Hi guys,

I have to interview someone next week and need your help.

How can I get the best the shot? am looking to black out the background and just use a 500W soft box for that evening. Any other suggestions?
I have never done interviews before.


Thanks
Matthew

If you're looking for a dark background, you'll need to gobo the light off the background, which is more difficult with a softlight. A big piece of foamcore on a C-stand would help. Pull the guy as far away from the background as possible, put the light in line with his profile, rather than the usual 3/4 angle. Another piece of foam core can give you enough bounce to fill the opposite side of his face, assuming you want a film noir-ish type look and don't want to use more than one light. If there's ambient light, it also might fill, but it will get on the background too.

As for 24p or 30p, depends on how you're shooting the rest of the project. Keep it all the same.

Mount your mic, if you're using a shotgun, on a stand going in from the opposite side of your light and watch for a mic shadow. If you're using a lav and plan to bury it under the collar, make sure it's under the side in the direction the buy is talking. If you've never shot an interview and think you can do it with the camera mic, don't.

You can also help control the spill off the soft box and narrow its output by putting a grid on the soft box.