How to Interview on Video

When doing an interview there need to be at least three people involved. The person being interviewed, you, the interviewer and someone to work the camcorder. It could be argued - I would so argue - that an extra person to handle the sound is a great benefit but this is a policy of perfection.

Interviewing for video is a skill that can be acquired with practice. The key to successful interviewing is research, research and yet more research.

Before you interview a subject you need to know as much as possible about the person you are interviewing.

And you need to read everything that anyone has ever written about the subject.

This is what the Internet is for. Typically it contains everything written in recent times.

The more information you can get, the more research you do, the smoother the interview will go.

Having said that it is vital that you, the interviewer, both asks questions and knows when to shut up.

The problem is that often you will find yourself knowing more about a subject than the person you are interviewing, and the temptation then is to show off your knowledge.

This is fatal.

The viewer is not interested in your views. It is the person being interviewed ? the interviewee ? who should be the center of attention. And before you ask, yes, this is a major problem for me. I cannot keep my big mouth shut.

Be prepared for interviews that go smoothly and those that get a bit ragged. Three examples.

I had an hour interview with Bill Gates in Sydney for Australian television. My questions were well prepared. He would listen to the question, stay quiet for a moment and then give a cogent, grammatical answer. Amazing. As an interview it went like a dream. On the other hand, I got one very wrong. The interview with the late Tony Hancock, perhaps the greatest British comedian of his day, took place in the Sebel Town House in Sydney. It started as a shambles for I had not done enough homework. It evened out after a while and in the end worked reasonably well. As it happens it was the last interview given by Tony Hancock.

Then I did a series of interviews with members of my family. I stayed out of shot and just let them ramble on what they thought about their siblings. It was electrifying stuff. If you were a member of that family.

Write all of your questions down and create supplementary questions in case an answer, a good answer, is not forthcoming. Avoid questions that invite the single word answer 'yes' or 'no'.

If you ask 'Are you in favor of premarital sex?' you will probably get a single word reply, which is not the idea at all.

Phrase your questions so that they lead the person being interviewed into expanding their views. 'Your book suggests that you are against premarital intercourse. What are your views on this?' is much more likely to elicit a full and frank comment than the first question.

To avoid a 'yes' or 'no' answer use the tried and true journalist technique of asking who, what, why, how and when questions. None of these can be answered with a straight 'yes' or 'no'.

Before the interview starts, you, the interviewer, must meet the subject and establish some sort of rapport. There are interviewers, a few, who can go in cold and get a good result. But they are few and far between.

The preliminary chat is, as it were, part of your research. With it you will establish the ability of the person being interviewed to talk, to express themselves, to answer questions. It is possible that this preliminary talk will end in you modifying some of your questions.

In your preliminary chat avoid asking the specific questions you will be asking in the interview.

Instead, indicate general areas of interest. If you ask the specific questions the filmed interview will give an impression that it has been rehearsed.

Before you start your interview have your key questions laid out and ready. You need a certain amount of flexibility but most of the time you will find that your first and logical thoughts or question order is much better than one you compile while winging it.

There are two main way of handling an interview.

The first is where the question is not heard and the questioner not seen. Instead, you get answers that are obviously directed at someone who is out of shot.

A series of answers like this can be edited together from either one person or several, to provide the effect of a continuous interview.

In this sort of interview you ask the question and then you keep your big mouth shut. If some sort of reaction is needed nod or shake your head vigorously or smile encouragement. If you speak you will have to be edited out afterwards. Which is not always easy.

This technique can be seen being used to magnificent effect in the movie 'When Harry Met Sally' which contains a series of such interviews with married couples describing their lives together. Magic.

The other type of interview is where you are both on screen in the manner of a normal conversation. This sort of interview can easily be covered with one camera.

Shoot the interviewee's answers first and then shoot the interviewer from where the interviewee has been sitting, asking exactly the same questions. At the end you do a series of 'noddies' that can be used for cutaways.

The key to making such an interview work is to get the person relaxed. Try to film them in a familiar surrounding so that they do not feel threatened. Keep the camera work and the lighting as unobtrusive as possible.

The first question should be a sound level check and should be totally innocuous.

Start the interview very gently in a chat mode and always move from soft to hard questions imperceptibly. Do not start like gangbusters or the interviewee will clam up or, in the worst case, walk off. It happens.

At the end of the interview I always ask 'Is there some question you would like me to have asked that I have missed out on?'

