Lighting a School classroom

[Dennis Size]

Nicely done Dan — visually and conceptually.
If you do another you should add a key light to Bob, the Math Man. His close-up lighting should be better.

DS

[Daniel Schultz]

Hi Dennis,

Appreciate the feedback.
I had a kino flo on Bob, the Math Man.
But for some reason, he doesn’t appear to have a key light on him, now that you mention it.
Interesting.
Is that because everything–background, foreground, Bob–are about the same exposure?
Perhaps he needs something a little stronger and slightly less diffuse to make him stand out?

Dan S.

[Craig Alan]

Very rare to see classroom footage of this quality. Nice job! Agree now that an ear mounted mike would have been the wrong choice since he is seated and interacting with the kids and not turning his head to a white board or different sides of the class.

Just my take: Could have used a higher quality lav or preamp or both. A couple of moments the hand held cam was too shaky. I think the teacher’s voice as V.O. narration rather than a picture-in-picture would have been a better choice a few times. But I do get that it was a style choice along with the whoosh exit. Not a fan of whoosh whoosh. This seemed in-between documentary and kid’s show style. The kids were adorable and well shot and I would have liked watching them more. A couple of the jump cuts were awkward. A different camera angle or cut in or kid’s reaction shot would smooth these edits. Get down to the kids’ height more and looking down at them less. Loved the moments where the kids seemed to imitate the teacher in praising each other. Would have liked some shots of the teacher from the kids’ P.O.V. and kids from teacher’s P.O.V.

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.

[Dennis Size]

Too much softlight eliminates all the delination and “edge”. I always prefer to use a hard key, in conjuction with soft fill — especially in this type of environment where you really want the host to “pop”. I would have also taken Math Man at least a stop hotter. Your key light also wants to be lower to fill in his eyes (which appear “lifeless” in his close-ups).

DS

[Daniel Schultz]

Dennis,

Your comments are really helpful and specific and useful.

Thanks!

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Thanks, Criag,

Helpful comments.
Thanks for taking the time.

Dan S.

[Tim Hall]

Sorry to bump an oldish thread!

I also film a lot of classroom based lessons, and always looking for ways to improve lighting. Daniel, did you use an on-camera light in the end? Or go without?

[David Braman]

Just joined the forum and have been reading this thread and thought I’d throw in my (belated) two cents worth.

I would contact the school in advance and have them supply you with 4 of the flo tubes in the class room ceiling. I’d then show up with a Kino; drop in the matching tubes; and close the window blinds. You can now shoot with the class room flos and use your matching Kino as a key. (I like to go verticle from the side…as opposed to top lighting them). You can now move quickly and (relatively) unobtrusively…and its natural and unlit. If you’ve got the extra money and want to go through the extra work, you can do the same thing with a second Kino and move that around for a kick