Small Setups for Cinematography Series - Interrogation Room

Why Was This A Small Setup?

It’s a good thing this shoot was for fun and to make a film as an example of a small setup. I didn’t have a lot of time at the location to make it happen (it was rented for 4 hours if I remember correctly), and the time I had also needed to include a little prep time for my actor friends. I also hadn’t visited the location before I got there. My friends found it and set up the rental for us. If this had been a professional shoot I might have been extremely anxious walking into that type of situation.

But, as always, we talked things over before we ever got there. How did we want the scene to look? How would our actors be interacting with each other? What kind of angles did we want? And most importantly, I had pictures and video sent to me of the location so I had some ideas before arriving.

Low-Key, High-Contrast Scene

For this interrogation room scene, we wanted our actors to be in a dramatic setting. To me, this means a low-key, high-contrast scene. In other words, deep shadows contrasting the bright spots in the scene and nothing too bright.

A great way to accomplish this look is to use negative fill, or grids with your lighting. In this case, I’m using an egg crate grid in my softbox to prevent light from spilling all over the place. Negative fill and grids not only allow you to “cut” your light, they also make it possible to mix different types and colors of lighting. I mixed the white key light with red and blue light from the sides of the scene. If I didn’t have a grid in the softbox, we might not be able to see those other lights which are meant to be very subtle.

Steady Camera vs. Camera Movements 

Let’s be honest - camera movement is a huge part of filmmaking. A slow push-in to an actor in contemplation, a dolly pull to reveal a scene, etc. An interrogation room scene is the perfect place for subtle camera moves to accentuate the dialogue and action. A good filmmaker knows when and how to use them. I personally love the slow push-in to an actor in a serious situation.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to set those shots up. At the very least, we were able to get the wide shot to show the scene, over-the-shoulder shots, and some random close-ups.

Main Equipment Used for the Shoot

Camera: Black Magic Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K G2

Lighting: Aputure: 300D x 2, GVM II Lite Panels x 2

Microphone: Sennheiser MKE600 x 2 into Zoom H6

Lens: Canon 24-70 with Black Satin 3 Lens Filter

Godox Octa 31.5” Softbox on the Aputure Key Light