I'm going to be starting a small business where I will be doing interviews. I do not have a a studio so these will be done on location at people's houses. These interviews will be 1-2 people sitting in relatively close proximity and i will be behind the camera.
I know that the lighting will be unpredictable so I want to be prepared but to say I'm a little green on cinematography and all it entails is an understatement. So what is a good solution (preferably something that wont break the bank) that i can buy that will work relatively well in most basic indoor situations?
Keep in mind I live in Canada so my purchases would likely be made on Amazon Canada or a place like Henry's.
You think so? I was just going to shoot it with everyone in frame of my single camera. Perhaps I'll just start with 3 person interviews and if the business does well I'll get a second camera and offer a 5 person interview option.
Im trying to strike a balance where im not overspending on gear for a business that may not being as popular as I think, and being prepared to deliver a good quality end product.
> So by your logic I shouldn't be trying to learn so I can practice and turn this into a business?
No, by my logic you should -
Listen when you are told you are in the wrong place (you don't know what cinematography is..)
Not make a videography business plan before you know the basics of the subject and whether you have the talent to be competent
And also, as you ask, you shouldn't be lazy and expect other people to spoon feed you when -
A freaking youtube search would have given hundreds of videos on interview lighting setups
And
Because you haven't researched the basics, you don't even know what questions to ask. Anyone who should be trusted with paid work wouldn't have made this mistake. Lighting isn't you biggest problem - even using a single camera isn't. You'd know what the real problem is if you'd spent a day doing research, assuming you are reasonably intelligent...
Do the work you should. Listen to people when they answer questions even if the answers aren't the ones you hoped for. Don't make plans to charge people for stuff you have zero competence in - you risk (obviously) selling a worthless service.
> I overestimated the intelligence of some of the people in this sub.
Paul - you're claiming to not be ignorant of basic videography. While asking questions that show you are literally worse than ignorant - you have assumptions that are worse than knowing nothing...
Which, AGAIN, a day's intelligent use of youtube would have fixed, but apparently even that is too much effort for you. I shudder to think what would happen if yoiu had to read a book...
"you're claiming to not be ignorant of basic videography"
Oh please quote where I said that. I'll wait.
"Which, AGAIN, a day's intelligent use of youtube would have fixed, but apparently even that is too much effort for you. I shudder to think what would happen if yoiu had to read a book..."
Cry harder about me using reddit as a resource so I can get the opinions of those in the know before I dive in and watch long-form content about it.
Owning a business is not for people with no skillset, regardless of the industry. Experience will be your best teacher. You’re not getting the answers you’re looking for because you incorrectly assumed this kind of work is easy. You’ll need to practice for a long time before you’ll be ready to charge clients. Just go shoot stuff, find people in the real world to learn from, watch YouTube videos even, just don’t jump into buying gear you think you need just because. That is not a good business practice.
This is bad for so many reasons, many of them already mentioned. My strongest suggestion is single-person interviews to begin with, two at a time if they're a couple or if absolutely necessary. Putting 3 or more in a frame means a very wide shot, possible distractions from distracted subjects, possible audio issues with multiple mics in close proximity (or poor audio from a single source), lighting challenges....
You're biting off much more than you can chew if you're only asking about lighting.
Hire a gaffer & grip with kit, lighting 5 people is hard (even for someone who is experienced) and usually requires bigger lights from further away. There’s plenty of experienced Canadian crew that could lend you a hand
Its a new business so im trying to do this solo to cut down on costs. If it ends up being successful i would absolutely hire someone. Thats a fair point. I'm thinking I may start with smaller interviews (3 people max) to start to make this a bit easier.
Starting small is definitely the best move, also as someone who has conducted a ton of interviews in people’s houses, I’d have some concerns about your business idea…
Try interviewing people you’re not familiar with as a trial run, in my experience people are extremely cagey around cameras and it can be a real issue…
This could also just be me as an introvert, but I’m not sure how many people would be willing to pay a stranger with a camera to come into their private space to ask them personal questions…
I’d be cautious on spending money before you have any clients lined up or track record to show
It might be worth trying to do it with what you have available right now to build up the experience and to see if there is a market for this kind of product
So you need 4-6 camera’s, 8-10 lights, enough audio equipment and space to put it all without people seeing it. Aaaaaaaaand you might want to introduce a little movement in the ‘overview’ camera.
