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Tips for shooting interview videos

Setting up for an interview.

Conducting an on camera interview is one of the most important aspects of production. It is important to understand some basic production techniques so that you get the most out of your interview.

Rule 1: Don’t place your subject too close to a wall or the grey screen. If you do, it will make your image seem very claustrophobic as well as cause unsightly shadows on the wall behind your subject. Instead put at least 4 feet between your subject and the background.

Rule 2: Sit down interviews are generally more formal and more comfortable than stand up interviews. You may want to do a stand up interview for a “man on the street” feel, but typically film your subject sitting down.

Rule 3: Keep the camera at around eye level to your subject. Filming from above or below your subject can be useful for dramatic effect, but for a typical interview you want to keep the camera as close to eye level as possible.

Rule 4: Use proper 3-point lighting. Please review the 3-point lighting tutorial if you have any questions.

What is 3 Point Lighting?

Three point lighting is a classic Hollywood lighting setup that you can use for many different scenarios. The lighting setup consists of a key, fill and back light.

They Key Light is the primary light in this setup and is usually the largest brightest light. This light will give most of the detail to our image but as you can see some of the details on the left side of the face are indistinguishable.
The Fill Light is just as it’s name implies, it fills in the details left out by the key light. This light also defines the contrast to our image, a dimmer fill light will add contrast to the picture.
Here is the Key + Fill Lights this is almost what our final image should look like, however as you can see the left side of her face seems to almost disappear into the dark. This is where we add a Back Light or Rimmer.

How to Setup 3 Point Lighting

This tutorial will walk you through the steps to setup a 3 point lighting scheme.

1) First you want to setup your Key Light, the key light will be your primary and brightest light. Usually you will place the key light to the left of the camera facing your subject.

2) Now your ready for a Fill Light, this will go on the other side of the Camera from your Key Light facing the subject. (Tip: A quick way to adjust how much fill light you have is to move the light closer to get bright or further away to get dimmer.)

Turning On, Setting up, and Using the Sony Video Camera

This tutorial will cover initial setup of camera settings, opening the LCD, and recording.

1) To begin, turn the camera on. This is done by flipping the switch on the right side of the camera to either the “Camera” or “VCR” position. The “Camera” option will allow you to record on a tape, while the “VCR” option will playback the contents of a tape.

2) Locate the LCD Display on top of the camera. It is neatly folded on top of itself just behind the microphone.

3) Open the LCD Display by flipping it open from right to left. The LCD Display is where you can see what the camera sees as well as access playback options and menu options.

4) Next we’ll insert a tape into the camera. Locate the slider labeled “Open/Eject” on the left side of the camera.

5) Pull the slider back and open the latch to the left. The tape carriage inside will automatically activate and open.

Lighting and Shooting Using a Greenscreen

Related Video Tutorial: 
How to use the Green Screen

Lighting for a Greenscreen can be tricky and it is important that you have a very even light on the screen behind your subject. If you do not have an even amount of light on the screen it will make it much more difficult to key out the green color.

Block out any unwanted light.

Lower the green screen.

Next, light the green screen separately from your subject. It is important to create a soft even light over the entire screen. Use at least 2 lights and try to avoid hotspots by diffusing the light with an umbrella or filter.


Once the screen is lit, place your subject at least 4 – 5 feet away from the screen. The further away the better. This way it will be easier to light your subject without casting shadows onto the screen or having your subjects light hit the screen.