interviews against white background

Ed Kishel

Ed Kishel

Veteran
I am going to shoot some interviews this weekend and it will be in the "shadow-less pure white background" style. Like what was used in the old Mac vs. PC ads a few years back (please see below).
In terms of lighting gear I have- it's pretty basic. I have:

2 750w daylight fluorescent fixtures w/ soft boxes (these have intensity settings: full=750w, 3/4=500w, 1/2=250w etc.)
2 250w daylight fluorescent fixtures w/ diffusion umbrellas
4 500w tungsten fixtures, each w/ CTB gels, barn doors, and diffusion umbrellas
3 250w open faced tungsten fixtures w/ CTB gels
10x10' white muslin

Any suggestions from anyone who has done this before? I'm pretty good with the standard 3 point "talking head" format that you see on 60minutes- but this will be a learning experience for me. Figured I would try a shout out for tips or things to watch out for before diving in.

Thanks :)



pc-v-button.jpg
 
Be prepared to throw quite some light directly on the white background. To get this somewhat evenly lit (if that is what you want) can take quite a bit of light. That also takes away possible shadows once people move a bit while talking.
Not sure whether you have enough output for it, but you could light the person a bit more from the sides than you would normally do in a three light setup, by bouncing these. That will give the nice soft look too. Don't forget a small eyelight :) And if you have enough space, put the subject away from the background as far as possible, to prevent shadows in the back.
Hope this helps, good luck.
 
Yeah, keeping the shadows off of the background is going to be the tough part. Depth in the set and height, of the lights, are going to be key to that. The only time I shot against a white cyc I was in a local studio (Public access TV, back in the day) and I was able to light from an overhead grid. I have done a bit of blue and green screen work lately, lighting from the floor, and it is tougher to keep the shadows off of the back ground. I have several 10 foot light stands and they are very nice to have around to get the lights high (Putting the shadows low).
 
Sunday Light Setup.jpg
I'm going to shoot for this and adjust as necessary. All shots will be from the waist up or closer- so I should be able to get these medium power lights a bit closer.
 
excellent find- thanks!! After seeing his setup- it's good to see I am going in the right direction. Although I wasn't thinking about adding rim-light, hmmmm. He has access to much nicer lighting though...
 
If it's not too late, here's my 2 cents. I've done these shoots A LOT.

First, I noticed that you have two different color temp lights in the flo's and tungsten. Stick with one, don't try to mix, because in this situation, white must be white, you can't fudge it. I've had no luck mixing my LED's with the tungstens.

For my studio set up, I use one overhead 500w broad light, hung from the ceiling and two 650 arris for the fill. I usually end up exposing at around 2.8-3.5, and that totally blows out the background, hiding the imperfections and making the lighting even. From there, I expose for my talent normally. I keep about seven feet of separation between the talent and the background. Here's another thing to look for and be aware of: when you do color correction, keep in mind that when you drop the whites or black, your background will be affected or course. Normally, this may not be such a big deal, but since you're trying to maintain a pure white, there's a chance that if you push the CC to far, it won't be pure white any more, so exposure and good color are super important on set and in the camera.

The video here is done with a Savage Ultra White paper background.

 
All of the above.
The key is to keep the subject far enough away from the background so as to light them independently, to taste.
 
the other thing folks sometimes forget to take into account is how much room this kind of set up can require. in addition to getting your subject far enough away from the background, you may also need to get your camera far away from the subject. this is a function of the width of your background, what kind of lens you're using and what kind of frame (close-up, medium, etc.). the farther you can get the camera from the subject, the less wide your background needs to be.

i've shown up with a 9' roll of white seamless to do this kind of shot only to find out we were in a space that was far too small. by the time you put up your seamless and your background lights, you've probably already eaten up 10' or so of your room.
 
I always first do a background lighting and check with false colours engaged on the monitor to get an even lit background. When I'm satisfied with that I place my subject a good distance away from the background, at least 3m, and then I usually do a two-point light with the key at 22-45 degrees and a fill on the opposite side. Sometimes it looks nice with just one key light and a bounce to lift the low side. I find it to look best when using as few lights as possible. Two for the background and one or two for the subject. I like to use Kino Flows because they are so smooth and fills a large area.

Whiteback.jpg
 
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