Week 5 was the week of interviews: what they do, how to do them, etc. Throughout the week, a range of tips and tricks, such as where to place the camera, yourself and the interviewee, what kind of questions to ask and how to ask them were discussed.
After learning about all of these things, one of my all time favourite filmmakers (and YouTubers), Bertie Gilbert, uploaded an interview that he did with his mother and his sister based on his sister’s learning disability and mental health.
Both emotional and informative, Bertie successfully allowed people to see a different perspective of this person (his sister) that they wouldn’t normally be able to.
Maybe it was because I’d just learnt the most common way to place the camera when interviewing someone and what way the interviewee should be looking depending on this placement, but Bertie’s interview shots slightly frustrated me. They were rather strange, out of the ordinary and unsatisfying. These interview shots, particularly of his mother, rather strange and out of the ordinary. Despite all of that, I feel like these unusual shots and camera placements added to his quirky and unconventional style and created a much needed informality to his interview.
The b-roll that Bertie had taken was was incredible, and he used it perfectly to show the quirkiness of his sister, which is the general intention of this film. Bertie’s b-roll has also helped to maintain a flow in his film, which is quite slow and suits the personality of his sister.
This film is quite literally a video portrait of his sister, and reflects project brief 3 perfectly. Reviewing how he made this video (from interviewing techniques and camera placement, to quality of b-roll) has given me inspiration for ways in which I could create my video portrait. Bertie Gilbert has perfectly shown how to display a personality through unconventional camera techniques/placement and pace.
