Unit 36 - Interview Technique for Creative Media – Robert Mather
Before anything is done, there should always be a list of everything that you need to complete in preparing for the interview.
First of all to be prepared for an interview you need a set of questions and to formulate those questions you need to do some research on your subject; The more research on the subject, usually the better understanding you will have on making an interview that works. You will also gain a general idea of what questions would work best with the topic. The questions should be arranged in a neat structure; with a beginning, middle and end. The interview should Start off with a simple ‘ how are you’ or ‘can you tell me a bit about yourself ’ this will get the interview rolling and the interviewee will hopefully be more laid back afterwards. Whilst formulating you’re questions you should be shore that they cannot be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the majority of circumstances, as the interviewee may get through your questions quickly. An example 'Would you have done that' seems linear where ‘how do you think you would have approached the…’ this gets the interviewee thinking more about the question.
How, Why & What questions will usually get more of a response due to their openness and need of a more thought through answer. Did, Are, Will & Was questions can result in simple and short replies due to their linear stance.
The interview should be friendly, relaxed, even interesting. You want to make the interviewee enthusiastic in the event that they will give a great answer to your question; or be very emotional as they experience a nostalgia moment. Or even become angry, hearing the question, so that they give a bias strewn of answers that can be used to strengthen a point you are trying to show the interviews viewers. The questions must pry as much emotion and information out of your interviewee whilst still keeping the individual relatively calm. This may not apply to all styles of interviews but; what must be remembered is that the interview is not an interrogation and that although you are supposed to control the interviews path, it is the interviewee that is providing all of their sometimes personal thoughts on the question matter. Therefore you have to make shore the person that is being interviewed is comfortable, is allowed to speak freely and is happy with the way the interview is going. Although sometimes, to get the best answers, the interviewer can (and this has been done in many interviews) the bending and manipulating of the interviewee in certain ways e.g. through touchy questions or blackmail.
The interview is nearly over, but before it does end, there is a technique that can be used, possibly providing allot more enticing information on the subject of you’re questions. The ‘Soap box question’ where you ask the interviewee “Is their anything else you would like to add/elaborate on before the interview ends”. This is very useful as the interviewee can strengthen their answer; not adopting this technique will really limit the potential information the interviewee gives. Anything can happen with the soapbox question.
Something to make shore off is to not move quickly with the questions. The interviewee could always give a more composed answer. At the end of every question you should ask, “do you have anything else to say?”. If the interviewee has anymore information, they will spill it then; in some cases if the person being interviewed is getting board or being unenthusiastic; ask them a different question (even try to have a back up list of quirkier questions to get them to think about something different and hopefully wake them up. You can even try to persuade them more by nodding more; if this doesn’t help you can stop the interview and have a few kind words about what they may be doing wrong, so they correct it for when the interview starts again.
If you want to get a stronger answer from the interviewee you can challenge their thoughts: saying “Wow!”, “Really?” & “Seriously”.
Subsequently to make them feel sadder if they are expressing their emotions on a subject that is close to them; (although this is usually rude) you can say, “What did you feel in that moment” or “How did that affect you”. Be like a hawk thought the whole interview, by that I mean; listen to every word the interviewee sais, be positive, be energetic and this should emanate in their answers. Sound interested in all the interviewee has to say (even if you think the answers are flat and weak).
If there is a technical issue make shore the interview is stopped completely to allow the fault to be fixed. If there is a problem and you let the interviewee carry on talking; thy may get annoyed to find out that their was a problem and everything they said was lost. Make shore to kindly ask the subject to stop talking for the moment.
The audio and focus of the interview should be checked regularly in order to insure a good interview is being captured perfectly. If a boom mike is being used for audio and it droops into the shot of one of the cameras, it is up to the camera man to zoom in and crop out the boom mike. If the subject is moving around allot during the interview; they can get out of the lighting and / or focus which will in turn ruin the interview. The camera man must adjust the camera to keep the focus if this happens; also the lighting area can be made wider in order to stop the light problem if it occurs.
