Interview Techniques

On Friday 27th February, I took part in an interview techniques workshop. From it, I learnt the following:

Framing

Firstly, we were introduced to framing. Whilst conducting an interview, framing is something that needs to be considered very carefully. The way that the interviewee looks corresponding with their background is vital. The background needs to interesting, yet not drawing attention from what the interviewee is saying. This can be achieved with focus. The background could be something that's relevant to them. For example, the image to the right is an interview with the owner of a pub. As you can see, behind her there are visuals of the bar area. It's best if the interviewee is sat at angle, for example to the left or right of the shot. (Can be determined with the rule of thirds.) It's always to good to switch angles and views between interviewees throughout the video as it captures the attention of the audience.

Sound

Secondly, sound is another important element of interviews. We were shown various ways of capturing the speech of interviewees. These included clip on mics that wirelessly transmit to a pack plugged into the camera. These can be very effective when utilised in a larger interview space with a larger shot size. There were also boom poles that could be used if you had a larger crew for your production. An issue that could arise with this method is that you have to get the mic as close to the interviewee's mouth to achieve optimum sound, without the microphone appearing in the shot. Another method is using an external speech recorder microphone. With this, the speech track would be recorded completely separate from the video track. The use of a clapper board at the beginning of both recordings would help to sync the two together in editing. There is also an internal microphone in the camera which could be used, however the previous methods discussed are definitely preferable. When recording an interview, you need to be aware of sound from other sources that could affect your speech recording. Things such as roadworks, fans, fridges, general people noise and echoes could deter the audience's attention.

Lighting

Thirdly, lighting needs to be considered when shooting an interview. Natural light sources can be considered for interviews with an outside setting, however factors such as movement of sun and clouds over the period of recording could cause an issue in editing and give a general unprofessional look. When shooting inside, lighting from the usual appliances could be used. However, there are methods to enhance the lighting in an interview. Things such as reflectors can be held by crew members to add a warm or cool tone to the lighting on an interviewee. For a higher end production there would external lighting such as softboxes used to enhance both the interviewee and their backdrop. White Balance settings on cameras also need to be correct to the bulb type of the lighting to avoid any discolouring.