I love the work you guys do, it's always so insightful. Lifting the subject up with the apple boxes and board is such a good idea I'm absolutely going to steal it in the future. :)
Wow, the level of detail is awesome to watch. I have to compromise on so many little things that add up to a big compromise when I am a 1-man band. It's great to see what can happen when you get more resources and professionals to take care of the lighting.
Great job! Here in Belgium there is absolutely no budget for making a really beautiful lighting for an interview. You're lucky if you have time to put a key and a back...;) ..
"This is a relatively simple interview set-up" Shows the room full of grip and absolutely outstanding negative fill control skills. Guys, your work is great yet I feel myself so miserable comparing to your mad skillz
1. Was the camera at 5600k? 2. For the dedo on the short arm (over the candle) was that on a cardellini clamped to the lower window sash? Did you have to open the window a bit to get some edge to clamp to? Or is there some other trick to how that's mounted there?
1. I think we were balanced to Daylight and then let some of the units go warm. 2. I believe it was an old style window with extra room where the top and bottom met, so we didn’t have to open the window to clamp. But we did open the other window because the 800 created too much bounce back with the window closed, even with the flag there. I wish I had taken. Footage of the Dedo on the sill, because that was a nifty trick Alan did: making an inside fixture look like light spill from outside.
I’m going to buy an 8 plus for a big soft key for small places because of this video, thanks. What other 1 or 2 litemats would you recommend for versatile a little kit? And any specific mounts/arms that work best? This channel is great!
The LiteMat 8 is a large, soft source for sure. I have noticed that the ones I’ve rented tend to shift towards magenta, so that’s something to consider.
It was not a long interview and the well was slightly protected, but yes, we had to keep an eye on it. Luckily the ambience had come up enough by the time we started shooting that we could make the appropriate adjustments and go with it.
I have not! But Andrew Lock over at Gaffer&Gear just did an amazingly exhaustive overview in his latest episode (#109). ua-cam.com/video/wwV62JdDIjc/v-deo.html
Wow, small space indeed. Love it when the producer asks "Is this big enough for you guys?" The answer's probably going to be no if you have to ask that.
Luke, have you seen the Intellytech mega lite cloth? It’s 3x4.5’ and comes with a frame. Seems to be the most affordable foldable cloth tile light at $2k, 300W, but wanted to see if you had some thoughts on it to see if it meets your standards. Much cheaper than LiteMat/Tile and Aladdin.
I’ve watched this one a few times and learned a ton. If you could only choose one mat to have for interview key would it be the 4 or 8? I want and don’t want the 8 for the same reason, it’s size 😅
That’s the age old issue, and the larger size is always compelling. The majority of gaffers are Lite Mat users and combine them with point source units. If you have the space for it in your vehicle and you think it will work in most of your set-ups, it’s probably worth going for it. The units I’ve worked with tend to skew a tad magenta, even at full output. Mat lights are somewhat of a specialized unit; I don’t know your situation, but if you are looking at the LM8 as your main light, and you are counting your pennies, you might consider going with a point source unit that can be use as a hard light and a soft light.
@@meetthegaffer thank you so much. Yes owner op mostly branded doc sit down interview stuff - so want a key light that can produce similar light to using a hard light bounced into a frame but with less set up - just a nice soft natural looking light - for interviews, lighting small doc scenes quickly, and product. Looking at Litemat 8 and 2L along with apurture 300x or 600 for a hard mix. I’ve never invested this much in lights before so want to make the right decision!
I would give a little thought to transport too. Some of those large Lite Mat carry bags are on the awkward side when you are a one-person crew and need to roll gear a distance to get to your shooting location. Not to talk you out of it, but maybe rent it a few time to make sure?
It was two of us, and we had maybe two hours, which included a scout to find the space, re-parking the truck to a different entrance, pushing multiple carts in half way, repacking into hampers and using a wheelchair lift or hand carrying to the set what we needed, and then re-tweaking for twenty minutes before shooting.
Was switching the key side an option to motivate the directional light from the dedo’s? Or there wasn’t enough space and the opposing dedo direction turned out ok. Hard light from one side of the building soft from the opposing side. Is trying to justify interview setups worth it?
