Show Us Your Shot: Lighting Interiors with Daylight

In this segment, Chris Seivard shares with us how he pulled off a professional shoot for a client, using mostly natural daylight streaming through the location’s windows, supplemented with two LED fixtures to light the interior. Watch the video, as Seivard explains his setup, and be sure to study the lighting diagram.

This project was for an insurance company. The goal was to give investigators a feel for what the deposition process might be like, after an incident investigation.

“The location’s windows faced the sun, and sunlight streamed into the room. The opportunity to use the sun as a source was too much to pass up. In our favor, the window exposure gave us the longest possible time for usable light, and there were very few clouds to contend with. In the room, the walls were dark paneling or books, so I knew the light would not ‘fly everywhere’ once it came through the windows. One window was in the shot, and needed to have its blinds down to keep from going too hot. The other wasn’t in the shot, so we could let the sunlight come through and hit our show cards for maximum effect.

“We set some shiny boards outside, to maximize the sunlight coming through the windows. Then, on the interior, we had white cards on stands to push the light onto the two characters who did not face the window. While this light did a nice job, it was not quite enough to get us to the stop, as we were trying to get to at a 2.4-2.8. We added two 1 x 1' panel lights to the mix to establish the key side.

“To move fast, we were shooting with two cameras: a close-up on a tripod with an 85mm, and a wide with a 35mm on a Dana dolly. The wide shot gave us some nice crosses and reveals, and some much-needed motion for an otherwise static scene. The position of the Dana Dolly let us shoot moving shots and reaction shots during the same takes. It was a continual slow creep and pan. While there was some repositioning, the female lawyer had most of the lines. The close-ups of the other actors, and her static CUs, were handled pretty quickly. Once the lighting was set and we were rolling, my main concerns were clouds, and how soon would the sun move out of position.

“We were working in a practical location, the law library of a legal office, where such a deposition might take place. We shot with two Sony F3s, with the Sony prime lens set; 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm; all T2.4 wide open. All the lenses are very nice, and provide lovely, narrow depth of field. We also had a Dana Dolly, several 1 x 1' LED Panels, some shiny boards, and some show cards.”

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Chris Seivard's Bio

Chris Seivard has been a Director of Photography since 1993, and works in television, corporate, and political video. He shot seven seasons of So You Think You Can Dance, for FOX, and countless reality shows. Seivard’s early experience came in indie film, in New York City, as a Gaffer, AC, and DP. A 1986 graduate of Muhlenberg College, Seivard has been a freelancer for his entire career. He is a former competitive cyclist, a dedicated Philadelphia Eagles fan, and a member of Red Sox Nation. When not playing with a camera or his two kids, he can be found with an old car or motorcycle.