cinematography Which small upgrade should come first?

LaDjA

LaDjA

I’d really appreciate some advice.
I make “talking head” style videos, and I want to make a small upgrade to my gear.
Right now I’m shooting with my smartphone (LG G6) and I use Dedolight 150 spotlights for lighting – these are very high quality (I only have them because my dad used them for work), but not really suitable for these kinds of videos (more for stills and for lighting installations).
In outdoor lighting, the G6 makes great looking vids, but indoors (which is my only setting), it really doesn’t.

So, I have two options for this upgrade:
1. a used Samsung NX3000 camera (and keep current lighting set-up)
2. more suitable lighting – something like the GVM 480LS, for example (and keep shooting with the phone).

Which do you think will make a more substantial difference in the quality of my videos and ease of making them?
 
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I'm sure you can make it work. Don't think of your house as your house, think of it as the soundstage and the furniture as props. Move the desk, angle this, that, etc, done.
 
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But what's the minimum required for 3 point lighting?
And also - do I really need it? I know 3 point lighting is great for creating a cinematographic shot, but how important is it, really? How much will it actually improve my channel? (Yes, I totally think that a good image is important, I'm just not sure about anything more than that)
 
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In a nutshell you are able to light your subject from every angle which allows you to control shadows with manipulation of the lights.
 
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Yes. I'm aware of that. I just don't know how important it is for videos like mine.
Also, I really don't know what's the minimal space I need to set it up.
 
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Find a softer, quieter space in your home. Bedroom? Office/study?

Because you’re having trouble with shifting daylight in the space you’ve chosen, you might want to find a space that allows you to shut out light from windows. Give yourself some control. Or use a window in the background as your backlight if you end up with a key light that’s powerful enough to balance with it.

3-point light may not be necessary. A good key source and a good source for backlight/fill can work. You can get a smaller source to put a little pop in the background if you want. Put a color gel on it to give your background a different ambience. Or if you have something like a desk lamp in the background then use that to add some depth.

As for how much space... even an 8’x10’ room is big enough to light for a talking head. Find a room that allows you some comfort. Style the background by arranging tables, shelves, or a desk in the background. One of the reasons you gave for the space you’d picked was that you can leave everything set up there. That’s not a strong argument for using a poor space. Write down and diagram where and how you have everything set up and you should be able to recreate it easily each time you want to record. Another efficient use of the setup is to record several different videos in a batch so you have mutiple days or weeks worth of content to release between recording sessions.
 
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Backlighting is important because it makes your subject pop. Key lighting is obviously needed. This may be all you need, but the fill would be to help with any shadows either behind the subject, or literally on their face (from their nose, etc.).
 
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