Thanks Naija.
For these the mics were a Sony ECM-77, Sanken COS-1, or a Sennheiser G2 wireless. Some shots were done with a Sanken CS3e shotgun. Almost all were recorded straight into the camera. I have found an improvement, though, when going through a mixer.

You should get approved quickly on DVinfo. Not sure what that is about. I would try again.

Thank you though. My usual lighting for interviews is a KinoFlo Diva (or Arri 1K open face w/Chimera) for key, and a Zylight Z90 or Arri 300 fresnel for backlight. I typically use Arri 650s or 300s for lighting the backgrounds, which I often gel or put some patterns on, but I usually try to keep things looking a little more natural. The priest (if I remember) was just the KinoFlo and the Zylight and existing light (which was on dimmers).

Thanks for checking out my stuff. As far as mixed lighting, if I plan to incorporate natural daylight I typically use a Kino Flo with daylight bulbs. I can gel my Chimera but it is more of a pain and it cuts the amount of light substantially. Sometimes, especially if it is late in the day I like to white balance to tungsten (and use tungsten lights) and let window light go blue. It usually has to be very dim outside though. I usually use between 2-3 lights and a bounce card sometimes. I can occasionally key with window light and use 0-1 light and bounce card. I like to not always have things look too "lit", but sometimes that is exactly the look I AM going for.

I sometimes throw patterns by using blackwrap with some holes cut in it and I put that on an Arri 650 fresnel. This helps to break up the background if it is a little less interesting. In the demo video there are probably only 2 or 3 shots that I do that for.

As far as DOF it is certainly great if you can get the person far away from the background. I used a Letus Extreme on some of the interviews (maybe 25%...including the 2 watershed ones) and that helps with getting a shallower DOF. But without I find that (especially with an EX-1 or cam with a larger sensor) if I stay wide or close to wide open I can get a shallower DOF.

If you have any other questions feel free to email me at benjamin.j.eckstein@gmail.com.