If darkness is the root of all evil then surely having some light must be a positive. Light comes in three forms as far as videographers are concerned. We tend to break the subject into three groups, indoor, outdoor and the grey area in between.

With highly sophisticated digital cameras most consumers have little trouble with outdoor shooting, lots of trouble with shadows (the grey area) and frequently avoid indoor shots unless the room is well lit. I want to talk about indoor shoots, particularly interviews, and how to achieve a cost effective basic lighting set up that doesn't require lots of people or lots of money.

When I raise the issue of indoor lighting at Uni or college the immediate response is HMI, gels, snoots, redheads, grids, gaffers and so on. In the very simplest of terms all we're trying to do is give our subject enough light to be seen (and appreciated) and create a modelling effect that makes our subject stand out from the crowd or the background. If it's an interview you're shooting then we try to focus the audience on the subject with sufficient strength to make their point of view (dialogue) important.

Let's have a look at the type of lighting you would need for an interview. The academics immediately call for a Key light, Fill light and a Back light. Imagine an interviewee sitting on a chair in the middle of a reasonably large lounge room looking directly toward your camera some three metres away. If we were to film this using only available room light from the ceiling your video would look very flat. In other words the interviewee and the background would meld together. How often have you seen this type of video on the TV news? Pretty regular?

So, you and I want to make our interviewee stand out. How do we go about this?

Firstly, we are going to achieve a better picture by using just one additional light and some creative thinking. Next, you need a tape measure or some good judgement. Before we add any lighting we need to get your subject in the right place and that will rarely be on a lounge suite next to the wall.

In a square or rectangular room it's always better to shoot the diagonal and get rid of the flat angles. So imagine your room is nine metres across the diagonal (you may have to move some furniture).  Set up your camera in the far corner, as close as you can get, and apply the one third, two third rule. Your subject will be six metres from the camera and three metres from the background. What we have just created is depth of field because you will need to have the camera on telephoto which means the background will be out of focus.

This is all fine whilst there is little light on the subject. As soon as you turn on the house lights or add a video light all your creativity goes out the window. So, to start off with let's close all the curtains (if it's daylight) and get rid of any contrasting light sources. If you try and mix daylight with artificial light you will run into all sorts of problems. Okay, we're back in the dark now and we don't want to be there either.

We need to light the subject so let's grab a light. What sort of light you say? Well, for a room this size I would use a light with something up to a 300watt lamp. As soon as you turn it on though the room lights up like Christmas. So here's what we need to do.

You're standing at your camera and the subject will be looking off-centre over your right shoulder. The light needs to go to your left at about 30 degrees and depending on its wattage probably about three metres from the subject. Still lighting up the room? Now is the time to place a snoot on the camera. What's a snoot? A snoot is a funnel shape apparatus that attaches to the front of the light and creates a focused beam, just like barn doors but cheaper. If the light is still too bright you may need to lower the wattage. All you are trying to do is light the interviewees head and shoulders and reduce any spillage on the background.

Now that that is working it still looks flat so we need to get some light on the other side of the interviewees face. You could use another smaller light but that's an added expense. What really works well here is a reflector. A real one will cost about $50 but a large piece of white cardboard will do the same trick. The reflector needs to be about 30 degrees to the right of your camera and fairly close to the subject. We don't want the reflected light nearly as strong as your other (key) light.

What we end up with as you face your interviewee is a powered light to your left and a reflector to your right but much closer to the subject. The curtains are closed and through the camera viewfinder you see a well lit head and shoulders with a dim blurred background. Just remember that lighting the rest of the room for this type of exercise is not important. Also keep in mind that lots of wattage is not necessarily good and it's always easy to control good effects in small portions.

So things are looking pretty good and hopefully you've been able to use fittings that were lying around the house. If not, your expenditure should still be pretty low. If you have the budget you can find quality light fittings especially for video through any number of advertisers in this magazine.

By the way, if you really want to be creative (and cheap) you can add another element by placing an ordinary standard lamp near to the subject and in frame. Play with the light bulb until you get the effect you like and people will forever call you gaffer extraordinaire.

And for all you television addicts out there, if you want to see this style of interview lighting working at its best simply tune into Australian Story on the ABC.

I'm not finished yet. I need to throw in a few technical hints just so you don't get too cocky and do me out of work.

 Don't be too concerned by those who say we've slipped over important issues like colour temperature or the difference between halogen lamps and other light sources. If you are being paid to film an interview then it is your responsibility to learn the many technical differences between light sources, power requirements and safety. You will also need to learn about HMI, gels, grids, gaffer tape and a host of other things that make up one of the most complex professions in film and video.

Now that you can set up and video a good looking interview you can stretch that creative muscle by examining ways and means to make it look even better or by moving up to a two person interview.

Next time we raise this issue (basic lighting) we'll go outside into the sunlight and face a whole new set of challenges.

By John Westwood

Formerly a banker come accountant, John Westwood, in his early twenties, made his first documentaries and sold them to the ABC. After twenty years in the finance industry and a long involvement in amateur film and video clubs John turned professional and created Redgum Television Productions in 1984. Since then he has made over 3000 documentaries with more than 200 broadcast in seven different countries.

Although camera work is a key starting point for most videographers John has a bent for scriptwriting and editing and has won international acclaim in North America, the UK and a number of Asian countries. More commonly known as Redgum, John still has a strong involvement in the amateur club scene and can be found between documentary shoots trolling the local video clubs sharing experiences with budding filmmakers or relating that experience through the pages of the auscam magazine.

Currently, John is working on a commission to produce five one hour documentaries for an international agency. This type of work will keep him busy for two or three years and add another element to his industry based training regime for budding documentary makers. John can be contacted through www.redgumtv.com.au