While the week 5 lectorial and reading introduced us to the process of conducting an interview, the workshop allowed us to test and explore our newly found knowledge. As we got into groups of four, we planned out questions for university students on the topic of how to survive your first six weeks of university. The trial interview allowed us to explore how to word questions, keep the interview on track and collect relevant b-roll.
It proved to be slightly troublesome in asking open-ended and relevant questions when conducting these interviews. We did eventually get through interviewing two students (Brooke and myself), though the questions didn’t provide much insight into how to survive university, rather they were just questioning our daily routine and opinions on university.
The faux-interviews did help to better understand how to word and ask questions without being bias, suggesting something, or even asking a closed-ended question (one that only allows a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer). After completing the interview, we were able to reflect on what was said and collect tons of relevant b-roll.
These difficulties did provide insight into how this could be done better next time:
- Focus on the interview topic;
- Word questions in a way that allows the interviewee to elaborate extensively without being bias;
- Ask to summarise what the interviewee is saying;
- Reflect on what was said to be able to collect useful b-roll.
