Film a Multicam Interview with ONLY ONE CAMERA

Name: Film a Multicam Interview with ONLY ONE CAMERA
Uploaded: 2025-06-26T13:02:22+00:00
Duration: 9 min 11 s
Channel: lisa.langlois

00:00Having multiple camera angles in your interview can make your film feel way more dynamic and

00:04more importantly, it could save your ass.

00:07But the question is, how do you effectively film multiple camera angles with only one

00:13camera?

00:14And that is the secret that I'm going to share with you guys today.

00:16I'm going to help you guys make your interviews feel way more dynamic and help your editor

00:20out as well.

00:23The trick to shooting these interviews with only one camera and actually pulling it off

00:26effectively is to make sure that you're extremely organized and prepared for your shoot.

00:31Believe it or not, the first step to being able to pull off a multi-camera interview with

00:35only one camera starts before you even touch your camera and that is by properly planning

00:40out your interview questions.

00:41And what I mean by this is separating your questions by the different feelings and moods

00:46that you're trying to convey in this interview.

00:48And then once I have all of these questions separated, I'll then write a note of what angle

00:53I want for each particular question.

00:55So for example, what I'll do is for the more emotional and intimate questions, I'll make

01:00a note that I want a tight shot.

01:02And then for questions that are a little bit lighter that I want to feel a little bit less

01:07intense and dramatic, I'll make a note that I want something that's a little bit wider.

01:14When I get to my location, I typically take my camera and I start to find a few possible

01:18spots that I want to shoot my interview in.

01:20I usually choose my interview spot based off of a few different things.

01:24The first thing I'm always looking for is if that space is quiet enough to capture good,

01:29clean audio.

01:30And then the second thing I'm looking for is a background that I can easily manipulate.

01:33And then the third thing that I'm looking for, and this might be a little bit nitpicky,

01:37but is there symmetry in the background?

01:39There's something that I can create some sort of balance in my framing and in my composition.

01:45Because the last thing that you want is a background that's too busy and takes away from the focus

01:49of your main character.

01:50You also want to make sure that your location reflects the theme of the interview.

01:55So if you're shooting an interview that's really light and happy, maybe you want to choose

01:59a location with a lot of windows and natural lighting.

02:02And of course, if you're shooting something like a true crime documentary, then maybe you want

02:06to shoot something a little bit darker and a little bit moodier.

02:08Now once I choose my location, I am now ready to frame up my shot.

02:13I think it's extremely important before you start the interview, I like to let my subject

02:17know exactly what the deal is.

02:19I let them know that I'm trying to get a multi-camera interview with only one camera and I'd be completely

02:23honest with them.

02:24I say to them, Hey, look, I'm going to shoot a couple of these questions a few times to make

02:30sure that I can capture it from a couple of different angles to make this interview a little

02:33bit better and more dynamic.

02:35It's very important that you let them know this because if you ask them the same question

02:39more than once, they might start to feel like either A, you don't know what you're doing

02:44and you've already asked that question or B, they might think that their response wasn't

02:47good enough.

02:48And then they start to get a little bit nervous or they start to feel a little bit anxious

02:52while they're answering that interview question.

02:55But you just let them know straight up, like I'm going to ask that question a couple of times.

02:59Maybe you give me a different answer.

03:01Maybe you don't.

03:02But most importantly, you let them know that you're trying to make the best possible interview

03:05that you can.

03:06Now, once I know that they're comfortable and they're ready to start the interview,

03:09I set up my first camera angle.

03:11The first angle that I get is my master shot.

03:14And the master shot is going to go through the entire interview from start to finish.

03:17And this is going to be the only camera that does this.

03:20Typically for my master shot, I like to shoot something wide with a good amount of headroom

03:24that can be flexible for all the different kinds of emotions that our subject is going to

03:28experience as we go through this interview.

03:30After I'm confident with the angle of my master shot, I then start setting up lighting.

03:35Now my first step to lighting is shut off any house lights in the location that you're

03:39in.

03:40And that's mainly because these lights are typically cheap and they're tungsten lights

03:44that never really look good on skin.

03:46Now in this particular location, there is a ton of natural light coming in from the windows

03:50in almost every single direction.

03:52But in order to properly light our subject without blowing out the windows, we're going

03:55to use six stops of ND to properly expose for the outside windows.

04:00But in order to light our subject, we're going to need a really strong, powerful light source.

04:05That is why on most of my interviews, I use this GVM650B.

04:09This is a bi-colored light that can go from 2700 Kelvin all the way up to 6800 Kelvin and

04:15provides 21,600 lux.

04:18Basically, this light is extremely powerful.

04:21There are many different ways to light a scene, but typically, I tend to put my key

04:25light at about a 45 degree angle away from my subject and then I add a hair light behind

04:29my subject on the opposite side of my key light.

