Check out http://www.imagewest.tv they have Fresnels @ $269.00 and up and it comes with Barn Doors!

First question - what type of lights do you have already? Fresnel, Open face, Halogen, Fluro?

I'm not a fan of umbrella lighting - works well for studio stuff (photography) but if I'm going to bounce a light, I'll use white foamcoare instead.

My suggestion and I'm assuming you may have a partial Lowell kit based on the umbrella comment is to yes, by an Arri 650 with barndoors and scrims - you'll absolutely love this light - tremendous workhorse. The second light IMO would be a fluorescent light of some sort whether homebuilt or bought - There's the Vic Milt Nano Light or if you purchase, coollights.biz has some great Kino Flo-ish type lights that are a steal for the price -

On to lighting and this is just my suggestion - As much as I love edgy lighting, remember that these are old, wrinkly people and at that age, shadows love their faces :) -

Pending room size of course, I would suggest a nice photographic background or as deep of a room you can get in where you can get some depth of field in the shot - Use the 650 with some diffusion as your key light - don't try to take it so hard to one side of the face, bring it about center from the nose to the ear and back it up or knock it down so it's not harsh light, although you want it brighter than your fill - This is also where I'd use a fluroescent light although your temperature will be much cooler than your fresnel lights, however you'll get a very pleasing look, you'll just need to warm it up a bit with some gels. Take a 500 watt and bounce that back into the other side of the face using some foamcore or a reflector or something light, watch those harsh shadows.

Take your 250 to the opposite side of the 650 and use as a kicker / backlight

Take the other 500 and aim it at your background - You'll want to color this or pattern it somehow to break up the fully lit look you'll have otherwise - I don't know if you have access to some c-stands or such but you can easily take a piece of cardboard 12x12 and cut a pattern into it to use it as a cookie - your subject is nicely lit and your background is interesting, not flat and yet won't draw a whole amount of attention - You could still use additional lights with snoots for hightlights on the background but in all reality, even with one more light you'll be fine. In face you could light with your 500 watt as a key, place your 250 like above and then take foamcore and bounce that as your fill. Use the remaining 500 as your background light -

Lots of options - I think you could do it with just 3 lights but you'll want to play around a bit before you shoot these - don't let your interview be your testing area, although I don't know a DP or gaffer who won't fiddle a bit on set, you just don't want to tax the patience of your subjects.

Feel free to send me an email and I can give you more suggestions - there are tons of great ones all over the web too.

chenopup at gmail dot com

-cheno

As Cheno says, a 650 fresnel is a great work horse and Its worth having a few. Fresnels in general don't have as much output as an open-faced unit but they're a bit more shapable and controllable.

In my opinion (I worked professionally as a grip electric for many years) every light that can have doors and scrims should have doors and scrims. And each light should have a bag for it's scrim set and that bag should be hanging on that light's stand as soon as you set it up. Fresnels should have 2 full doubles, 1 full single, 1 half double, and 1 half single. Open faced and Par lamps just need the 2 full doubles and the 1 full single (called a "full house" if you use them all at once)

Bob has a very good point about flagging the lights. It's hard to control the spill on a soft light because they spread everywhere. I usually bring some 8' sections of Duvatyne (black cloth) and drape them as a curtain on the sides of a soft light. Pretend you're setting the light up in the wings of a stage at a theater. C-stands and small pony clips make this very easy. So I guess I'm recommending you fill out the grip side of your lighting an d grip kit. In this case I think it might be the better bet. Good grip gear can make a bad light much better.

Rob Mack

Cheno and rmack are describing it very well.

A few bonus points:

I use Philips 3000K fluorescent tubes bought at Home Depot for $5-6 each. They have a CRI of 85, which is great for the price. P/N 812782 for 40W 48" tubes.

GE fluorescents have CRIs of 60-70 for the low color temp tubes.

Philips and GE both make high CRI (90) daylight color temperature tubes that sell for $6-9.

Arri's fresnels have better-looking light than other brands. I don't know why, but it's irrefutable fact, imho. I got lucky with used on eBay.

If you don't have a grip truck, C+ stands have some advantages over regular C stands. The legs can be removed and stored flat separately, which makes them really easy to pack in your car.

About $180 each if you buy two with everything at http://www.Filmtools.com.

I can't get enough of Rosco black foil. Around $40.
Looks like aluminum foil that you have burned on a Bar-B-Q. Shape it
to control light and can clip using standard wood clothes pins you find
at a dollar store. Use the ones with a metal spring not the U shaped.

If you can with your lights use a dimmer. Might change the color temp
but you can adjust for it.

Vicmilt has many helpfull hints on his two DVDs.
A nanolight made with CFL bulbs and $1.50 sockets at Lowe's makes a
fantastic soft light and you can mount one CFL on a mic boom for a hair light.
Don't overlight. Some shadows are good as it shows some character in
the face.

Since it sounds like you already have a backlight and some fill, I recommend a single KinoFlo Diva 400. You can get one with 32k and 55k tubes for about $900.

The Diva's are dimmable, and the 55k tubes will allow you to shoot in a room that has daylight spill from windows. They're bright, use almost no power, and they don't get hot.

I shoot lots of interviews, and my entire package for those jobs is two Diva 400's and two Diva 200's. The light output is great for interviews because it's soft, directional, and falls off quickly so you don't need to flag it off the background. If I could only have one light, a Diva 400 would be it. (Well, maybe the Parabeam, but that's $1800)

The Diva's are great lights. I know they seem expensive, but they'll last you a very long time and they have decent resale if you choose to dump them later.

One thing you can do with black card or cloth is to put it on the dark side of a face as "negative fill" to darken that side of a person.

Blackwrap can be cut like expanded steel and then clipped to barndoors for a quick dappling effect.

Rob Mack

CClub -
I think you are entirely on the wrong track here -
650 watt fresnel lights are a thing of the past.

Especially for older people - they are too hot, too bright, and unless you REALLY know what you are doing, they are difficult to utilize as portrait lights. Furthermore, you will be at f5.6 or even f8 giving you a "too sharp" image. You want to shoot interviews at f2.8 to keep backgrounds relatively soft. And get back to the long end of the lens when you shoot as well, for the same reason.

I also hate umbrellas - too hard to control, and no way to prevent spill, and therefore, loss of "dark side" shadows.

I suggest a simple flourescent soft box, with possibly a 250 watt hair light, or background light and simply no fill, or even a dark card to work as an "anit-fill" to get you the contrast you are seeking.

In truth, I created an entire instructional lighting video dedicated to this sort of style, including building instructions for a flourescent light box which I called the "nanolight" - because it's cheap and it's light and it's cool to the touch (not hot). ["Light it Right" - available at www.vasst.com or www.VictorMilt.com or Amazon.com]. It covers exactly the look you describe.

Believe it or not, while I created the "nanolight" as a do-it-yourself project for those with limited funds, I have personally used nothing else for the last three years.

NO WAY would I subject an interviewee to 650 fresnels today. That style of lighting is history.

best,
v

I have found that the best lighting is fluorescent. Not very portable and easy to break... but by far the most versatile.

The "daylight" bulbs (4000K and up) throw out a natural color light as opposed to incandescent, halogen...etc. But they come in many different colors so you can match the lighting to your surrounding much easier. And the really great thing about fluorescent systems is that they spread the light out extremely evenly, so most of the time you don't have to worry about shadows, dark spots and diffusing.

I have a little HC3 cam and I am constantly having to correct the auto white balance on the time line under incandescents, but with daylight fluorescent lighting there is almost always nothing to correct.