Have some questions regarding situations when you are on your own, no assistant, doing interviews.
I did something recently and am trying to correct some of the lighting/equipment issues.
1)Reflector issues.
I have a 42" reflector on a stand that blows over with the slightest breeze. I put rocks some pillowcases, and mild wind blew it over anyway. What’s the best way to handle it? It seems that no matter what you do, the wind will grab the reflector disc.
I thought about rigging the stand to somehow use tent stakes to hold the stand it in the ground, but that still does not stabilize the reflector disc. They would also be lighter to carry. Maybe I could rig up the reflector to tent stakes as well?
But then I guess you’re stuck if it’s concrete… I guess I could anchor it to a couple of bricks but i really don’t want to be lugging bricks around if it can be avoided.
2) Outdoor interview lighting
a) Scenario: Two people standing in front of a row of dark green trees with just a little sky above them. Sun was going down, and I wanted it to backlight them,, but over the course of several takes, it got darker and darker until they were both brightly lit by the camera light, against a dark and blackish background that looked awful.
In retrospect, there was a building to my right that I could have repositioned them against, but barring that, what would you do?
b) What do you do when you use the sun as a key light, but the shot is too wide to use a reflector to reflect in a fill?
c) Flat flourescent lighting in a classroom, no light kit (it was spur of the moment). The shot looked really drab.
d)Any type of on-the-spot interview where all you have to work with is your camera light? What do you do? You can throw a little light on, but it’s flat. No assistant to hold something else up. I try to look for a key light in the room when I can, but what if there’s nothing that will work well for whatever reason?
e) Inside, you don’t want to use a stand for a hair light because it will be in the shot, and there’s nowhere to clip an overhead light? My thought is, position it over to the side, but are there any other creative solutions you have used?
f) Outside, just on my own without an assistant, what is the best way to rig up some kind of diffuser? I do have one on my reflector kit but it’s kind of small for that.
g) What do you think of shooting in shade? It seems flat to me.
43) Audio
I an on a DIY budget and tried to make windscreens with some fake fur, but didn’t hear any difference at all. Any advice for making these?
Thanks for your comments in advance.
=)