Good point! Like when you’re watching a show and you’re thinking, Are there two suns in this world?😂 The nice thing about interviews is you have some license to pretend there are windows out of frame where there really aren’t. To your point though, there was extra room for the key where we put it and swapping it would not have worked, especially because the slider needed space and saw quite a lot during its travel. Sometimes it’s just about, May the best compromise win!
At the moment I really like the DLED 7’s. I have not had the opportunity to play with the 10. Right now I’m messing with their 400 HMI with parallel beam adapters... interesting concept.
Great content as usual. I will suggest showing a frame of the result. You already have a stand-in, so why not shoot a 5secs end result. IMHO...not doing this diminishes the value of all this information. It’s kinda like a detailed video of baking a cake, without that final sequence of the cake coming out the oven.
Yes, that sounds great in theory, but since it’s not my shoot, so to speak, I’m using a GH5 to quickly capture BTS. The main camera is off shooting B-roll, so my capture won’t be the same as the settings of the high end camera. In a perfect world I would wait to see if the production is willing to share final footage, but that usually doesn’t happen. So... often we get what we get in the 10 minutes we have and are thankful:)
@@meetthegaffer Thanks Luke. I know how hard capturing BTS can be. That’s one reason I appreciate your channel. Just saying, people in the industry may understand what’s going on with the lighting setup. Without an ‘Ahaaaa, that’s why they did that’ shot in the end, what the average Joe sees is a bunch of gear hanging everywhere, and leaves scratching their head in confusion. The stand-in is already sitted, grabbing a quick shot on the GH5 with all the lights in play would have been awesome. Just a thought.
I’m definitely the average Joe and I’m learning... it would’ve been extremely super helpful to try to get into position of where the camera was set up and do the very best you could to try to get what The and final shot looks like so I have some clue as to what was going on in a final frame. I think I can kind of figure it out at the very end but I was lost as to where the camera would be for almost most video. This is so extremely helpful thank you so much!!!! Even with the wrong lens on the gh5 I could imagine what the final shot looked like in the end by adding fake black bars on the tops and sides to block out what would not have been in the final shot in my imagination...Please don’t take this as diminishing your video it was awesome
@@meetthegaffer nope, same conditions but instead of LiteMat Plus we use S30 throgh 8x8 1/4 Lightgreed. Is it possible? How this will affect our general look? What will be the difference?
The trick is getting the smaller source of an S30 far enough back to fill the grid. You’re only going to be able to use about a 1/4 of the 8x8 surface because the alcove we were working with barely fit a 4x4 frame. Yes, you could do it, especially if those are the tools available:) The beauty of LiteMats, Aladdins, and other blanket lights is that the shallow form factor and size of the face means the softening starts sooner, if you will, rather than waiting for the small face to become a larger face once it hits the 4x4 or 8x8. It’s not a huge deal in the scheme of things, but that’s why we like to have different tools for different situations:) Back in the day, we could do amazing things with a couple tota lights... now we’re kinda spoiled😂
I was just having this conversation with a DP earlier this evening...it just depends what market place your in. I’ve been on interview jobs with two cameras and two seamless backdrops where it’s just me, and I’ve been on jobs with the same basic set of needs where I get two full crew people on my team to help. Do they have different outcomes? Yes, they usually do, because there are higher expectations on the job with more staff and equipment. Using a term like “leech” seems to imply that Alan and I are somehow overdoing the lighting with the intention of getting the client to spend way more than they need to spend to get this interview in the can. That’s not an easy question to answer without knowing where you’re coming from and what your experience is:)
They took a small, boring space and brought it life, adding depth and dimension with their years of experience and you think they're leeching the client?? Seems like the client should be thanking them for bringing this space to life.
@@meetthegaffer fair enough - I love your content and am inspired by it, but I work fulltime in the industry and most clients wouldn't really give a rat's ass about this level of finesse these day - we all wish they would, but you can still get a nice produced looking image for so much less work. Maybe it says more about the level of budget that I can attract?
