Oh I know! First let’s talk about the lights. They’ve got an array of 5 circular trusses. These contain moving beam lights (yellow), moving wash lights (green), followspots on the 3rd/4th rings (purple), and some sort of multi-diode panels or tubes on the outer ring (red).

Now all these lights (except the tubes) are quite “spotty.” They are direct and don’t spill out onto the people in the background. Unlike panels, they’re going to create shadows under the chin/eyes. That’s why you need several of them from many sides hitting the same person.

You can always tell how many lights are hitting a person’s face by counting the number of shadows under their chin. Here we have 4 lights. Panels wouldn’t have this same effect - the shadows would all be diffused. But American talk shows don’t use panels. So what’s different?

(1) Most American talk shows will light the guest with only a couple lights (notice chin shadow). This is because unlike Quotidien’s “theater in the round” approach where the host faces the guest, other talk shows use “proscenium” staging, where the speakers are cheating forward.

(2) Another huge advantage that Quotidien has is the white table the guests are sitting at. The table itself is not only a giant bounce for the light array above, but it has lights EMBEDDED in it, filling in shadows even more.

(3) This staging is smart because by not needing to have tall bleachers/seating for background audience members, the lights can be hung much lower than normal. Which means they reflect in the eyes of the guests and sparkle, as opposed to other shows where the eyes look “dead.”

(4) NOT ONLY THAT but the table reflection contributes to the “eye lights” even when the guest is looking down!

(5) Now, both types of shows have “hair lights” which help separate the speaker from the background. But the ratios are different! Quotidien isn’t afraid to have their hair (rim) lights overpower their face (key) lights. American shows have a more even ratio of rim to key.

Hope this helps! I’ve made many lighting tutorials for free on YouTube if you wanna learn more: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqvK8nJB5-miLZDuD-6WJvPd00xixc0nW&si=hCYZc6eDTDM51ov-…