SHOOTING THE INTERVIEW

GEAR: Camcorder, hand held mic and appropriate cable, tripod, light kit.

SUMMARY: This lesson looks at the different methods for constructing and shooting the interview.

INTRO

There are several approaches to the construction of the interview. The one you choose will depend on the situation, the purpose of the interview, the available equipment and where the interview is to be used.

Here are some general procedures.

1. BE PREPARED ....... Double check your gear check tape, batteries, lights, mics, cables, stands, plug boards, etc. Always make sure you have spare batteries and a spare bulb. Make up a check list. Tick it off before you go out on a shoot. This will also helps you make sure you bring all your gear back.
2. RESEARCH YOUR INTERVIEWEE ...... Know all the background of the issue and of the person you will be talking to. Often if your target is a politician or a singer you will be able to get a bio. or copies of recent press releases to help you. The internet can also be a valuable source of research info.
3. RING TO CONFIRM ........ Always a good idea, saves any unnecessary running around. From experience the higher the profile of your interviewee the more important this becomes.
4. CHOOSE LOCATION ......Get some place quiet and use natural light to its maximum effect. If the background noise changes during the interview start again!!! If you need to chop up the interview and the background changes it will be different from edit to edit. This is called a sound continuity break.
5. SET UP LIGHTING ... (see production lessons, Lighting for video)
6. RELAX YOUR TALENT ....... Before you start the interview chat to your talent. If they are nervous, roll tape without telling them and gradually move into the interview ....... that's cheating!!!... but it gets great results.
7. SET UP YOUR CAMERA ...... Level tripod, white balance, filters, gain, audio levels, it all seems obvious to state but in the heat of the moment it is easy to forget and can ruin your shoot. Once again using a check list is good. If the situation is rapidly changing eg for vox pops, use automatic camera settings. It is always better to use a hand held mic plugged into the camera rather than the camera mic. (See ENG Sound Lesson)

TYPES OF INTERVIEW

1. THE TWO SHOT The camera finds a balanced shot with both interviewer and interviewee in shot. Simple but boring if you use it for too long.

2. THE FLOATING CAMERA Good for vox pops and magazine type segments. The camera is hand held, set to wide and observes the conversation as an observer would in a three way conversation moving between question and answer. Very effective but causes sea- sickness if over used. Camera can be held properly on the shoulder ....... or if you are after a more dramatic result try holding it at hip level and shooting on an angle!!!!

3. REVERSALS This is the most unusual method of all. A single camera captures all of the responses first. The camera is then repositioned or 'reversed' to record all of the questions. This, most often occurs after the 'talent' or interviewee has gone!!! Noddies are video taped to use as cut aways if any of the responses are too long. Noddies are smiles, nods and other expressions made by the interviewer. These noddies often have a range of expressions, nods, light laughs, smiles, frown, looks of concern, etc. They are edited over the voice of the interviewee as appropriate. HINT: Care must be taken to match eye line and relative size from questions to answers. Also framing needs to be such that each person looks into open screen. In this way when cuts are made the two people appear to be looking at each other. The 'reversal' styles interview.

4. THE MULTI-CAMERA SHOOT This approach requires sophisticated equipment and generally involves three cameras, a vision switcher, and an audio desk....... looks and sound complex perhaps but it's dead easy!!!! In general all the framing rules are the same as in 3). Camera 1 gets the shot of the interviewee, camera 2 the interviewer and camera 3 settles on a two shot for context. The shot script may be something like this:-

   • shot 1- CAM 1- M.S. interviewers intro Hi and welcome today I have......
   • shot 2- CAM3- two shot for greeting -Thank for joining us....
   • shot 3- CAM 1- M.S. interviewer quest 1- what do you think about......
   • shot 4- CAM 2- M.S. interviewee ans. 1- Well ......

   The switching from camera to camera is effected as required. Communications between camera operators and director is made via headsets. See Multi Camera Lesson

THE QUESTIONS

There are several types of question used in the interview . A good interviewer uses a range of these to get to the information they are after. Questions can be open ended or general, they can be probing, clarifying, closed- requiring a yes/ no response etc. Ask someone to check your questions before you get to the interview. Your English teacher is a good place to start!!!

INTERVIEW ETHICS

We have all seen examples of how an interview can distort truth. Both the interviewer and editor can be responsible for this distortion. Sensationalism may seem fun but at the end of the day something that is not truth is a lie. We must consider the ethics of media and report accurately!!

ACTIVITY 1

1. Divide the class into crews.
2. Students within each crew take on a role as camera operator, lighting director, producer, interviewer, researchers, sound operator. Assign one style of interviews 1-3 above to each crew
3. For this activity select a cooperative teacher or school personality.
4. The researchers and interviewer choose a topic and design the questions
5. Book a time with the interviewee
6. Record the interview
7. Edit if needed (See Editing Lesson, Editing Video Tips)
8. conduct post mortem

ACTIVITY 2

.......... if you are game!! Put your work on National Television

Repeat activity 1 except this time for real. Choose a person of interest to young people in general. Could be in sport, science, music, acting, politics, etc. Notify School Torque to check if your choice is suitable for broadcast on the show and for some added input. Follow activity 1 and good luck!!