Yes, it also depends what area of the market you swim in. There is always a downwards pressure to produce the most amount of content for the least amount of resources. I think of production sort of like a large body of water. When you go out swimming or snorkeling or scuba diving, you find different pockets of warm or cool, fast moving or slow, filled with coral and fish or empty, polluted or clear, and sometimes you find those perfect places that make you want to go back... where the client, producer, DP, and crew are all willing to do what it takes to have a pleasant and fulfilling swim. We all try to string as many of those good days together as we can. Do what you can to up your game and find production partners that have the same goals! Sounds rich coming from a guy who mostly works on corporate video, but hey, I don’t get to snorkel in Fiji everyday either😂
@@meetthegaffer Perhaps I'm just easily impressed but that sounds to me like a thoughtful, well-crafted and good-spirited answer. Makes you sound like a pleasure to work with Luke. Can I just add one idea? Some of you out there may be familiar with the us and them mindset. I've definitely done my fair amount of grumbling about people not wanting to pay proper money to get proper results. But what you said made me think Luke - we're all in it together: producer, DP, client, gaffer. But sometimes I think we're all trying to just get our own bit right. So I appreciate @Stinky Floater when he says producer's don't care about finesse because those producer's who don't are just trying to get their bit right - keep the budget down - whereas we should all be looking to snorkel in Fiji because that's when the job is being done properly, not spending too much but the right amount.
That 4x4 plywood idea is brilliant. thanks for the tip!
Nice setup Luke. It would have been great to see the final output from the cameras.
Sure, but as you can see from my fuzzing out the signage there was no way that was going to happen:)
Great work. Brought some big soft lights, ended up being creative and using what you had with you to make the really small space work for you.
I love the work you guys do, it's always so insightful. Lifting the subject up with the apple boxes and board is such a good idea I'm absolutely going to steal it in the future. :)
Awesome work! Sucks we can’t see the final result on camera :(
Wow, the level of detail is awesome to watch. I have to compromise on so many little things that add up to a big compromise when I am a 1-man band. It's great to see what can happen when you get more resources and professionals to take care of the lighting.
3:30 - How is the Dado mounted to that windowsill?
Thanks in advance!
Excellent video as always Luke!
Great job! Here in Belgium there is absolutely no budget for making a really beautiful lighting for an interview. You're lucky if you have time to put a key and a back...;) ..
"This is a relatively simple interview set-up"
Shows the room full of grip and absolutely outstanding negative fill control skills. Guys, your work is great yet I feel myself so miserable comparing to your mad skillz
You’ll probably get there sooner than we did:)
1. Was the camera at 5600k?
2. For the dedo on the short arm (over the candle) was that on a cardellini clamped to the lower window sash? Did you have to open the window a bit to get some edge to clamp to? Or is there some other trick to how that's mounted there?
HAHAHA I said the same thing re: #2
1. I think we were balanced to Daylight and then let some of the units go warm. 2. I believe it was an old style window with extra room where the top and bottom met, so we didn’t have to open the window to clamp. But we did open the other window because the 800 created too much bounce back with the window closed, even with the flag there. I wish I had taken. Footage of the Dedo on the sill, because that was a nifty trick Alan did: making an inside fixture look like light spill from outside.
I’m going to buy an 8 plus for a big soft key for small places because of this video, thanks. What other 1 or 2 litemats would you recommend for versatile a little kit? And any specific mounts/arms that work best? This channel is great!
The LiteMat 8 is a large, soft source for sure. I have noticed that the ones I’ve rented tend to shift towards magenta, so that’s something to consider.
You don’t worry about the outside light changing throughout the day/interview? And thx for sharing. Love it!!
It was not a long interview and the well was slightly protected, but yes, we had to keep an eye on it. Luckily the ambience had come up enough by the time we started shooting that we could make the appropriate adjustments and go with it.
Always enjoy seeing your set-ups. Have you had a chance to play with the LiteMat Spectrums yet?
I have not! But Andrew Lock over at Gaffer&Gear just did an amazingly exhaustive overview in his latest episode (#109).
ua-cam.com/video/wwV62JdDIjc/v-deo.html
Wow, small space indeed. Love it when the producer asks "Is this big enough for you guys?" The answer's probably going to be no if you have to ask that.
