Light for booming for interviews

[Eric Coughlin]

For two person interviews (60 Minutes style), what's your light of choice for booming overhead such that it goes over the one interviewee so as to key from the proper side? Also, what boom arm/stand setup do you use?

I have Litepanel Astras which weigh about 7-8 lbs, boom them with a Matthews Mini Boom arm (weight capacity, 8 lbs) on a light stand or C-stand. I'll put a softbox with a grid on it.

Couple problems with this setup; a 1 x 1 with a 1 x 1 softbox isn't terribly soft; I typically shoot through a 4 x 4 for standard interviews, but booming two additional 4 x 4s would be a pain. Secondly, at 8 lbs capacity on my boom arm, the Astras are okay, but not great on it, so perhaps a lighter light would be good so I don't need to upgrade the stands (more weight, more bags, more trips, etc.).

I did use an Avenger A4041B stand on a recent shoot, and was pretty happy with it.

A couple options I see are the Intellytech Litecloth, at 160w, should be brighter than an Astra, and 2 x 2 instead of 1 x 1. Another option would be a Fiilex Matrix II RGBW at 9.5 lbs with a softbox, so still light enough to boom, but three times as much power as an Astra. The recent two person interview I did was against a full windowed background, and the Astras were struggling to fight daylight. My Litepanels Gemini would be too heavy to boom without a serious boom setup, but the Matrix II would be manageable and a powerful option.

 

[JPNola]

For two person interviews (60 Minutes style), what's your light of choice for booming overhead such that it goes over the one interviewee so as to key from the proper side? Also, what boom arm/stand setup do you use?

I have Litepanel Astras which weigh about 7-8 lbs, boom them with a Matthews Mini Boom arm (weight capacity, 8 lbs) on a light stand or C-stand. I'll put a softbox with a grid on it.

Couple problems with this setup; a 1 x 1 with a 1 x 1 softbox isn't terribly soft; I typically shoot through a 4 x 4 for standard interviews, but booming two additional 4 x 4s would be a pain. Secondly, at 8 lbs capacity on my boom arm, the Astras are okay, but not great on it, so perhaps a lighter light would be good so I don't need to upgrade the stands (more weight, more bags, more trips, etc.).

I did use an Avenger A4041B stand on a recent shoot, and was pretty happy with it.

A couple options I see are the Intellytech Litecloth, at 160w, should be brighter than an Astra, and 2 x 2 instead of 1 x 1. Another option would be a Fiilex Matrix II RGBW at 9.5 lbs with a softbox, so still light enough to boom, but three times as much power as an Astra. The recent two person interview I did was against a full windowed background, and the Astras were struggling to fight daylight. My Litepanels Gemini would be too heavy to boom without a serious boom setup, but the Matrix II would be manageable and a powerful option.

Great questions, Eric. I do not have experience with the Matrix but I suspect that it is going to have more punch than the Intellytech Litecloth.

They ain't cheap, but an ideal unit for such a setup is the Litemat 4. Grids on the units are extremely useful in such a setup because the grids, fabric or aluminum "honeycomb" type grids aid in keeping the keys from causing lens flares and also control the spill for those situations where you want falloff. The Litemat 4 weighs 5.7 lbs and is 200 watts. A softbox and grid will of course decrease the output. Pricey, yes. But it is for good reasons that Litemats are widely used on big-budget feature films. Wonderful color quality, lightweight, decent output for being so lightweight, remote ballast, shallow softbox, numerous accessories, and they take dimming well.

"Also, what boom arm/stand setup do you use?"

I own a Matthews baby-boom arm but I find it insufficient in both its length and load capacity. A better rig is a c-stand used as a boom or, better yet, speedrail used as a boom arm. Used to create what is known as a "menace arm".




