Knowing how to light a one-on-one interview is crucial for broadcast journalists. If you don’t have good lighting, your footage can’t be aired on TV. Bob Riggio, who has been a news cameraman at NBC for 42 years, gave NBCU Academy a lesson on interview lighting basics in the video above and further reflected on his long career below.
If you’re going to have an interview, what do you keep in mind in terms of lighting?
When you turn a camera on in a room, it’s not going to expose properly. Essentially, you need three lights to light an interview. A key light sits off to the side, and it lights the dark side of your face. Then, we come in with a little fill light on [the other] side. The third light you put in the back — it’s called a hair light, or a backlight. It separates you from the background.
As long as my focus is good, I’m satisfied with the look. There’s a lot I can do — I can light backgrounds, put different lighting up, but as long as your person’s in focus and you have control of your camera — different lenses give you different looks — it’s usually going to be OK, especially for news.
When you’re lighting a shot, you want to make it look like it’s not lit. That’s the whole point. You want to make it look natural, but with a little craftiness.
How did you become a news cameraman?
I had some great years doing engineering for the NBC Radio Network. I worked for [radio hosts] Howard Stern, [Don] Imus at WNBC. I did “Monday Night Football” back in the late ’80s, Bob Costas was our announcer. When I got into news field operations, I was partnered with a news cameraman who had been a news photographer for a long time. I did all the audio, the tape recording, all the ancillary jobs for 14 years. I didn’t really touch a camera in those 14 years. We traveled the world together. I stepped into his shoes when he retired, and I’m still there.
When my turn came, I had an eye for it. When you step behind the camera, you have an intuitive vision. It’s like being a musician — I’m a drummer as well.
What assignments have you enjoyed the most?
People that I’ve looked up to or been a fan of, I’ve had a chance to meet — Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, all the guys in Led Zeppelin. Every movie star from Al Pacino to Bob De Niro to famous directors, politicians, musicians. I have a whole collection of photos, at least 120, of everybody I met because of this job.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to be a news camera operator?
Think like a journalist. The No. 1 piece of advice, besides the technical stuff, which anybody can learn, is to be curious, ask questions and get to the bottom of things. You’re not just out there randomly shooting or capturing what’s going on in the field. You’re not going to get anywhere that way.
Gallery: Bob Riggio Meets News Notables
All photos courtesy of Bob Riggio.