Six Lighting Mistakes on News and Interview Sets, and How to Avoid Them

The commonest fault I see on a news set is a presenter lit beautifully and everything behind them left to chance. The desk gets a crisp key and fill, then the backdrop falls into a muddy grey, and on air the presenter looks cut out and pasted onto the picture. A set is a single image, and the camera sees the desk, the wall, the floor and the edges of the frame together.

The correction is to plot in layers and check each one on a monitor rather than by eye. Start with the talent, then separate them from the background with a back light, then bring the set up to a level that sits comfortably beneath the face. Keep the background a stop or so lower than the skin tones so the eye goes where it should.

Walk the set with a camera before anything is called finished, because a wall that looks even to a person standing in the room often shows a hot patch or a shadow edge through the lens.

• Light talent, separation and background as three distinct layers
• Judge the result on a calibrated monitor, not by eye
• Keep the set a little below the level of the skin tones

Studios that grow over several years often end up with a patchwork of fixtures: some fixed at one colour temperature, others tunable, plus daylight leaking in from a window or a glazed door. The cameras are balanced for one value, and anything that sits away from it turns slightly orange or blue. Skin tones drift between shots, and the vision mixer ends up trying to correct a problem that began at the lamp.

Decide the working colour temperature for the set and hold to it. Where fixtures are tunable, set them from the desk and record the value in the plot so that nobody guesses on the day. Where a window is unavoidable, either cover it properly or accept it as part of the look and light around it deliberately.

Keep the values consistent across the whole rig, and the cameras will need far less shading during a long programme.

• Choose one working colour temperature and write it into the plot
• Cover or deliberately plan for any window light
• Avoid mixing fixture types that cannot be matched

It is tempting to start with a catalogue because a fixture is a real object and a plot is only a drawing. The result is a rig built from whatever was bought, with beam angles that do not suit the throw distances and no spare capacity where the director later wants it. Rigging points end up in the wrong place and the grid becomes a compromise.

Draw the plot first. Measure the room, the grid height and the camera positions, then work out the throw to each subject and choose the beam angle that suits it. Only then decide which fixtures meet that list, and leave a little headroom in power and in the number of channels for changes you cannot yet foresee.

A plot also gives you something to hand to an electrician, a rigger and a programmer, so everyone is working from the same page.

• Measure grid height, throws and camera positions first
• Match beam angle to distance before choosing a fixture
• Leave spare channels and power for later changes

Lighting that looks comfortable to a person standing on the set can be hard work for a camera. Reflective desk tops throw a hot streak back into the lens, glass backdrops pick up the lamps themselves, and a presenter with a deep brow can disappear into shadow beneath the eyes. A key light placed too high or too far to one side makes this worse.

Check each camera angle in turn, because the set is seen from the lens and not from the floor. Lower or soften the key where it bounces off a surface, feather the edge of a beam away from a reflective panel, and add a gentle fill to open up the eyes. Matt finishes on desks and graphics screens remove half the trouble before any lamp is moved.

Spend ten minutes at each camera position during the rig, with a person standing in for the talent.

• Check every camera angle, not only the main one
• Use matt surfaces on desks and set pieces
• Soften or reposition the key where it reflects

Control is often treated as something to sort out once the fixtures are hung, which is how a rig ends up with a desk full of faders and no sensible way to use them. On a live programme there is rarely time to rebuild a look by hand, so a news bulletin, an interview and a close with a wide shot each need to be recalled with a single press.

Programme the scenes with the people who will operate them. Name them in the language of the run sheet, group the fixtures by purpose, and keep a clean default state that returns the set to a safe, even look if something goes wrong. A simple layout that the operator trusts is better than a clever one that needs an engineer standing beside it.

Rehearse the changes at speed, because a scene that works slowly may produce a visible flash when recalled live.

• Name scenes after the run sheet, not the fixtures
• Keep a safe default look that is one press away
• Rehearse recalls at the speed of transmission

Plots are drawn with a stand-in or a marker on the floor, but the people who appear on air differ in height, complexion and clothing. A light that flatters one guest can wash out another, and a brightly patterned jacket can make the exposure jump. If the first time anyone checks the set is during the live broadcast, the correction happens in front of the audience.

Build a short check into the rehearsal. Bring the presenter and, where possible, a guest or a similar-looking colleague, sit them in position and watch the camera outputs. Adjust the key and the fill while they are there, and note any clothing that should be avoided.

Small changes made in rehearsal cost a few minutes, whereas the same changes made on air cost the picture.

• Test with the real presenter or a close match
• Brief guests on clothing that behaves badly on camera
• Note adjustments in the plot so they are repeated