Interviews in Front of Windows with Changing Light

[BrendanLeahy]

I've had clients pretty insistent on interviewing in front of windows to capture a background behind the interviewee, and of course even after explaining the changing light to them, they still go with it.

In these instances, what can I do, if anything, to minimize the drastic effects of going from, say, 4pm to 6pm and completely having the lighting change (i.e., background darkens, key and fill become much more apparent, contrast increases, histogram crunches, etc.)?

Note: I'm usually filming high up in office buildings

 

[Patrick Tresch]

Here are my 2cents

1) Choose the right timing so you have an even background light for the whole interview + black scrim lee 275 the windows and light him up enough to have constant light.
2) If you can't, do what he says and warn him.
3) If you can't, change your client
4) If you can't, take the blame.

Pat

 

[Nick Gardner]

I do this a fair amount. I set up the interview with enough punch to hold however much detail we want to hold out side in full daylight, and then just beat back the light as it fades. Lately that has been just dimming LEDs, but throwing wire and grip doubles in front of HMIs works fine too. There is usually enough time durring a reload or a battery change to knock down or heat back up the lights. In rare occurrences where the sun goes behind a huge cloud bank in the middle of a set up, you just have to stop and adjust. But really, it shouldn't take that long if you are set up for it.

Nick

 

[Lee Saxon]

Don't put the window literally behind the interviewee if avoidable, that'll be what really makes things tricky. If you don't, it shouldn't be too hard to put a separate color correction layer over the window to deal with temperature change.

What Nick said, pretty much. Or, sort of the exact opposite:

Try to position them so that they're not actually getting all that much of their back/side light from the window. Fake it / fool the client by putting a light back there "just for a little extra fill" and dial that up as the real window light fades. You can filter/gel that light as color temperature changes, you might even want to invest in a special effects grid ("cookie," as they say) with "window panes".

 

[Ilya O.]

My cheap but efficient solution was to gel the windows with the combined full cto+nd filter and use powerfull 1000w to 2000w halogen fill lights with diffusion.
This produces enough light for the scene, all the light is 3200k and the sky is protected from blowing out.

 

[Nick Gardner]

What Nick said, pretty much. Or, sort of the exact opposite:

Yeah, I wasn't advocating using the window for lighting at all ;-) Saying just use it as a backdrop and light your subject to suitable stop to balance, then knock down to match.

That's of course assuming I'm doing some corporate thing and I am on the 13th floor. If I am on the ground floor and it is for a narrative piece, then an entirely different set up is required.

 

[Lee Saxon]

If I am on the ground floor and it is for a narrative piece, then an entirely different set up is required.

Typically I guess you'd cover the outside in heavy diffusion and then shoot some oversized HMI or something through it?

 

[Mark Phelan]

Have you considered using the Rosco View system? It's a two part system using polarized filter on the window and the camera. It is made for exactly the problem you mentioned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrTlOosJRrI