Culture & Belonging:
Capturing Stories: Choosing a filming space
Choosing a filming space
Choosing a filming space is all about control. What factors can you control, and what factors are you going to have to work around?
Noise
The most important factor to consider is ambient sounds in your interview space: everything else can be controlled for, but ambient sounds, external distractions or busy thoroughfares can cause significant disruption to an interview. A quiet space that you can control is essential.
Light
If you have access to it, lighting your interview will make a huge difference to its visual quality.
Video professionals will be able to work with your space and access requirements, but even a small, simple LED panel light or a powerful lamp can help light a face and make it “pop” from a background.
Natural light is always useful for filming, but requires some forethought to work with really effectively. Large windows offer light and views, which are usually very useful.
- Think about the direction your windows are facing in, and how sunlight will move during the day.
- What can you see out of the window? What position or angle in the room will give you the best background view? Are there likely to be distractions you cannot control, like pedestrians or window cleaners?
- ATMOSPHERE: What does this room say about your interviewee or the organisation?
A boardroom location can be grand and impressive, but also impersonal. An office space can be more welcoming, but cramped and less pleasant to look at. A public area in the building can suggest a welcoming atmosphere, but be careful to make sure you have permission to film there.
Background
A background should be interesting, not distracting. Be wary of views with people or moving objects in them, or walls with clashing colours or patterns.
If there is art in the background, try to either include or exclude it in frame; half a sculpture or the corner of a painting creates a messy and distracting background.
You generally want your background to be less well-lit than your foreground (where the subject sits).
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