You reach a point where you have to decide if it is worth it to invest in heavy-duty grip gear for these sorts of setups or rent the grip gear instead. To do it "right" you'll want a minimum of 2 Combo stands, 2 sets of speedrail and all the gack necessary to create the menace arms. Don't try doing it on the cheap with C-stands as the base of the rig. Use combo stands. All in all we're likely talking about $1000+ in grip gear to do it right. But doing it "right" is peace of mind knowing that the rig you choose will be flying over the head of the talent / subjects.

your grocery list will look like this:

Matthews Menace Arm Kit



https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1361202-REG/matthews_b377709_speed_rail_menace_arm.html?sts=pi


Matthews Hollywood Grip Head

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/139530-REG/Matthews_349581_Magic_Grip_Head.html

Matthews Combo Stand

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1415735-REG/matthews_369674_hollywood_combo_2_riser_aluminum.html

Speedrail, motorcycle straps, shot bags.


Now, if you want to be really "Hollywood", seeing as you own an ARRI, you go with American Grip gear instead of Matthews. American is so "Hollywood" that it isn't even available from B&H and Adorama only has a limited selection of American Grip. You can find the entire American Grip line at Film and Video Lighting:

https://www.filmandvideolighting.com/amstudeq.html

Another make of grip gear that is also highly respected in Hollywood is Norms. [ http://normsstudio.equipment ]

__________________


An alternative to using speed-rail is to use a boom-arm like this one:



https://normsstudio.equipment/shop/grip-stands/booms/norms-jr-boom-jr-receiver/

or this one from Matthews that has a counterweight built onto the arm:



https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33151-REG/Matthews_427803_Junior_Matth_Boom.html

Personally, I prefer the arm that does not have the counterweight permanently attached and instead has a hook for hanging a weight of your choosing.

If you ask a serious Key Grip about Avenger products they will likely dismiss Avenger as junk. It's "budget" gear of budget quality. But I understand that we all have to work within our budgets, and I own Avenger gear myself. It's alright, but hardly Arri Amira w/ O'Connor head and sticks-worthy. :tongue:

 

[Eric Coughlin]

Aside from the extra 40w of power, what does the Litemat have over the Intellytech Litecloth? Intellytech also is supposed to be coming out with an RGB version of that light, which would have various other uses as well.

I used the Matthew's Junior boom on a shoot once. Nice, but perhaps too big and heavy for my needs. Really, I think a C-stand or any decent light stand with a decent boom arm will do the trick. I'm not trying to do big budget Hollywood, just interviews with this setup. At the end of the day, if it works it works. But I'm sure Run&Gun will come in here and blast me for not taking proper safety precautions. Especially if you're using a light weight light like the Litecloth, that's not even going to be heavy enough to cause real injury to someone should it come down. I'd prefer to move to a setup that doesn't require heavy duty grip gear. Cost isn't the issue as much as size and weight is. I hate renting gear, and avoid it whenever I can. I shoot way too often to rent, generally speaking.

On this shoot below I had a rented junior boom on the left and my Matthew's mini boom on the right. The rental house didn't have a mini boom, so junior it was. You'll note the cloth on the back weight of the junior boom; I felt that large metal counterweight was a safety issue as someone could walk right into it, so I padded it with the cloth. I have since bought a second mini boom.

 

[Run&Gun]

If you're just cross shooting with no center/dolly shot(personally trying to get away from those as they hamper set-up options and a lot of times sacrifice/compromise your shot on the subject), there's no need to fly your lighting, you can keep everything on the ground, out of the shot and still key from the proper side. We had a four cam, three person interview with a center dolly shot earlier this year in a hotel conference room and it had a drop ceiling, so we popped the ceiling tiles in places and hung our lights from the pipes in the ceiling. Another option is to make a "mini grid" of sorts using heavy duty stands and suspend speed rail/pipe between the stands out of the shot and hang the lights from the pipe/speed rail.

 

[jcs]

Have you tried these? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H7A5NPM/
Turns a 1x1 into 18"x18" and you can also get grids for them.

I also use umbrellas (shoot through, I see you've got a large umbrella bounce for NHL BTS. Silver bounce can be a bit more specular vs. shoot through or white bounce (need more light power)). I like umbrellas as they are light weight, large diffusion (various sizes available), very fast to set up/take down, and pack small.

If you can make the Fiilex Matrix II work or any of the Fiillex Q series (for more power than their smaller lights), go for it. Their light quality and build quality are excellent.

