An introduction to lighting for unscripted productions by Stephen Foote

Sponsored by Essentialphoto.co.uk and verve.film with support from Hollyland.com.  

Stephen drew on his extensive experience in film, video and still photography to talk and demonstrate interview and table top lighting to GTC members.

The one day event took place at the premises of Verve Film who have recently moved to larger premises in SE15, London. 

The event began with a brief history of lighting for film and TV. The need for high light levels for film, the move from arc lights to tungsten. Stephen’s early years shooting 16mm film with the BBC when three to four rolls would be shot in a day, equating to less than forty minutes of footage, compared to interviews often lasting three hours on multiple cameras today.

The emergence of the Chimera soft source in the early 1990s signalled a move to softer sources, but inefficient tungsten sources remained common.  The rise of Mini DV towards the end of the 1990’s saw major changes again, with increased sensitivity of camera sensors, reduction in crewing levels and a resultant increase in work load.

Yang Wu from Essentialphoto supplied a large range of lights from Godox including newly launched Knowled lights. Stephen used them to illustrate different lighting techniques that would be achievable for the small size crews often working in factual today. The audience came from a wide range of backgrounds from wildlife, current affairs, fashion and short scripted. Stephen was able to respond to individual questions, showing how common location challenges could be dealt with.

A team from Hollyland provided wireless monitoring and demonstrated yet to be launched products in radio mics and video transmission as well as a livestreaming camera.

Read Stephen's recent article 'My Approach to Lighting an Interview' published in GTC In Focus, March 2024