Lighting a School classroom

[John Sharaf]

Dan,

You can make this very hard or very easy and you’ll still have limitations with both scenarios, but that is not to say it cannot be done.

A lot depends on the direction of the windows; ideally they would be facing north, so you get what we call “North Light”, meaning consistent (unchanging) indirect daylight with no streaks of direct sunlight blasting in to muck things up. If this is the case turn the flos on and white balance in the mixed light. A daylight balanced on camera light to fill faces would be a big plus. The limitations here are still going to be bright areas out the window, so you’ll need to avoid them if possible in the backgrounds by moving the camera and/or re-framing.

If it were a big-time show, with budget and crew, we’d relamp the existing overheads with daylight balanced globes.

If you go the other route of hanging or placing your own lights, it’s also a big job, both resource-wise and time consuming, both putting up and taking down and you’ll still have to keep your lights (and the brightness out the window) out of the shot(s), you might have very little background left; assuming you want the freedom to shoot in every direction as opposed to composing fixed frames where you can move and adjust lighting to taste.

In sum, keep it simple; on-camera daylight balanced light, use the window light as key and practical flos as fill, maybe add one big HMI in Chimera like 800 joker from opposite side as window towards the front action area if you can afford a $150 rental and concentrate on the action and composing pretty pictures.

Happy Holidays!

JS

[Dennis Size]

John has given you the best advice you could ask for (as always).
The only thing I would add — if it were easy, and the windows were accessable from the outside — would be to net the windows to “take down” the instensity of the exterior.
You could either rent a cheap black net or scrim from a theatrical company and tie it off at the roof, hanging outside the windows, or (if you’re on the first floor) tape simple black bobbinette from your local fabric store over the outside of the windows.

DS

[Daniel Schultz]

John, thanks so much for taking the time for your response. A couple follow-up questions:

I think I’ll go for the “easy” route, which will also be less invasive for kids and classroom. For the onboard light, are you thinking of something like a micro litepanel? Are there other options you’d recommend more? And since we’d be using it as fill, I’m assuming adding diffusion would be good? (I think I can request a classroom with north-facing windows, so that’d be my key.) And having never used them before, how bright/bothersome would they be for kids–likely 4th grade or so? And do I have to change the dimmer on the light, or be concerned with changing exposures I move from medium distance to close up?

I’m thinking of not using the Joker, since I will not have gaffer help on this shoot. The idea of a kid tripping over the chord, knocking over the light, etc…yikes!

Appreciate your advice!

Dan S.

[John Sharaf]

Dan,

Yes, a LED Lightpanel is a good choice; Daylight balanced and wide pattern. I’d use the one bigger than the mini, it’s about 3×6″ and has a dimmer which adjusts the light output without changing the color. Just dim it to taste based on front lit/back lit direction towards window.

JS

[Craig Alan]

These are just some random thoughts because I’ve done a lot of shooting in classrooms.

Very important to have some time in this room before the shoot. Check out what happens at that time of day with the light and your camera settings. Get some test shots. Since it’s an instructional video rather than a doc, you might be able to set up the seating so you are not shooting directly into the windows and design your “run and gun” path with the camera.

I would imagine the biggest challenge will be sound. How will you mike all those kids?

What I have found in classroom settings is that students will get comfortable with the camera if the camera just becomes part of the event. 15 minutes in, they get relaxed with it. But if you start needing to make major adjustments to the room or worse telling subjects to move here or there in order to be captured properly then the filming becomes the focus.

I’d seriously consider mounting the cam on a tripod. If you can plant your mikes close to each source, you can zoom to frame your shots if the room is set up properly.

If the teacher will be your main source of sound, then do a rehearsal with the teacher, even if it’s just to train them on the proper use of whatever mike you are going to use. An ear mounted cordless mike is best for inexperienced performer. It moves with the head as opposed to a tie clip lav, which inexperienced performers will turn away from causing a sharp drop in sound levels. Also make sure the AC/heater is off and check the sound for interference before the shoot.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Daniel Schultz]

Hi Craig,

Your comments most appreciated.
Good idea with the setting up of kids in chairs/desks not facing the windows. Good point, also, about making sure ahead of time kids are where I want them to be to avoid moving them…and the bit of allowing 15 minutes of pre-shooting to allow everyone to get comfortable.

