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3-point lighting is the foundation for professional video biography interviews. If you master this basic setup, you can be confident of your ability to capture well lit and flattering videos of the people whose stories you are capturing.
Don’t let the ‘pro’ lights in this video scare you. You don’t need to invest in expensive or complicated lighting equipment to put the 3-point lighting strategy to work. You just need three light sources you can move around.
The three lights perform the following functions:
- Key Light – this is the dominant light source illuminating your interview subject
- Fill Light – this light is placed across from the Key Light and fills in the shadows to reduce contrast
- Back Light – this light is placed behind the subject and helps to seperate their head and shoulders from the background
Watch the video a few times to see the effect of these three lights and then go practice with whatever lights you can find (or make!)