This allows the subject to expand on a point or deal with an area they feel has been skipped. It is quite remarkable how often you will get an excellent and usable response after that last question.

Start off with a long shot of the person being interviewed facing the interviewer. The interviewer's back appears, which gives a three-dimensional aspect to the shot and gets the scene in context for the viewer. Change the shot sizes in rhythm with the questions. New question, new framing.

Another form of interviewing on video is vox pop ? from vox populi, Latin for the voice of the people ? are quick interviews with people in the street to demonstrate public opinion on a subject.

What you want to end up with is a series of statements that can be cut rapidly together and, in the end, give a clear indication of the current attitude on a subject.

To make the interview more interesting change the shot size as a new question is asked. That is, switch off, zoom in from, say, mid shot to close-up, and then resume filming again.

Use different backgrounds and different eyelines.

Work out how many interviews you want and then shoot to that number with perhaps a 50 per cent safety margin. Do not go on shooting after that point. You could be getting useful footage for another scene rather than wasting your time. In vox pop moderation is the key.

Note carefully that subjects can move backwards and forwards when making a point and may even wave arms around in the air and you need to be prepared for this so they are always in shot. That the camera does not cut off parts of their bodies. Armless interviewees may be harmless interviewees but that is not the point of the excercise.

Gareth Powell has done many interviews for newspapers, magazines and television. He writes about making videos on his site, Digital images, http://www.pixelates.com

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Peer to Peer Internet Video Broadcasting

Unlike standard television broadcasting, there are a limited number of... Read More

How Video can be used Effectively Online

A powerful way to convey your communication messages to your... Read More

Seven Tips on Making a Successful Video Production

Producing a video for your company can be an exciting... Read More

Interview with a Video Virgin

Shani Alexander is the founder of Relocations Made Easy (www.relocations-made-easy.com)... Read More

When Does a Corporate Video Add Value?

A professionally made corporate video production can greatly enhance your... Read More

Is Video Streaming the Future for Corporate Video?

Things have changed quite a bit from when I started... Read More

Independent Video in the Information Age

One of the primary obstacles for video content distribution over... Read More

Five Ways to Profit from Using Video Online

The newest media wave to hit the online shore is... Read More

Video Converters 101

Your PC may contain hundreds of video files, all encoded... Read More

Creating Value With Streaming Video Content

Having a corporate or promotional video for your company is... Read More

Beginning in Videography

If you're looking to get into videography and video editing... Read More

How to Interview on Video

When doing an interview there need to be at least... Read More

Shooting High Definition Video Footage in Italy

Italy is without question the place to shoot high definition... Read More

How to Star in Your Own Promotional Video

Well, it's official. You are going to star in the... Read More

Streaming Video on Your Website - Convert Visitors into Customers

Streaming video is a sequence of "moving images" that are... Read More

Look Into My Eyes - New Webcam Technology

If a new webcam technology from Microsoft get the go-ahead,... Read More

What You Need To Know if Your Company Wants To Produce A Video

Studies show that people remember merely 20% of what they... Read More

DVD Authoring: An Introduction

DVD Authoring is the process of collecting various content assets... Read More

Video Biographies; Why Hire a Professional?

There are lots of reasons to create a video biography.... Read More

Working with Royalty Free Music

When creating Multi-Media Content, Flash or Video Clips for a... Read More

E-Commerce & Streaming Media: A Marriage that Works

In the heavily populated world of E-Commerce, what determines whose... Read More

Put Audio & Video on Your Web Site

As a company that sells streaming media services for a... Read More

Network Marketing and Video Email

I received another e-mail today from someone telling me that... Read More

Beginners Guide to PC Video Editing

If you're new to PC video editing then knowing where... Read More

Create a Favicon for Your Customers Bookmarks in Four Easy Steps.

A favicon is a custom icon that sits next to... Read More

Looking for an Innovative Way to Explode Your Sales? Video Software - Benefits, & What to Look for

Insider's Scoop On How To Skyrocket Your Sales Plus Decrease... Read More

Benefits of Training Videos

A major problem with the running of a large corporation... Read More

Google Video Viewer tweaked for Non-Google content

'DVD Jon', a Norwegian programmer, has tweaked Google video to... Read More

Boost Your Online Sales with Audio and Video Support

Have you ever noticed when you are shopping at most... Read More

Video Email - The New Way to Communicate

The Internet is now a thriving means of communication and... Read More