Having guest lecturers is great. It keeps both the voice out the front of the room and the way the information is presented fresh.

Today we learned all about the art of the interview. I found the different forms of questions most interesting.

It’s something you’d never think about if it weren’t presented to you: the different types of questions and the effect they can have on your interview and interviewee. The difference between open ended and closed ended questions can make or break the quality of your piece. It’s essentially the difference about who is in control during the interview. Is it you steering by getting exact answers, or do you let your interviewee drive for a bit and see where it takes you? All part of the fun.

‘Leading questions’ are also thought-provoking. The way in which you ask a questions can get the interviewee to trust you or not. And what can you really get out of an interview with someone that doesn’t trust you enough to tell you anything interesting?

During this part of the lecture, I not only learned the importance of way you frame a question, but also the importance of having a variety of material to draw upon and questions to ask. I hadn’t thought about coming across and interviewee who won’t talk well or communicate well (one of those things that seem obvious once you know about them). This thought will definitely mean I make sure I do my research and really prepare.

This week the lecture talked about the do’s and don’t’s of filming in the general sense. It brought up some really good points that seem obvious when you hear them… but I can imagine a different story if you don’t. (Mostly about professionalism).

Project brief 3 is also coming up… (great – love me some heavily weighted assignments). It was good to be able to watch some examples and get and idea of the kind of thing we need to produce and some good creative inspiration.
Some of them were quite emotionally striking. At the moment I’ll just have to think about the kind of person I want to interview. Whether I want to get someone who is inherently interesting, or try to use my creative skills to provoke some emotions about someone who’s (in the nicest way) boring as hell.

The idea behind our lack of privacy is terrifying. It’s crazy what people can see and know about you just by searching your name in Facebook. Especially those that don’t have their privacy settings high on their profiles…

The reading and the video we watched in the week 6 lecture about Privacy spoke about the issue of privacy that I think any educated person knows is a huge issue when it comes to the internet.

But this week I also stumbled upon a video demonstrating a new invention: the microchip. This microchip, as outlined in the video can remove the smallest fragments of privacy we have left. It is inserted into the fleshy part of our hand and can be used to replace key cards, fit bits and other health monitors, credit cards, ID’s, the list goes on.

However, this video also doubled as inspiration for my up and coming Project Brief 3. I think it is an art to be able to portray information in a completely unbiased manner. The way ‘Business Insider’ present this new microchip leaves the feelings (whether they be positive or negative) entirely up to the audience. I’m still not sure on the angle I want to take with my interview, but it’s great to have examples of all the options out there.

It’s always interesting listening and finding out about the technicalities and rules of things that you watch. Finding out the truth behind the movie magic, it you will.

The theory and formula behind the art of asking interview questions is such an interesting topic, as it’s not something that you think about when watching something like 60 minutes. The lecture made me want to re-watch the interview with Oprah and Lance Armstrong when he admitted he took performance enhancing drugs. Although yes, Oprah does already have a trustworthy name for herself, the way she goes about each interview she does link back to the formula of sorts we learnt in class.

Here is a copy of the key part of the interview where Lance Armstrong actually confesses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_0PSZ59Aws