I looking at doing some "Man on the Street" interviews pretty soon. My question is, what are some thoughts on the amount of equipment needed?

I'm hoping that the weather will be good - no rain and sunshine (shoot scheduled for 10 am to 5 pm). But barring that, what do you think... Oh, and at most I think it will be me and one assistant for crew...

Setup #1: XL2 (handheld), interviewer holding mic

Setup #2: XL2 (handheld) w/50 watt toplight mounted directly on camera (don't have an arm to move it out to the side) with some diffusion, interviewer holding mic.

Setup #3: XL2 on tripod, reflector for key (handheld), sun for hair light, interviewer holding mic

Setup #4: XL2 on Tripod, tota light with softbox for key, reflector for fill, interviewer holding mic

At the current time, there is no guarantee on power, but if push came to shove I could rent a generator. I think I like the 3rd setup idea the best, but in your experience is this setup too cumbersome? Do I have the right combo in one of these setups, or should I use the equipment mentioned above in some other configuration?

Any thoughts or opinions welcome. I've got this week to flush out how I want to do this.

Thanks for the help...
Kevin

Kevin,

Setup #4 probably won't work in daylight, you need a strong HMI to even think of competing with the sun. I agree with setup #3 for daylight outdoors.

-gb-

For a sunny mid-day shoot, open shade + a hand-held light might be kinder & gentler on your subjects. Bouncing mid-day sun directly onto a subject can be blinding. I find reflectors more useful on semi-cloudy days, or in the early morning / late afternoon when the sun is lower on the horizon.

I used to live in Columbus, I worked at WSYX-TV. Where are you doing the interviews? Your location will ultimately determine which set up to use.

Mark, the interviews will be at a Labor Day festival in Upper Arlington. So far the producer is unclear about if I will be at a stationary location or wondering through the crowd. I know that has a lot to do with which setup will be used. I plan on taking all of the equipment with me to do any of the setups listed, and maybe a few other odds and ends.

Michael, thanks for reminding me. Yes, I will try to setup or move the people over to an area of open shade. So as not to blind the interviewees, I was also thinking maybe using the white side of the reflector, or a piece of foamcore, so the light wouldn't be so intense. I just looked at my toplight and it does have a threaded connector inside the hot shoe mount. One of my light stands - Manfrotto 420s - has the male threaded connector on it. It's an awfully big stand for a little light, but I guess I wouldn't have to worry about the wind.

Greg, I wasn't sure about the 500w tota competing with the sun. You're probably right, after the light gets cut down with the CTB gel and then the softbox there most likely wouldn't be enough left.

Any other thoughts?

If you're going to be in direst sunlight, is there any way you can use a silk and some stands to lessen the harsh light and shadows? This way you can bring them over to your setup and you will still have the advantage of the sunlight but not so harsh.

Mark, just got some more info from the producer. Looks like he is interested in moving around quite a bit and wants a high number of interviews [7-10 per hour over 7 hours], so it looks as though simplicity will be my friend. Top light to lighten the shadows some and I'll work around the sun and shade issues. Seems to me that he has lofty goals on the number of interviews, but it's his shoot. If what he wants is content and quantity, that's what I'll aim for.

Thanks again for the help all. I really appreciate it. This isn't my usual style of gig (I usually prefer a more controlled environment), but nothing exciting ever happened by doing the same thing over and over...

Thanks,
Kevin