 

[Eric Coughlin]

Have you tried these? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H7A5NPM/
Turns a 1x1 into 18"x18" and you can also get grids for them.

Yeah, those are what I currently have and use on my Litepanels. I think they're more like 15" x 15". Either way, not a particularly large source.

I also use umbrellas (shoot through, I see you've got a large umbrella bounce for NHL BTS. Silver bounce can be a bit more specular vs. shoot through or white bounce (need more light power)). I like umbrellas as they are light weight, large diffusion (various sizes available), very fast to set up/take down, and pack small.

If you can make the Fiilex Matrix II work or any of the Fiillex Q series (for more power than their smaller lights), go for it. Their light quality and build quality are excellent.

I use umbrellas a fair amount, shooting through or bouncing. Often I'll use a 5-in-1 and shoot through it and bounce them. Also small and lightweight. But for this type of setup, since the light is shining toward another camera, you really want a softbox with grid setup to control the light from spilling into the camera it's shooting toward, and an umbrella doesn't offer that.

 

[ozmorphasis]

I have yet to need this setup...but I'm sure it's going to come up soon, so I'm very interested in this thread. I'm curious if anyone ever uses a more omnidirectional soft light Placed between the subjects, slightly behind? Something like a china light or even a folded lightcloth so that it illuminates in both directions, folded into a V shape? and then skirt the back side (if something like a china ball) for spill. Thinking out loud here, so maybe it's not at all practical.

 

[jcs]

Yeah, those are what I currently have and use on my Litepanels. I think they're more like 15" x 15". Either way, not a particularly large source.

I use umbrellas a fair amount, shooting through or bouncing. Often I'll use a 5-in-1 and shoot through it and bounce them. Also small and lightweight. But for this type of setup, since the light is shining toward another camera, you really want a softbox with grid setup to control the light from spilling into the camera it's shooting toward, and an umbrella doesn't offer that.

I measured the D-Fuse I'm using (with LightStorm LS-1's and LS 1/2) for the light exit area and got 18". I picked up both the reflective side and shoot-through side versions. I use two LS1's on either side of camera and an LS 1/2 center above camera for green screen. Plus a smaller panel reflected off a 5-in-1 on the ground, a hair light on a C-stand, and two more wide spots to light the green screen. It's a fairly diffuse look (multiple medium sources close together) which makes it relatively easy to chose from a wide variety of backgrounds.

A 5-in-1 placed close to talent but out of view with a Fresnel/spot/point-source could work where the light doesn't have to be close the 5-in-1 (along with barn doors on the light), so perhaps you wouldn't need grids. I did a bit of somewhat complex still photography with strobes (sometimes up to 5, each with different modifiers), and e.g. 4'x1' Profoto RFi softboxes with grids provided a reasonably large controlled light from a point source in a relatively small space. Another practical use for powerful point-source LEDs for video.

 

[morgan_moore]

Some general comment(s)

-Mass is all for 'flying' lights - forget traditional metal fixtures

I would be considering...

1) Flying some matt style lights probably taped to 5mm foamcore - you need to have the power gubbins removed and remote (on the ground)

2) Fly some foamcore and shoot a flagged/gobo'd fresnel at the foamcore

'meet the gaffer' has some 4.4 matt reviews.

 

[jcs]

Yeah if in the studio, foam core is pretty handy, else if traveling, 5-in-1 packs small. Point sources allow the reflector (and thus light source) to be up high and thus nothing heavy to fly:

 

[Eric Coughlin]

2) Fly some foamcore and shoot a flagged/gobo'd fresnel at the foamcore

Interesting concept. I never find Fresnels good as an interview key light, though, as the lens means you loose at least a stop of light due to the lens, while gaining control for a nice barn door cut, which you typically don't need for an interview key light, more so for background splashes. Now, with the stop of light loss, there's also, what is a good LED Fresnel that's available at a reasonable cost, size, and weight. I suppose a Fiilex Q-1000 could do the trick. Then again, so could the Fiilex Matrix II RGBW with the spot lens attached. You wouldn't have as much control over spill as using a softbox with a grid.

