These are the notes I took from this week’s class about how to interview. I was going to edit them up and make them all neat and pretty for the blog but then I decided that I’d rather show how my thinking process of writing these notes went, take note of what I thought was most important and less important….

 

1st task: put the interviewee at ease, make them safe and comfortable.

We set the tone for the interview with our own behaviour

• “They’re going to make you look as good as possible” – give them confidence
• We can cut absolutely anything out so don’t worry about making any mistakes
• Let them know who is the main person to talk to – don’t be afraid to keep the conversation on track (“can we just return to…”
• If i want energy then I have to be energetic
• If i want spontaneous then I have to be spontaneous
• Press for clarification, if i don’t know what the interviewee meant then the audience won’t either.
• Listen for leads! – strong feelings
• Ask at the end “is there anything else you want to say, anything you feel we missed”
• Ask them for a summary? “What’s the future of girls in skating”

NEED TO WRITE A SCRIPT FOR THE INTERVIEW AS IT GOES ON> makes it easier to check what we have and if it’s suitable before ending the interview. Highlight good things and bad. What could be the beginning, what could be the end?

Need to be taking notes of good cutaways!

Think about where to film them, where will help display who they are, what the documentary is about.

Answer needs to restate the question. Can suggest how they start their answer before they speak.

KEEP THE CAMERA RUNNING THE WHOLE TIME. Don’t want to miss anything accidentally. Especially keep running after the interview.
Camera operator needs to be a really good listener. Figure out our communication – do we tap each other on the arm to say there’s a problem? Need to restart the question.

When repeating questions that is a really good time to reframe/go in closer.

Shoot atmosphere.

Think about the audio, where will unexpected sounds come from.

 

Interview planning.

• Tell us a little bit about yourself, your name, your age, where you’re from
• When did you come to Australia and why
• When and why did you start skateboarding?
• What does it mean to you now? Why do you still skate?

Taking notes:

• Questions asked
• Basic answers
• Time frame of film
• Highlighting good and bad
• Noting possible start and end.
• Noting what could be filmed as cutaways from what they say.