How to Shoot an Interview with ONE Camera
Hello friend!
Today we’re talking about how to shoot a cinematic interview on any budget at any location. For this interview I was able to use the Alexa Mini plus the Fujinon 19-90mm lens and also a dolly for push ins and out. Because of budgets being slightly lower, we were only able to rent one Alexa Mini but I had a solid crew of 1st ac, gaffer and grip that helped bring this interview together.
For lights, we used an Aputure 600d, 300d and a nova. These lights were used to light the subject and space. And for audio we had an audio person with a minimal kit of boom mic and lav mic since we only had to capture one person’s audio.
I’m going to share 9 steps on how to shoot a cinematic interview. So let’s dive in.
Scout the location - When you arrive at the location, how can you incorporate depth into your frame? We had a few other locations in mind, but landed on this because of having more flexibility to lay a dolly plus tracks and we got to save money on the budget and invest in the camera package. You have to look for a location that seems appropriate for the type of interview you’re shooting. Can we find some leading lines, windows, are we able to shoot towards the corner of the room possibly that way we’re maximizing the amount of depth. If we don’t remove the subject from the wall then it’s going to feel like they’re pushed up right against the wall.
Camera Placement - something that helps is to have a second person help with finding your frame. Pay attention to your eye level when you’re setting the camera height, try to avoid shooting up someone’s chin because it’s not as flattering. We’re shooting with traditional settings such as 24fps, in whatever native ISO your camera has(800 iso) to best preserve highlights and shadows. In regards to head space, there should be enough for a small black bar to go over them. About 3-4 fingers above for headspace. From a cinematic stand point, it’s fun to mess around to get angles that feel more like what you’d see in films like Mr. Robot BUT most interviews call for your A-cam capturing waist up, and B-cam getting either a medium close up or tighter shot. 3.
Key Light - 45 degree on the subject to give them a nice soft direct light on them and then make sure to add a floppies on the sides if you’re wanting to control the spill of the light onto the background or from hitting the lens. This grid basically focuses the light onto your subject and removes it from the spill hitting the wall. I used the book light method
Backlight - Helps separate your subject from the background. Makes your 2d image feel a little more 3d. We used a 300d with a mini dome plus CTO to help separate the subject but also match the lamps in the background.
Background light - get some spread and color to add more interest in the frame. You can also add color to further separate your character from the BG. For this interview, it felt appropriate to not do an RGB colors since it was for a construction project.
Practical light - motivation for lights that you’re using. It’s natural to have lamps in your frames. Not every household lamp works for this situation because a regular house bulb is too intense and draws your eye away from the talent. Something you can do is just have a handful of dimmers around and use them to dim the lights. IF you don’t wanna do that, I recommend using the Aputure bulbs or MCs recreate the same effect. We luckily had the LED bulbs on a phone app and were able to have them match temperatures.
Bring in more props/set dec OR remove unwanted furniture items - remove clutter and spread stuff out.
Second camera - you want the ability to cut through interviews while you edit. Unless the talent on camera is an amazing host or experienced speaker, they’re not going to give you exactly what you need. Make sure that your 2nd camera is matching the same color science as your A Cam, so color grading in post isn’t a nightmare.
AUDIO - best mic placement is to point at the chest, one horn away. It’s best to take time and use sound blankets to make audio sound better but tougher to forget it and try to fix it in post.
*TIP for asking interview questions: REPEAT the question that you asked in their answer - restate the question.