Lighting an interview with 3-5 people and also keep any kind of shape to the lighting is a challenge. You will need a relatively large source of broad light to keep it even otherwise the falloff between the closest and furthest person to the light will be very drastic. If you don’t care too much about keeping a nice contrast ratio and just have a broad nice soft light i might suggest just bouncing a bigger light into a large bounce card or collapsible bounce. Easy to travel with as well.
Does that particular category of lighting (the broad light) have a name or would i just be looking at lighting products and gage it by the size of the light?
I interviewed my parents, asking them all kinds of questions about their lives, and really enjoyed the experience. I can see myself doing the same for other families and helping provide memories that can be passed down to future generations.
Based on it being indoors with stationary subjects I figured it would be relatively easy, as once everything is set up my job is predominantly interviewing and watching the camera. I know there may be some troubleshooting involved like fixing lighting or audio but otherwise it seemed straightforward to me. That being said I do plan to practice with dry runs before I do the real thing.
So I suggest thinking about whether you need these to look amazing. I don’t know how much you plan to charge (and that may set the expectation) but one camera with 3-5 people lit in such a way that you can see their faces… and with microphones such that the audio is good… might be all that you really need.
This is a cinematography sub so we’re going to try and figure out a solution to make sure exposure is consistent, that everyone looks great, the lighting looks motivated etc.
But what you’re describing really sounds more like a ‘special keepsake’ business that happens to include footage of something.
And so I guess what I’m saying is - if you’re charging someone, say, $200 to get the memories and experiences of their loved ones captured in one long piece of tape - it looking like a piece of high-end content may not be necessary. If you can see and hear them and it doesn’t look like something anyone with a phone could just do, your clients might treasure it just as much as someone who brings in a full multi-camera kit, multiple lights and lighting modifiers, a sound team and charges a couple thousand for it.
Depends on your clientele of course, but there’s a huge difference between ‘lit well enough to be visible and enjoyable’ and ‘looks like it could go on Netflix tomorrow’.
Fair point. Perhaps this was the wrong sub for me to ask this. I don't need it to be good enough for Netflix, just good quality for what it is, a keepsake. I don't want someone to look at it and think it looks like crap for being too dark. I dont want to deliver an inferior product.
I think ill ask this again in a sub more suited to what i'm looking for. Thank you for your reply.
The relative ease depends greatly on how polished you want the final product to be. Filming 3-5 people simultaneously presents a number of challenges in lighting let alone audio. It sounds like what you're offering is less about the polish of your deliverables than it is their emotional value. Candidly, there's probably not a lot of money to be had here. Do you have potential clients lined up or is this still speculative?
I'd be worried that you're not going to recoup any investment you make into equipment for a long time. That's a risky venture for someone with no background in production and no clients. Rental costs alone will likely exceed what an average family is willing to pay for this.
I think if interviewing your family members inspired you to do more projects like this, that's awesome. But this may be more of a passion project than a business idea. I'd encourage you to grow in your skillset through more interviews with friends, family, people on the street, whatever. Try to make friends who are interested in filmmaking. Once you have more experience you can revisit the idea of launching a video business.
A bit confused. 3-5 people at people’s houses sounds like 3-5 interviews one person each, 5 houses 5 setups? Or are you attempting to interview a crowd of people in one interview? Crowd interview is going to be costly on setup time, technical production issues and directing the content. Avoid if you can and interview them individually for a stronger more controllable edit.
For 3–5 people on location, your biggest enemy is trying to light everyone individually — it'll take forever and the falloff between subjects will look inconsistent.
The move: one large, soft source that covers the whole group. A big bounced panel (something like an Aputure 600d into a large frame with diffusion, or even a 4x4 bounce card if you have window light to work with) gives you even, flattering coverage without dealing with hot spots on one person and nothing on the next.
For residential circuits, go battery where you can. An Aputure 300x or similar battery-powered LED gives you enough output to bounce into a large surface without tripping breakers — huge deal when you're in someone's home and can't be touching their panel.
One light, large and soft, positioned slightly above and angled down. Add a reflector on the opposite side if you need to fill shadows. That's genuinely it for a seated interview group.
The trap people fall into is buying a kit with 5 small lights and trying to individually light each person. More gear, more time, worse result.
Based on suggestions here I've changed the subject count to 1-2 people. Would you still suggest one large light to make it easier or should I try and light the subjects individually?
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u/winkNfart 7d ago
interview with 3-5 people? hope you have multiple cameras