Quite often the conditions that we have to film in are not ideal for filming interviews, podcasts and other similar type of talking heads. Ideally you always want to have a location scout before hand or at least get photos and/or videos of the location you are going to be filming in. Here at HUSTL Media, we always request those before hand and try to find time to get to the filming location before hand. We’re a Las Vegas video production company specializing in filming interviews of all kinds, being it corporate talking heads, or podcasts or anything else of that nature.
As an example of a difficult location, this one time for a big client we had a request to film a 4 person podcast inside a Las Vegas casino suite. When we got the first walkthrough photos and videos it was very clear how small the space was. Just see for yourself.
As you can see the space was very tight and also there were a bunch of weird looking elements that are less than ideal for a high end podcast setting. You want to see if there are any other options for filming because at times all it takes is to simply ask. In our case, this was it and we had to make it work somehow.
The location that are are filming in dictates the setup, the kind of interview lighting you will be able to use, camera blocking, talent placement etc. Now keep in mind in our case we needed to somehow cram in 4 people into this tiny space and make it look as best as it could. By the way this was a single suite so it was essentially a hallway, a living room, and a bedroom in which the bed took up most of the space. So the only possible location was the living room.
As a director of photography in Las Vegas, one of the main jobs as a creative is to be able to figure out things very quickly, since most of the time you are working against the clock and need to be able to do setups quickly and efficiently especially when you have client on set and talent coming by shortly.
Let me ask you this, for a 4 person podcast setup, how much video gear in terms of cameras, audio and lighting and grip you think it takes, or what would you put on the gear list. Hopefully the budget allows for everything needed but more often than not we have to work within available resources and get things done.
In our case, this was going to be a 3 camera setup for 4 people. So one camera was going to be essentially a locked off wide 4 shot, and a camera on either side cross shooting picking off singles and getting ISOs.
Here at HUSTL Media [HUSTLMedia.com] we really like shooting on Sony FX6, it’s a great mid-range professional film camera, offers unparalleled versatility while delivering high production value and a great image.
So going back to grip and electric gear, since you have to figure out a lighting setup for 4 people what lighting fixtures would you go with if you knew that you are going to be working in a tight space?
Since we are an interview video production company located here in Las Vegas, we like to keep as many options on hand as possible. Lately we have been getting deeper into lighting and really like focusing on shaping the image and getting more creative with it. Traditionally you can find out lighting and other film gear here.
We prefer using Aputure LED lights for most of our shoots with lots of options in terms of a modifier.
Okay before we get ahead of ourselves and talk about lighting we need to talk some more about location and camera blocking.
As you can see from the images above the space we had was very tight and we did have a lot of gear we were bringing in. We had a whole camera cart, as well as a cart for lighting and a cart for grip equipment.
As you can see it’s a lot of stuff and since had only about 3 hours to setup total for everything we needed to bring from the van everything that was going to be needed with us to the set.
After getting a closer look at the space
and thinking it over with the client, we’ve decided to clear everything out, move that colorful partition out, disconnect everything and make space for our setup. The partition was super heavy and it took 4 people to move it. The green drapes didn’t do much for us so we’ve decided to fold them and grip clip them up and out of the frame. There was a panel on the wall that we even had to unscrew in order to keep the frame as clean as possible.
Once everything was cleared out and ready for filming our podcast interview, we needed to understand where the talent would sit. We had 2 interviewers and 2 cast members from a major band. We had 2 armchairs and a small couch to work with and it was decided for efficiency to put both armchairs side by side and a couch to the other side and keep it simple.
You can tell even from this angle how tight the space was. You can also see that we decided to go with podcast mics and stands to give it a complete podcast feel thanks to our local sound mixer Rado Stefanov, who’s our number one pick for anything audio related in the state.
Once we had the furniture placed, we went to work on our lighting setup. Since we shoot a ton of interviews, lighting an interview is second nature to us. We start of with placing our key lights in this case we opted for 2 Aputure 600D Pro LED lights and decided to cross key. Now since the space was tight we couldn’t unfortunately use our favorite 5 ft soft boxes that do such a great job diffusing the light and opted for smaller diffusion softboxes. The rule of thumb is the smaller the soft box the harsher the light is going to be and the only way to remedy that is to put a second layer of diffusion in front of that to soften the light some more. This technique is called double diffusion and as a local Las Vegas Gaffer Art Freeman uses it all the time.
By the way since the 5ft softboxes here could not fit, we decided to go with Aputure Softbox 6090. You could pick those up on Amazon for around $70.
As you can see in the photo, an Aputure 600D Pro w the 6090 soft box and an added layer of diffusion to soften the light.
On the other side, it was a similar story, only here, since we just had the wall we decided to add an extra hair light to create more subject separation. Something small profile like an Aputure PT4C a 4ft RGBW Tube light was perfect.
Overall it was all starting to come in together however since this was going to be a 4 shot we decided to also add a fill light. For this we used Aputure 600X w/ a large lantern attachment. The job of the lantern essentially is to evenly spread the light, while the skirt prevents the light from being spilled. This is how we film interviews here in Las Vegas and beyond.
One thing to consider when placing so much stuff into such a small space is talent still needs to be able to move around. So for the fill light we usually like to place than onto a combo stand on casters whenever possible and boom the light out using Avenger D650 Junior boom arm to place the light closer to the subjects.
The fill light also gets double diffused with a 1 stop diffusion to spread everything more evenly and create that high end look.
So after a couple of hours of setup, placement of audio, lights and cameras we were ready to proceed.
That’s about it. If you guys have any other questions let us know . But for all your video production needs in Las Vegas and Los Angeles hit us up at 702 980 9620 or email us at Art@HUSTLMedia.com
