Setting up a simple two camera shot with natural lighting

Nov 5

Today I was filming with my buddy Andy for his business Jumpstart Mastery. Simple two cam setup using natural light that was pouring in from huge windows. The windows also had a bug net looking shade, read once you can use actual bug netting and just tape it over bright windows to act like an ND filter, that’s how I got the windows to expose well in the background.

I want to talk about my thoughts after the shoot. What I did and what I didn’t do well.

With limited angles and faculty present we had just a few spots to setup. I naturally went to a back lit setup for a couple interviews and the light was a little harsh on Andy but after some moving around we found a happy medium. I felt I nailed the tight shot for Candis.

The setup for the course work came naturally using the big windows as the background and the natural light coming through on the right side of the camera. After tossing on a quick color grade, I’m happy with that decision.

Some things I would have changed…

Next time I will use a key light to control the level of exposure through out the day and a filler light on the shadow side ever so slightly. Boom mics instead of dji mic kit. We came in knowing we would have background noise and if I had the space to haul more gear I would of had stands with moving blankets surrounding us. The b-cam next time would be at a tighter angle or closer to the main cam and not so out there. EXP 5+ next time.

Rather dark near the end and had to use noise reduction and sharpening

Some Pros…

I was happy that I chose prime lenses. The main cam had a 35mm 1.8f set to 2.0f and 2.2f, sharpest at that stop. The b-cam was the good ole nifty fifty also set to 2.0f and at one point 3.5f. I will always use primes when I can. I set both cameras to 4800k and it looked warm enough to mirror real life. I was at 5500k and now that I color graded it, I would of had to make bigger adjustments. Nail it in camera, don’t fix it later.