget shoots. I've got a lot to learn.

Thanks a lot guys

-Kevin
 
Kevin Briggs said:
mmm,

Is the "Practical" the lamp?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Practicals are generally a light source visible in the frame, in this case the lamp.

Sounds like you have just the right attitude, you will learn a lot and I am sure people will be happy to help if they can. Keep up the good work! :)
 
you're welcome

the fact you're willing to learn is the most important thing. I certainly don't know everything and I'm learning every day. I think it was Einstein that said " the man who knows everything is a fool indeed".

I look forward to your next shoot

take care
 
I think you did a fine job Kevin. I assume there will be some adjustments made in post for CC and Levels? Don't stress the little things; lighting can be very subjective I like eye-lights myself).

I think considering the restraints you did a fine job. Keep studying and lighting. Check out Walter's site as well

http://www.bluesky-web.com/new-page6.html

Great job; 92? Wow! Great stock!
 
For a first timer, good job. Follow the suggestions given and it will be that much better the next time.

John, thnka for the link, there is some great info on that site!
 
I agree with most of the other comments, but would also add that for a first attempt at lighting, it's not bad at all.

That said, here are some hopefully helpful comments.

Traditionally, for a talking head setup like yours, the key light should be placed on the same side of camera to which you subject is looking. In your case, this would mean keying from the left of camera, rather than the right, as you did. Keying from the left would give more modeling to your subject. The figures usually given for traditional key light placement are 45 degrees from camera and 45 degrees above the subject.

In conjunction with placement of key to the left, you could then have brought in another light for fill from camera right, or use a reflector or bounce board instead, depending on what sort of contrast you want.

A variation on this technique is putting your light on the side opposite where the subject is looking, but aimed past their face to camera left, into a reflector, which would serve as your key.

I would have put the hairlight frame right as well, to give some definition/separation to the fill side of your subject.

I don't think you needed either of the flower vases in the shot; given the small amount of room you had to work with, they're more of a distraction than they would have been in a far background, out of focus.

I usually feel that the less cluttered a talking head shot is, the better, since the shot's really more about the subject.

The catchlights in your subject's eyes are good and are usually desirable when photographing a face; they make the eyes sparkle, give them some life.

I also don't mind the blue cast from the window, since it's mostly obscured by the lamp. As Icarus points out, you can use mixed sources effectively. A technique I'm fond of when possible is sitting the subject near a window that's not getting hit with direct sunlight (but keeping the window out of frame) , keying from a tungsten softbox from the opposite direction of the window, and using the uncorrected blue-casted softlight coming from the window as fill. Doesn't work in every situation, of course.

I would have framed your subject a little more to the left in both frames, moreso in the wider shot; there's just a little too much other space in the shot to allow the focus to fall fully on your subject. Headroom is fine in both.

The first thing I do when shooting a talking head interview is look at the room or rooms I have available in which to shoot, then determine optimum camera placement; a combination of a good, uncluttered background, depth of field as shallow as possible, and if practical, a camera position that will make use of any soft natural lighting in the room. Sometimes, it's better to use soft fill from a window as a key than it is setting up a bunch of lights. Simpler is not necessarily better, but don't make your lighting set-up more comlicated than it needs to be.

All in all, not bad for a first try, and a lot better than my first lit shot (so many years ago...). Of course, the three-point lighting paradigm is just a starting point and as you get more experience and shoot in different scenarios, you'll find your own variations.
 
First of all I want to say bravo!!!! You have captured your great grandma forever in this moment of time!!!! I think that is one of the best uses any of us could put our skill towards. I try to slip my family in as extras on every film I can, so later I can look back and remember. Well now with that said;

Icarus gives great feedback. I disagree on point 4, placement of key is fine If this was a feature you may need to establish why there would be light from that direction, but the level and exposure looks very good. After all the purpose is to capture your great grandma. The texture of her face is quite visible, which may not be what most women would want. If your shooting for glamore adding a little magenta will help hide small wrinkles. Also to me the key in this position adds to the statement "this is all about her"

Finally on the back wall and the mixing light, yeah I'd block out the sunlight and add a cuco to break up the wall, I hate adding something to wall to break it up. If it doesn't add to the atmosphere it shouldn't be on the set. break up plain walls with your lighting.

JMHO
 
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