😬
Luke, have you seen the Intellytech mega lite cloth? It’s 3x4.5’ and comes with a frame. Seems to be the most affordable foldable cloth tile light at $2k, 300W, but wanted to see if you had some thoughts on it to see if it meets your standards. Much cheaper than LiteMat/Tile and Aladdin.
Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I have not had an opportunity to see it in action. Sounds like an interesting size.
I’ve watched this one a few times and learned a ton. If you could only choose one mat to have for interview key would it be the 4 or 8? I want and don’t want the 8 for the same reason, it’s size 😅
That’s the age old issue, and the larger size is always compelling. The majority of gaffers are Lite Mat users and combine them with point source units. If you have the space for it in your vehicle and you think it will work in most of your set-ups, it’s probably worth going for it. The units I’ve worked with tend to skew a tad magenta, even at full output. Mat lights are somewhat of a specialized unit; I don’t know your situation, but if you are looking at the LM8 as your main light, and you are counting your pennies, you might consider going with a point source unit that can be use as a hard light and a soft light.
@@meetthegaffer thank you so much. Yes owner op mostly branded doc sit down interview stuff - so want a key light that can produce similar light to using a hard light bounced into a frame but with less set up - just a nice soft natural looking light - for interviews, lighting small doc scenes quickly, and product. Looking at Litemat 8 and 2L along with apurture 300x or 600 for a hard mix. I’ve never invested this much in lights before so want to make the right decision!
I would give a little thought to transport too. Some of those large Lite Mat carry bags are on the awkward side when you are a one-person crew and need to roll gear a distance to get to your shooting location. Not to talk you out of it, but maybe rent it a few time to make sure?
How many people took how long to set this up from arrival to ready? Definitely an “aspirational” level of detail for corporate work.
It was two of us, and we had maybe two hours, which included a scout to find the space, re-parking the truck to a different entrance, pushing multiple carts in half way, repacking into hampers and using a wheelchair lift or hand carrying to the set what we needed, and then re-tweaking for twenty minutes before shooting.
Luke Seerveld - thank you. That is a lot to get done for two in that time. Really shows the meaning of experience. Again, apirational.
Was switching the key side an option to motivate the directional light from the dedo’s? Or there wasn’t enough space and the opposing dedo direction turned out ok. Hard light from one side of the building soft from the opposing side. Is trying to justify interview setups worth it?
Good point! Like when you’re watching a show and you’re thinking, Are there two suns in this world?😂 The nice thing about interviews is you have some license to pretend there are windows out of frame where there really aren’t. To your point though, there was extra room for the key where we put it and swapping it would not have worked, especially because the slider needed space and saw quite a lot during its travel. Sometimes it’s just about, May the best compromise win!
What Dedo lights do you find to be the most useful?
At the moment I really like the DLED 7’s. I have not had the opportunity to play with the 10. Right now I’m messing with their 400 HMI with parallel beam adapters... interesting concept.
Great content as usual. I will suggest showing a frame of the result. You already have a stand-in, so why not shoot a 5secs end result. IMHO...not doing this diminishes the value of all this information. It’s kinda like a detailed video of baking a cake, without that final sequence of the cake coming out the oven.
Yes, that sounds great in theory, but since it’s not my shoot, so to speak, I’m using a GH5 to quickly capture BTS. The main camera is off shooting B-roll, so my capture won’t be the same as the settings of the high end camera. In a perfect world I would wait to see if the production is willing to share final footage, but that usually doesn’t happen. So... often we get what we get in the 10 minutes we have and are thankful:)
@@meetthegaffer Thanks Luke. I know how hard capturing BTS can be. That’s one reason I appreciate your channel. Just saying, people in the industry may understand what’s going on with the lighting setup. Without an ‘Ahaaaa, that’s why they did that’ shot in the end, what the average Joe sees is a bunch of gear hanging everywhere, and leaves scratching their head in confusion.
The stand-in is already sitted, grabbing a quick shot on the GH5 with all the lights in play would have been awesome. Just a thought.
You are not wrong! I'll do my best. Appreciate the constructive feedback, for sure.
