Talking head lighting should shape the face a little and keep the eyes bright. Flat even light feels safe but it also feels dull, and dull loses viewers.
The aim is a soft key, a gentle fill, and enough separation to keep the person from blending into the wall.
Place a soft key about forty five degrees off camera and a touch above the eyes. This gives one side of the face a little more light and keeps the skin smooth.
Big and soft beats bright and small for interviews, because it flatters skin and hides blemishes without extra work.
Check the catchlight in the eye and keep it consistent from take to take.
A back light or a lit background keeps the subject from merging with the wall. Even a small gap in brightness does the job.
If you have no back light, light the wall behind the person so the head stands out against it.
Careful not to blow out the background. A slightly bright wall is enough.
The best talking head setup is the one nobody notices. If a viewer thinks about your lighting, you have already lost them.
Lock your camera, your lights, and your white balance before you record. A slight shift between takes is harder to fix than a bad first choice.
Mark the floor where the subject sits so they return to the same spot after a break. A few inches forward changes the light on the face.
Use the same eye line throughout so the cuts feel clean when you edit.
Do not light only with the ceiling fixture. It drops shadows under the eyes and makes skin look gray.
Do not sit the subject against a bare lamp or a bright window. Both pull the eye away from the face.
Do not crank the key so hard that the highlights on the forehead clip. Watch the forehead, not the average brightness.
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