 

[morgan_moore]

This technique is not usually used as a key to be fair, but when you have an 360 scene you can sometime fly a board and bounce a very spotted fresnel into it.

Ive seen it done for hair light in a very tight set.

Overall to your OP Id look to place the lights on the floor until I really could not. Bigger sources further back might help.

S

 

[Run&Gun]

I have yet to need this setup...but I'm sure it's going to come up soon, so I'm very interested in this thread. I'm curious if anyone ever uses a more omnidirectional soft light Placed between the subjects, slightly behind? Something like a china light or even a folded lightcloth so that it illuminates in both directions, folded into a V shape? and then skirt the back side (if something like a china ball) for spill. Thinking out loud here, so maybe it's not at all practical.

We've used "china balls"/lanterns before, and while they come in handy for certain situations, I'm generally not a fan for an interview, because you're lighting two separate people, with possibly very different skin tones(light/dark) from one light(been burned here before). Having separate keys gives you so much more control and generally better results and not throwing/spilling excess light around the room in places you don't want.

 

[Run&Gun]

Overall to your OP Id look to place the lights on the floor until I really could not. Bigger sources further back might help.

S

Yep. That's what I said and is my preference. Much easier to set and adjust them. Especially as much as the OP has said in the past that he shoots so many interviews 'one-man-band', flying lights just complicates things and makes it much harder than it has to be.

 

[Bern Caughey]

With a smaller crew I’ll often use Manfrotto’s SuperBooms, or MegaBooms, instead of building Menace Arms. With the SuperBooms I typically attach two of Manfrotto’s Counterweights so I can get greater reach.

A killer feature of both of these is the ability to aim the lamp using the cranks on the opposite end of the boom.

 

[Eric Coughlin]

This technique is not usually used as a key to be fair, but when you have an 360 scene you can sometime fly a board and bounce a very spotted fresnel into it.

Ive seen it done for hair light in a very tight set.

Overall to your OP Id look to place the lights on the floor until I really could not. Bigger sources further back might help.

S

For three camera setups with a wide two-shot, I used to make the dumb mistake of thinking I could get away with light stands on the floor behind the interviewees. It was constantly moving them around to try to find where they wouldn't be in the shots, but they always were in the shots. So, the choice was either key from the wrong side or boom. I always prefer to have a center camera two-shot because a, it looks better, gives more edit options, etc., and b, it means I can charge the client for another camera, tripod, and lens setup. I made an extra $1800 rental for the third camera package (center two shot) on the interview shoot a couple days ago. Winning!

 

[David W. Jones]

I would also add to JP's menace arm kit, a collar extension fitting, which lets you extend your menace arm length when needed without having to lug around extended length speed rail lengths.

 

[JPNola]

Aside from the extra 40w of power, what does the Litemat have over the Intellytech Litecloth?

Size. Intellytech Litecloth is 24 x 24". Litemat 4 is 40 x 21". The Litemat 4 is roughly twice as large. And that potentially means you'll have twice as soft of nose shadow(s) and better wrap. The Litemat is also more of a continuous source since the Litecloth has those broad sections where there are no LED's. The Litemat is more a single unit as opposed to four units mated to form one unit.






As far as RGB, meh. I get the appeal. But at the same time think RGB a bit "gimmicky". It isn't anything I'm dying to have or even much want.

 

[The Fog]

One thing I'm finding out about the lite cloth is that the velcro is wearing out, which makes it tough to hang. I had my light since Christmas and it's starting to wear out. I'll have to look for some stronger velcro replacement.
As far as hanging lights, I find that the avenger mini booms sucks, in that the pivot doesn't have any teeth. You're just tightening two pads together without a strong grip. The boom just droops. So I went to putting the whole boom in a mathlaani clamp and sticking the baby stud into the knuckle. Of course I still use sandbags, but it feels more stable to me. Plus I use combo stands rather than c-stands.

 

[morgan_moore]

Should a boom not be balanced and therefore exert minimal torque on its pivot? Desiring teeth on a pivot shows a lack of balance in the rig?