Building a Camera Plan for a Two-Chair Interview Set

Every camera plan we write begins with a sketch of the floor. Mark the two chairs, the distance between them, the backdrop and the nearest wall, then draw the lines the audience should see: host to guest, guest to host and the pair together. Only after that do we decide how many cameras the set needs and where they stand.

Helen Marsh here. In mid autumn we are often asked to brief crews for a run of interview programmes before the winter schedule begins, and the sketch is the document everyone returns to. It costs nothing to redraw on paper, and a lot to move a pedestal once the lights are rigged and the cables are taped down.

Keep the sketch honest about space. A pedestal needs room to turn and a cable run behind it, and an operator needs somewhere to stand without blocking a door or a monitor. If the room cannot hold three cameras comfortably, plan for two and plan them well.

• Mark chairs, backdrop, doors and cable routes
• Note the lens height you want for each seat
• Leave a clear walking path for the floor manager

For a conversation between two people, two cameras are enough if each one can give both a close single and a looser two-shot. Place them either side of the host, angled in towards the guest, so both faces are seen slightly off-axis and neither person looks away from the lens.

A third camera earns its place when the programme needs a locked wide shot to cut to safely. It gives the director somewhere to go when a guest leans out of frame or a camera is being re-framed, and it gives editors a clean option if the interview is recorded for later use.

We usually recommend the third camera on a fixed head, because it needs no operator and costs the crew nothing in attention. Do not add it to look more professional. Add it because the director will use it.

Decide the shot sizes on paper first: a close single of the guest, a medium single of the host, and a two-shot that holds both. Give each one a number, so the director can call them quickly and every operator knows what is meant without a long explanation over the intercom.

Headroom and eyeline matter more than clever angles. Leave a small gap above the head, keep the eyes about a third of the way down the frame, and give the person a little space in the direction they are looking. These rules are plain, and they hold up on any screen.

Walk the set with stand-ins before the real guests arrive. A colleague in each chair shows you straight away whether the host's shoulder blocks the guest or the two-shot cuts someone off at the elbow.

• Number each shot so calls are short
• Check headroom with a stand-in in every seat
• Agree one shot as the safe fallback

A good briefing takes ten minutes and fits on one page. Tell each operator which shot is theirs, which seat they cover, what to do when the guest moves, and which colleague to look to for instructions. Avoid long speeches, because nobody remembers them once the studio is live.

We ask operators to say back what they have understood. It sounds small, but it catches the quiet misreadings that otherwise show up on air, such as two cameras both holding the same close shot while the host sits in the dark.

Agree the language of the intercom as well. Short calls, one voice at a time, and a clear word for ready, standing by and taking. A calm crew is usually a crew that has agreed how to talk before the programme starts.

Run a short rehearsal that deliberately includes what tends to go wrong: a guest who sits forward, a host who turns to the wrong lens, a pause while someone finds their notes. Watching the crew deal with these moments once is worth far more than hoping they never happen.

Check focus and exposure with real faces, not with the stand-ins alone. Skin tones and backgrounds change under the lighting, and a quick look at each camera's picture beside the others will show if one is warmer or darker than the rest.

Leave time for a second pass. The first rehearsal finds the problems, and the second tells you whether the fixes worked. If time is short, shorten the programme meeting rather than the rehearsal.

• Rehearse a guest leaning out of frame
• Compare all camera pictures side by side
• Keep a second pass in the schedule

After the first programme, sit down with the director and operators for a few minutes and note what changed. Perhaps the host prefers a wider two-shot, or a guest chair moved a hand's width. Update the sketch and the shot list so the next crew starts from the truth.

Over a season the plan settles into a routine, and the routine is what keeps the broadcast steady when somebody is away or a new operator joins. Keep the document short and dated, and keep one copy in the studio where people actually work.

If you would like help with the first plan, or a second pair of eyes on one you already have, our live camera direction work covers exactly this: camera plans, operator briefing and shot design for interviews and desks.