Lighting interviewees with glasses

[Brian Barkley]

Hope I'm not off topic, but how do you all light interior interviews for people wearing glasses without getting a reflection in their glasses?

I carry several types of glasses in my light kit, and have removed the glass, but some people do not want to wear them. They want their own glasses on while being interviewed.

[Cole McDonald]

Have them run their fingers under the bows of their glasses causing the lenses to tilt down slightly, it'll feel a little strange, but won't look too off and the best bit is that, it won't gling on your lights. :) You can put a bit of tissue under them if they won't stay put (and their hair will cover it).

[Denis OKeefe]

Get the light up higher, and further away from the camera axis ( more to you right or left, depending which side you are keying from). You can raise the camera position and as suggested tilt the earpieces of the glasses slightly above the war (causing the lenses to tild down a slight bit, but if there is no producer / interviewer as soon as they look up at the camera the reflection will be back.
Back the light off and shoot at a wider aperture, you don't want to read the brand of lamp in your HD image.
Glass reflects, it is natural to see some reflections, just try to keep the pupils of the eyes from getting blocked out by the highlight.

[Leonard Levy]

1 You either raise the light up which may or may not work;

2 Tilt the glasses down or tape the earpiece so as to accomplish that - which may make someone uncomfortable and often doesn't work anyway;

3 or the most reliable method is to key from the other side. This can look quite nice but is harder to do a good job with.

The more "coke bottle " the glasses are the more you need to go to #3.

I would never ask someone to use my "lensless" glasses. If their are comfortable without their own glasses they'll take them off, but considering how much time people put into picking out their own specs its kind of a hairbrained idea if you don't mind my saying so.

[Brian Barkley]

any other ideas?
I am more of an editor than a cameraman, which is why I am asking.

[Don Bloom]

there is only so many things you can do. Typically I raise the key light and move it a bit farther to the side. Not too much as I don't want to change the shadowing too much.
If raising the key light a bit doesn't do it completely then the only other thing you can do (without going to glassless or no glasses) is to have the person lower the glasses slightly down the nose and or tip the head down a bit (and I mean just a slight bit) to move the glasses a little further down to eliminate the light in the glass.
I used to do this 30 years ago as a still photog and still do it today when I do lit interviews.

[Denis OKeefe]

Aha! A chance to vent!
A producer has the opportunity to work through a project from many angles - and take some time doing it. The writer can rewrite through drafts, and even then the on screen talent can try any number of takes. The editor can work, rework, then revise again before sending the project off. But the crew has to get it "right", on the fly, and usually with no time to do it again. I guess it is kind of like landing a plane on an always pitching deck, except when you crash you take all of those mentioned above down with you (and nobody REALLY dies - but you feel like it and "they" feel like killing you). In this league batting 900 is accepted - batting 1000 is expected.
So even if you resolve the eyeglass issue by raising the light and putting it in just the right corner the subject may - at any moment- raise their head, praise God, and reveal to all that the light from above is really a Chimera. At that moment the producer will helpfully point out the hotspot.
You're an editor - how many times have you heard "fix it in post"? ( said with a grin and no malice whatsoever. I cast no aspersions, don't want to put anyone on the spot). Welcome to my world - it really doesn't matter what the interview says, use a lot of lights because that is the sign of serious production, but don't let any show up in the glasses, mirrors, or (god forbid!) the shine on their nose.

[Leonard Levy]

Sour grapes. Its your job as a DP to know how to shoot people with glasses, stop complaining.
The sure fire solution is always to key from the side that the person is not looking towards. I've never had a problem doing that. The trick is to make it look good. Helps to have a kicker from the opposite side. You may still see a fill card but it shouldn't be bad.

[Brian Barkley]

Well, when you're working in a small room, moving the key light up & down, and right & left does not always work. I think I'll buy half dozen more cheap eye glasses the next time I am at Walmart, and remove the glass from them.

True, some talent may refuse, but many times the interviewee's main objection is the crease on their nose caused by their own glasses. At least a few of them will take me up on wearing my glassless Wamart glasses .... hey, it's worth a try, right?

[Daniel Epstein]

The suggestions here are pretty good but nothing can keep someone from turning their head far enough to get a reflection. Keying from the side of the camera opposite the way they are looking is very useful to know if you set it up that way. It is flat and not as pretty but it is one way to deal with it. I call it an outside key instead of an inside key which is when you key the side of the face farther from the camera rather than the one closer to the camera. Tilting the glasses can work, raising the light higher can work. One trick I sometimes use is use a harder key light which will make a smaller reflection if the glasses do catch it. The technique has its plusses and minuses. Sometimes I ask people to have their eyeline look down a little but they tend to forget. Surprisingly a lot of these problems are easier to deal with when they look directly into camera than if they look off.
Still not sure why this thread isn't in lighting forum instead of XDCAM EX

[Cole McDonald]

Keying on the opposite side from the camera is "Short lighting" and from the camera side is "Broad Lighting". Lighting from the top could be a solution and is called "Rembrandt lighting" if off to one side and "Butterfly lighting" if from directly above.

[Olof Ekbergh]

The way I always try to light everything is to "explain the light".

OK so this sound weird. But it is really simple.

Set up your scene like something real, it can be very dramatic (hard key) like direct sun or single light source. Soft like a north facing window (use a 4'x4' softy even hang curtains on it maybe a tree branch behind it), with bounce from walls or whatever.

If you do that then if there is an occasional reflection in someone's glasses it will seem natural, just make sure it is only a few times.

What you don't want is stage lighting unless someone is on a stage, then it looks great to get some spot glare from time to time.

Like I said light it naturally.

[Denis OKeefe]

Motivation in images is supremely important - the human eye and brain can sort details with amazing speed and make subtle judgments about the veracity, intention, emotion in an image in nanoseconds.
A brightly lit subject on a cloudy day, sun apparently streaming through windows on opposite sides of a room, strong light coming from below without explanation label images as a "lie" in some part of the brain. All these "tricks" and many more are used for specific intent, for example lighting in horror films.
Bringing this back to XDcam EX as opposed to the lighting forum, you can't forget you are shooting high definition. In HD, eyeglasses with the lenses removed look just like eyeglasses with the lenses removed - and make the person wearing them appear phony or a fool.
Friends don't let friends do dumb things. Stop with the cheap glasses with the lenses removed.

[Max Allen]

Some nice posts in this thread! I'm not getting it with why someone would agree to wear the lens-less eyeglasses though and I don't mean that in an offhanded way. If they can't see, or see well, without their glasses why would they agree to wear glasses without lenses and go through the interview blind or with blurry vision, possible squinting or looking uncomfortable? Even if they agree to do that then why not just take the glasses off? Are they supposed to be maintaining an image by wearing frames without glasses? Enlighten me please won't you.

[Ilya Spektor]

What about polarizing filters - anyone uses them? They work well for film, why not to use them for video?..