Most of the time when people are shooting home videos, they use natural or indoor lighting. With all the cameras that advertise “low lux,” people are reluctant to use camera lights. When doing an interview, though, it is better to use photographic lights. Again, do not run out and spend several hundred dollars on lights if you do not already own, can’t borrow or can’t rent them. If video lights are available though, use them.
The best lighting method is a three light setup. The main light that shines on the subject’s face is called the key light. There is also a fill light that is used to eliminate shadows. Finally, a third and optional light, the backlight, provides highlights on the subject and makes him or her stand out from the background.
If you only have one light, you can still make things work by placing your subject either relatively close or quite far from the wall. If the subject is at an intermediate distance to the background, there will be shadows, all of which will be magnified whenever the subject moves. These shadows are very distracting and will pull interest away from the speaker.
Make sure that your subject knows how to dress appropriately for a video taping. He or she should not wear white or very pale shirts, “busy” prints or closely spaced, repeating geometric figures. These types of colors and patterns will not show up well on the recording.
Now comes the issue of focus. Most cameras today come with an autofocus lens. This is useful in certain situations, but you should disable this feature if you can. When you are interviewing someone, the camera is generally focused on a relatively small part of the body (from the chest to the top of the head). Any movements that the subject makes will cause the autofocus mechanism to try to adapt. You will find this very annoying when you watch the tape. Manually focus the camera and you will not be disappointed.
For control purposes, I always use a color monitor and a set of headphones during the interview. Although these items do not add to the quality of the recording, they insure that the audio and video portions of the interview are being captured accurately.
AUTHOR: Marc Seligman
MORE INFO: Excerpted from "Preserving Family Memories: Creating Oral Histories"
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