@@meetthegaffer How you find the time to make such great content is still a wonder to me. Thank you!
I’m definitely the average Joe and I’m learning... it would’ve been extremely super helpful to try to get into position of where the camera was set up and do the very best you could to try to get what The and final shot looks like so I have some clue as to what was going on in a final frame. I think I can kind of figure it out at the very end but I was lost as to where the camera would be for almost most video. This is so extremely helpful thank you so much!!!! Even with the wrong lens on the gh5 I could imagine what the final shot looked like in the end by adding fake black bars on the tops and sides to block out what would not have been in the final shot in my imagination...Please don’t take this as diminishing your video it was awesome
How do you think - Can this light matte setup be replaced with S30 Skypanel through 8x8 Lightgreed matt?
You mean in a different room?
@@meetthegaffer nope, same conditions but instead of LiteMat Plus we use S30 throgh 8x8 1/4 Lightgreed. Is it possible? How this will affect our general look? What will be the difference?
The trick is getting the smaller source of an S30 far enough back to fill the grid. You’re only going to be able to use about a 1/4 of the 8x8 surface because the alcove we were working with barely fit a 4x4 frame. Yes, you could do it, especially if those are the tools available:) The beauty of LiteMats, Aladdins, and other blanket lights is that the shallow form factor and size of the face means the softening starts sooner, if you will, rather than waiting for the small face to become a larger face once it hits the 4x4 or 8x8. It’s not a huge deal in the scheme of things, but that’s why we like to have different tools for different situations:) Back in the day, we could do amazing things with a couple tota lights... now we’re kinda spoiled😂
You didin showed the finally shot in camera :(
No, we didn’t have access.
This honestly seems OTT in the current market place.
How do you leech this kind of money out of a client?
I was just having this conversation with a DP earlier this evening...it just depends what market place your in. I’ve been on interview jobs with two cameras and two seamless backdrops where it’s just me, and I’ve been on jobs with the same basic set of needs where I get two full crew people on my team to help. Do they have different outcomes? Yes, they usually do, because there are higher expectations on the job with more staff and equipment. Using a term like “leech” seems to imply that Alan and I are somehow overdoing the lighting with the intention of getting the client to spend way more than they need to spend to get this interview in the can. That’s not an easy question to answer without knowing where you’re coming from and what your experience is:)
They took a small, boring space and brought it life, adding depth and dimension with their years of experience and you think they're leeching the client?? Seems like the client should be thanking them for bringing this space to life.
@@meetthegaffer fair enough - I love your content and am inspired by it, but I work fulltime in the industry and most clients wouldn't really give a rat's ass about this level of finesse these day - we all wish they would, but you can still get a nice produced looking image for so much less work. Maybe it says more about the level of budget that I can attract?
Yes, it also depends what area of the market you swim in. There is always a downwards pressure to produce the most amount of content for the least amount of resources. I think of production sort of like a large body of water. When you go out swimming or snorkeling or scuba diving, you find different pockets of warm or cool, fast moving or slow, filled with coral and fish or empty, polluted or clear, and sometimes you find those perfect places that make you want to go back... where the client, producer, DP, and crew are all willing to do what it takes to have a pleasant and fulfilling swim. We all try to string as many of those good days together as we can. Do what you can to up your game and find production partners that have the same goals! Sounds rich coming from a guy who mostly works on corporate video, but hey, I don’t get to snorkel in Fiji everyday either😂
@@meetthegaffer Perhaps I'm just easily impressed but that sounds to me like a thoughtful, well-crafted and good-spirited answer. Makes you sound like a pleasure to work with Luke. Can I just add one idea? Some of you out there may be familiar with the us and them mindset. I've definitely done my fair amount of grumbling about people not wanting to pay proper money to get proper results. But what you said made me think Luke - we're all in it together: producer, DP, client, gaffer. But sometimes I think we're all trying to just get our own bit right. So I appreciate @Stinky Floater when he says producer's don't care about finesse because those producer's who don't are just trying to get their bit right - keep the budget down - whereas we should all be looking to snorkel in Fiji because that's when the job is being done properly, not spending too much but the right amount.