04:32And depending on the interview, I might add some negative fill on the opposite side of

04:35my key light just to add a little bit more shadow and depth to my subject's face.

04:39Now I might add some additional lights to the background just to bring up the exposure

04:42levels of the room, but this is highly dependent on the style that you're trying to achieve

04:47for your interview.

04:48Now before you finish placing your lights, I highly suggest that you take your camera

04:51and you just kind of float around the area in some different possible camera angles that

04:56you might want to use and see if the lights are interfering with those camera angles.

05:01If they are, then I would try to adjust your lighting according to the second, third and

05:04fourth camera angle that you're trying to achieve.

05:07Once you have your lighting set, it is now officially time to set up your audio.

05:13Audio is without a doubt one of the most important aspects of the interview process.

05:17I usually like to have two sources of audio being recorded on two separate audio devices.

05:22For example, I like to have my lav mic set up on an external audio recorder like a Zoom

05:26or a Tascam and then I'll run my shotgun microphone straight into my camera.

05:30That way I have two separate audio recordings and if anything goes wrong with either one of

05:35them, I have a backup just in case.

05:37Now a good rule of thumb to set up your shotgun microphone is to have it placed about three

05:41to five feet away from your subject, obviously out of frame, and you want the angle of the

05:46shotgun microphone to be pointing at your subject's mouth.

05:48After I have my audio set up, I make sure that I test both audio devices and make sure that

05:52the volume is set appropriately and then I'll just ask my subject a few different questions

05:56just to properly set the audio levels.

05:58A good rule of thumb is to make sure that your audio is peaking between negative six and negative

06:02three dB.

06:03If your audio is below negative six dB, then you might want to turn it up.

06:07If it's above negative three dB, then you definitely want to turn it down.

06:10That sweet spot in the middle will allow you to have the best possible audio recording.

06:17Once you go through the entire interview with your master shot, it is now time to set up for the

06:21second, third, and fourth camera angle.

06:23It's very important that before you move on from your master shot, you make sure that you get every

06:29single question on that list and you also make sure that their answers are actually

06:33good and usable.

06:34Typically for my second camera angle, I'll usually choose something that's a little bit

06:37tighter on my subject's face so that way I can really hone in on that character's emotion and

06:43I have something nice to cut to from a wide to a close-up.

06:47Usually for the second camera angle, I tend to use like a 50 millimeter or even an 85 millimeter

06:53just to make the two camera angles feel different.

06:55And then for my third camera angle, I like to have a camera that has a little bit of movement.

06:59So I might go ahead and fire off a few questions just while I'm going handheld.

07:03And my goal is to give a little bit of camera movement, but also capture things like hands

07:09and any other interesting shot that I might see while I'm going handheld.

07:12This might mean that I'm moving in a little bit closer or standing a little bit further away.

07:16And I might even dirty up the frame a little bit by putting something in the foreground while

07:20I'm interviewing him and moving in and out of focus.

07:23Now this is definitely more of a creative look and a stylistic approach,

07:27but I always find that even if you just use this one or two times in your interview,

07:31it can really give an impact into your film that definitely draws the viewer in.

07:35For my fourth camera angle, I usually like to get something that's extremely close up

07:39with a really shallow depth of field.

07:41That way if I have something in an interview that needs to cut to something really intense and dramatic,

07:47I have the option for that.

07:48Now, like I said in the beginning of this video guys,

07:52the most important aspect to all of this is making sure that you're extremely organized.

07:58It's also really important that your master shot is done very well,

08:02because if all else fails and you don't capture really good content on the second,

08:07third and fourth camera angle, you're going to rely heavily on that master shot.

08:11So everything that you shoot there has to not only go through every single one of these questions,

08:16but make sure that you go through every single one of those questions really well.

08:20And most importantly, you're happy with the responses that you captured on your master shot.

08:25I think with the second, third and fourth camera angle,

08:27you could start to become a little bit more lenient,

08:29because those are camera angles that are kind of nice to halves,

08:33but that master shot needs to be perfect.

08:35Now for the last couple of years, we've been putting together a documentary course

08:38that takes you through every step of the filmmaking process,

08:42from idea to final edit and even pitching your film to major streaming platforms.

08:46And if you guys are interested in knowing more about that course,

08:48I'll leave a link right up here or in the description down below,

08:51and you guys can check that out, sign up for the email list,

08:53and you guys will be notified as soon as that course drops, hopefully by the end of this year.

08:57So I'd like to thank you guys for watching.

08:58Don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already,

09:01and I'll see you guys in the next one.

09:03Deuces.

Film a Multicam Interview with ONLY ONE CAMERA

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