There are many rules when choosing a location for you’re interview; these issues fall into two categories, Physical & Technical. Physical issues are if you are welcome in the area, do people want you to film in that area? Some places require you to have a permit for filming; and their can be repercussions for not having the required permission to shoot the interview. Repercussions that will altimetry waste more time that can be used for you’re interview. The other matter of concern is Technical: whether you have control over people in that area, the surrounding must be silent in the immediate proximity for the microphones to produce the cleanest audio. Is the lighting in the area good (are their enough / too many lights?) Is their access to a power sauce for lighting, if needed? Can you record good video, is the area dirty, plain, ugly. All of these points must be accounted for when choosing an area for an interview.
Something to avoid when you have found your location are plain walls, they are lifeless and do not tell a story. The best interview environment should present what the interviewee is talking about, their beliefs and/or profession; the viewer should be able to make a structured description of the interviewee by observing the background. Although in some cases using the same background for each interviewee can prove to be more interrogation like and can put a different message in the viewers mind.
The interview must have depth to it, it gives a more cinematic feel and makes you look more professional. If the interview is back against a wall, their is no depth of felled, no shadow and so the interview looks 2D, lousy and is ultimately worthless.
If there is an angle in a room, use it; it is usually better to shoot in that direction of a corner as it gives more depth if shooting in smaller spaces, looks attractive and is less plain. As much good as you can you can add to a plain backdrop, you can also ruin them by over complicating and over whelming the interview shots. If there is really too much in the background and you cannot change anything. To elevate the problem you can simply bluer the background out. This can help if you are conducting the interview in a busy public area.
Right before the interview starts there are still small tasks that need to be ticked off. To stop the interviewee slouching, the use of high chares will require the interviewee to sit up straight, or they’ll fall over. Chairs without backs to them will eliminate the interviewee leaning back. Don’t let your subject sit on a spinning chair, the likelihood of them swinging around, even if they are not fully conscious of it, is very high. Always make shore the chair can not move, and is comfortable if possible to make the interviewee more relaxed if shooting the interview for a long time.
If the Interviewer is going to be in the shot at all what should be made paramount is that the interviewer and interviewee are at the same level, like a natural conversation. The subject should be seated diagonally to the position of the interviewee e.g. Interviewee-Right = Subject-Left;
If the interviewee looks into the camera whilst the interview is going on then the viewers will think the interviewee is addressing them personally; it can make for a better interview and seem more entertaining to the viewers.
If there is an emotional moment in the interview, a dramatic zoom can be deployed in order to conjure a heartfelt moment. In actual fact the dramatic zoom it very tricky as it can completely fail in many different ways. E.G. zooming in too fast, zooming in too much/ not enough, the zoom not being smoove enough or just being done at the complete wrong time. If you are only using one camera to film the interview it can be a very risky move. The technique should be used when there are two cameras so that you have a backup shot if the dramatic zoom fails.
The more cutaways the better; cutaways are what tells the story that the subject is explaining to the viewers and therefore makes the interview stronger. A large amount of cutaways allows the editor the means and flexibility to tell a story that can really add production value to the final interview, where if their were little to no cutaways, viewers will become disinterested and therefore the interview would have failed to entertain. Cutaways are easy to acquire allot should be captured when on the shooting location.
When everything is done and there is no more information to be gathered from the interviewee; strongly thank them, tell them when the interview may be shown to the public (if it will) and any information they request to know about what will be done with the interview. Thank the crew as well and make shore everyone is okay and happy.
Get a release document signed by the interviewee in order to legally use the interview. Their contact details are so that if you do need to film anything else with the subject, they will be available to be contacted. Make shore the area you are filming in is the same when you got their before filming; even make the area look more clean then when you arrived. If anything is moved put it in its original place.
Have a list of all the equipment you brought to the shoot and make shore you have everything when you leave. This should make people in contact with you’re crew and yourself more accepted to filming. and the news will spread in the area.
From the subject you need: their Signature & Contact Details
From the company you are working for: Name of the company, Description of the project you are doing, Title of the project, Contact details & A signature from a high ranking member of the company.