Sound: I was thinking of giving the teacher a wireless lav, and then either using a shotgun mounted on the camera or a boom (if I can get an operator) to move in for the kids to go into the second channel. I always prefer tripod when I can, but with the kids, I’m thinking if I get in close with wide angles, I’ll avoid camera shake, and also if I’m using a cam-mounted shotgun, I’ll get okay sound? That was my strategy I had in mind. I like getting very close in for the kids, and my cam’s better at wide angles than zooming.

What’re your thoughts, and appreciate your comments.

Out of curiosity, what types of classroom shoots have you done?

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

I forgot to mention that I won’t be needing to film the “whole” class much. It will most likely be kids in groups of 3 at desks working things out by themselves…that’s where I’d be wanting to roam and get the closeups.

Dan S.

[Dennis Size]

I believe you’ve misinterpreted what Craig was telling you.
You DO want the children facing the windows. You’ll be using nature’s available light to your advantage. You do NOT want to shoot into the exterior.
You have better control shooting into the walls of the classroom.
You must survey the site, determine what the daylight conditions are during the time you’ll be shooting. THEN plan accordingly.
DS

[Daniel Schultz]

Yes…I mixed it up when writing, but, believe it or not, did actually have it right in my mind. I want to avoid shooting into the windows. None-the-less, thanks for the clarification.

Dan S.

[Craig Alan]

Hi,

My students and I have shot lectures, teacher directed lessons, power point presentations, unedited lessons for teacher certification, student projects, clips of students activities, group meetings, etc. I have also assigned students to film their own instructional videos after producing one with them. We have also shot many assemblies, many of which were instructional.

I have a better idea now of what you will be shooting, though much more detail would help. If the teacher is facing the class and students are in groups of three facing the teacher, then you can’t have both these subjects facing the window light. If the entire teacher presentation is given first, the class could then move into their groups after an “intermission.” This would give you time to change your set up. Or you could figure out the best location at a tech rehearsal with just the teacher to set up both subjects.

You could re-post your further thought out classroom set up and ask the pros at the audio forum how to mike groups of threes. I will say if you need every student who talks to have clear well recorded sound, it’s a complex expensive set up that would require an audio tech and lots of gear.

I believe if you want student responses that are as unaffected by the camera as possible it would be better to zoom in to frame your shots from a fixed location. But if you dolly in it does look more natural than zooming so I would edit around the zooms. And yes sound then would be a problem. If you plant an omni mike within the semi-circle of three it won’t be as clear as a lav on each student. Ask on the audio forum. If you dolly in to the group of three the cam will need to be within three feet of the students to get ok sound. Not great just ok. A boom-mounted mike could work but is hardly unobtrusive. Plus the operator needs to be skilled. Make sure you get the right mike since many booms need high ceilings to avoid echoes. Many are for outdoor use.

A lav on the teacher will work fine but an ear-mounted mike will work better. Less chance of clothing noise, less chance of the teacher facing away from the mike. Also since it is an instructional video, the audio quality is very important to the presenation. The lavs that come with lower/mid-priced cordless kits are just ok. It would be fairly cheap to rent a good one for the shoot. But again leave time to test it.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/294107-REG/Shure_WCE6T_E6_Omnidirectional_EarSet_Microphone.html is one example of an ear-mounted mike. If you are going to rent ask the pros for the best.

You’ll need the one that works with your cordless kit; and as for color, tan is best for most skin tones. If the talent is very dark or very pale then match those colors.

Here’s one thought: You could shoot one group of kids that want to be in the video. They could each be miked into a 3-channel mixer. Again do a test with this to make sure the mixer is outputting at the right level for your cam. The special group of three could be lit and the camera placed well and tripod mounted after the intermission. You could set up another camera on full wide of the entire class to get some establishing shots. Or get a second cam operator to roam around.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.