I had some set questions for Charlotte like:
“what was your biggest challenge?”
“how would you describe yourself?”
“how have your parents affected your life”
But we ended up have a deeper conversation about her life which sent the interview in a different direction. Initially I chose Charlotte because she is can talk naturally while on film and has good camera presence. I felt like I should have been more prepared to ask questions that guided her answers a bit more. I wanted to get a really brief sweep over who she is, like a profile, so I thought of some word association questions. This why I could get an idea of her psyche without delving too deep while she was just warming up to me.
After going through the footage I’ve realised that i should have kept the questions short and the clips short so its easier to edit. Right now I have an endless pile of long clips that I am excited to go through
On “set” which was her room I quickly noticed the amazing bright bursts of orange everwhere, “how good is this mise on scene” I said, trying to impress her with my film jargon. It looks like orange is going to be the theme of the the film. I chose a day when I knew it would be quite sunny to achieve a nice warm glow. Before shooting I had visited her to scope out the area and decided that her room was ideal as it has a huge window that takes up a wall. Conveniently for me, Charlotte has it decorated with flags that diffuse the light and create a soft glow.
I found it a lot easier to time the microphone camera and asking a question this time around after the interviewing workshop exercise. Although I did have to tell Charlotte to press record on the mic so that it could sit close to her while I filmed a bit further away. I used a monopod of today’s shoot because:
- It’s easier to carry.
- I was able to get smoother panning (sort of) shots
- It could fit in many places in her room so I could get great angles by awkwardly crouching in the corners between furniture. How professional.
Although I am quite biased as I just want to convince myself that my sad one third of a tripod is useful.