ScopeMedia StudiosBook

Hire · SE5 9HW, South London · from £40 · open 7 days

Shot in March. Matches the one from June.

Documentary contributors never arrive together. One is free in March, one in June, one the week before the edit locks, and the film has to cut as if they sat down on the same afternoon. Studio B is a blackout room within a room, so the set-up is repeatable and the sound is clean each time; the podcast room takes the audio-led contributor by the hour; and Studio A takes the dressed-set interview that needs floor.

Check availability
Studio B under neutral white light showing the curved cove and the wall-mounted backdrop roll bar

How it works

  1. 01Send the contributor list and the datesHow many people, how far apart, and whether the look is a plain backdrop or a dressed set. That decides the room and whether you want the same block held on several dates.
  2. 02Document the set-upPhotograph the frame, note the backdrop, the wash and the chair position, and bring the notes back each time. With the daylight killed, what you wrote down is what you will get.
  3. 03Book by the block or the hourStudio B is £120 for two hours, £220 for a half day and £420 for a full day. The podcast room is a flat £40 an hour. Studio A is from £160 for two hours. Set-up and pack-down sit inside the booked time.
  4. 04Quote the lights onceLights are charged separately from the room rate — please enquire about our lights, and tell us you are matching across dates so the quote covers the same rig on each visit.

The rooms for it

Studio B dressed with a pink sofa on the white cyclorama under a fresnel light
Studio BSound treated as a room within a room, blackout capable and with an adjustable backdrop system: write down the wash, the backdrop and the positions and the set-up comes back in June as it was in March. The edit and playback area in the room lets you check the new contributor against the last one.From £120Check Studio B availability
The podcast room: four microphone booms around bouclé seating, under an arc lamp
Podcast RoomAcoustically treated and camera-ready, with professional microphones and audio interfaces in the room, at a flat £40 an hour — the room for the audio-led documentary, the oral history and the contributor who is on camera for a cutaway and on tape for an hour.From £40Check Podcast Room availability
Studio A during a live shoot, seen wide across the white infinity cove with softboxes either side
Studio A1,200 sq ft with full blackout curtains, for the interview dressed as a set — a workbench, a kitchen table, a car. It is not sound treated, so plan the sound around it and keep the quiet contributor in Studio B.From £160Check Studio A availability

Worth reading first

Documentary Interviews in a Studio: When to Leave the Location BehindDocumentary interviews in a studio: matching contributors shot weeks apart, eyeline, backdrops, sound in a room within a room, B-roll and releases.How to Film an Interview in a Studio: Sound First, Then Everything ElseHow to film an interview in a studio: sound first, then soft light that holds all day, a second camera on the right side of the line and a schedule that fits.Multi-camera Interview Set-ups in a StudioMulti-camera interview set-ups in a studio: one, two or three cameras, matching lenses, the 180-degree line, lighting two angles, lav and boom, timecode.Sound for Video in a Studio: Sync, Wild Tracks and ADRSound for video in a studio: sync sound in a treated room, planning dialogue around an untreated one, wild tracks, room tone, ADR and voiceover in the booth.Film Insurance, Releases and Paperwork for a Studio Shoot (UK)UK production paperwork for a studio shoot: public liability and kit insurance, release forms, the studio agreement, minors, cancellation and risk assessment.Studio Portrait Lighting: Setups and Patterns ExplainedStudio portrait lighting is three lights at most, usually one. Key, fill and rim, one- to three-light setups, and the classic patterns from loop to split.

Straight answers

What does documentary interview studio london cost at Scope?
Studio B starts at £120. Podcast Room starts at £40. Studio A starts at £160. Set-up and pack-down are inside your booked time.
How do we match documentary interviews filmed weeks apart?
Book the same room, kill the daylight and write the set-up down. Studio B is blackout capable, so the only light in the frame is the light you rigged, and its adjustable backdrop system and colour-washable cove return to the same setting. Photograph the frame on the first day and bring it back on the second.
Which room is quietest for a documentary interview?
Studio B. It is built as a room within a room and sound treated, so the contributor's answer comes back usable as recorded. The podcast room is acoustically treated too, and is the cheaper room by the hour for an audio-led piece. Studio A is not sound treated.
Can we record an audio-only documentary interview or oral history?
Yes. The podcast room has professional microphones and audio interfaces in the room and is acoustically treated, at a flat £40 an hour — one hour or eight at the same rate. The music studio's treated vocal booth is the other option for narration.
Can a documentary interview be shot on a dressed set?
Yes, in Studio A: 1,200 sq ft with full blackout curtains and ground-level load-in through the roller door for the furniture or the vehicle. It is not sound treated, so plan the sound with that in mind, or move the quiet sit-down to Studio B.
Can contributors wait and prepare somewhere private?
Yes. A client lounge, a kitchen and a dressing and prep room are in the building, and Studio B has make-up and styling zones in the room.

More in the full FAQ.

In the building with every booking

  • Kitchen
  • Dressing and prep room
  • Client lounge
  • High-speed Wi-Fi
  • Parking

In every room but one, lights are charged separately from the room rate, so please enquire about our lights and we will quote for what your shoot needs. The exception is the DJ room, where the professional film lighting is rigged in the room and included in the rate.

Anything not listed — ceiling heights, cove dimensions, power, capacities — is on request rather than guessed at. Ask us and you will get an exact answer.

Other things this building does