Blog Post #2

For the past two weeks, I have learned about lighting and interviewed three people for the music department’s public relations video. Since I did not have any interviews scheduled during our meeting time on Wednesday September 21^st, Jeremy and I discussed and set up lights for a mock interview. I did not understand 3-point lighting in my JMC 270 class, but now I have a solid connection about the purpose for each light and how it is set up. The key light is the most important because it sheds the most light on the person. The fill light is positioned on the opposite side of the key light and it fills in the shadows that are being cast on the person. The back light is put behind the person to define the shape of their head against the background. This is especially important if the person has dark hair and the background is dark because their head will blend in with the background, which will not look good to the viewer. All three of these lights are equally important and will give the best quality lighting for any video.

The next day, I interviewed Dr. Pamela Wurgler, Chairman of the MSU Music Department and we used the 3-point lighting. During our scheduled meeting on Wednesday September 28^th, I interviewed Dennis Johnson, MSU Orchestra Conductor, and another music faculty member. Dr. Wurgler suggested sending the questions to her and the other interviewees before each interview. She said having the questions kept her from rambling and others just felt more comfortable when they had the questions a couple of days or more before the interview. I can use this in the future to help me because so far everyone I have interviewed has appreciated having the questions ahead of time. Also, the responses each person gave were their best well thought out answers and this should make the final product better. This week I am interviewing five more people and I have already sent them their questions. The video above is the first answer Dr. Wurgler gave during my interview with her.