CHAPTER 9

SHOOTING INTERVIEWS

I’ve found that video interviews are a very organic transition from stills to motion. Many people believe that interviews are a tiny niche within the film industry, and though that might be true when it comes to the overall productions, I strongly believe that interviews offer fantastic learning opportunities applicable to a wide variety of shooting situations.

While shooting video interviews, you don’t have to worry too much about camera movement, you can apply your photographic lighting skills to continuous lights, and once the lighting strategy is defined, there isn’t much you need to tweak. You already know which lenses and framing would be best for portraits, and since the subject is relatively still you can concentrate on learning a few additional skills like directing your talent and asking better questions.

Interviews also provide wonderful opportunities to learn more about sound, either by shadowing an audio technician working with you, or by jumping into the freezing waters of sound and doing it yourself.

In this chapter I’d like to share some of the many valuable lessons I’ve learned while shooting, producing, and directing interviews, and also by being in front of the lens. There are enough tips that I’ve separated them into two groups: technical and creative.

INTERVIEWS: TECHNICAL TIPS

Fast-paced, high-pressure corporate assignments are increasingly common. You have to work fast, with the least amount of gear, and accomplish two important goals: you need to be completely ready when your client shows up, and you need to make them look great.

For assignments like these, my dream skeleton crew consists of one person as director and interviewer, one director of photography who is in charge of one camera and also recording and monitoring clean sound to an external monitor, and a third person working as gaffer and grip and manning a second camera. I have shot countless interviews with this setup.

As soon as I arrive on a location, my very first priority is to find the best spot to shoot the interview. I find the location’s brightest light source and evaluate the quality of that light.

In a perfect world, we would shoot interviews on a pitch-black set with full control of the lighting, sound, and props—which is exactly how movie sets work—but that rarely happens in real life. Many offices and meeting rooms have large windows, which provide obvious challenges, but by far the biggest challenge is noise. Whichever location you pick for your interviews must be quiet.

Figure 9.1.1

Figure 9.1.2

My second priority is to determine where to place the cameras. It took me a while to realize that as soon as you put the camera on a tripod and point the lens in one direction, everything magically falls into place. Why? Simple. The talent must be in front of the camera. For most of my projects, the director/interviewer is usually out of the frame, sitting next to the camera, ideally on my right, next to where my keylight is positioned. In this case, my fill light would go on my left. Placing the camera on the opposite side of the keylight is a common filmmaking technique because it offers a much more interesting look. Someone once said that “drama lives in the shadows,” and that’s generally true when lighting people.

Figure 9.1.3

Figure 9.1.4

If you are working with an experienced gaffer (see chapter 2) he might use fancy filmmaking terms like “lighting upstage” or “shooting against the key,” which simply means directing the keylight toward the side of the actor’s face opposite his eye line (e.g., if the actor’s face is turned slightly to the right, the keylight will illuminate the left side of his face).

I highly recommend researching your subject before the shoot. Knowing in advance whether the subject wears glasses, their height, skin tone, style, hair color, and other similar details will be tremendously helpful for determining the best lighting scheme that will work for that individual.

For portraits I typically like to expose the talent about a stop to a stop and a half brighter than the background, and I always want to catch some light on the actor’s eyes. Generally speaking, the higher the contrast between the high key and the fill light, the more emotional the piece. A 1:2 ratio is pretty standard and usually a good starting point. I tend to use a soft light for portraits, especially when photographing women. The soft light helps hide skin imperfections and provides a glamorous look. But as always, there are some disadvantages. Soft light is much harder to control, especially if the light source or diffusion materials are large.

Sometimes you can create a natural separation between the subject and background without resorting to backlights—for example, if you are shooting a subject with white hair against a black background or a brunette against a white wall. That is why researching your subjects in advance can save you time!

If there’s a window and the interview will last only a few minutes (the more important your subject, the less time you will have with them), don’t be afraid to harvest some natural or available light, but keep in mind the direction in which the window is facing. Northern light is typically softer than southern light. Eastern light is harder in the morning whereas western light is harder in the afternoon. At night, the light sources need to be positioned outside the shooting angles, and during the day the window light often needs to be diffused.

Sometimes we need to alter or completely reverse our original plan in order to work within the project’s constraints. While I tend to follow a basic lighting structure, I spend a considerable amount of time before each project finding the lighting scheme based on the story, mood, message, or voice we would like to convey. To succeed you need to know your equipment, trust your instincts, think fast, be open to new ideas, and never be afraid to break some rules.

INTERVIEWS: PRACTICAL TIPS

There are a lot of ways to capture successful interviews. The following sections include some tried-and-true techniques and questions that I wish someone had taught me when I was getting started.

Figure 9.2.1 Shooting a commercial in the Bronx, New York

INTERVIEW STRUCTURE

An interview is a conversation that involves three people, not two, as we typically assume:

• The first person is the guest who is sharing information and usually answering questions.
• The second person is the interviewer, who is the facilitator. She is asking questions and guiding the conversation.
• The third person is the viewer, who is the person following the interview. We should always keep the viewer in mind. Are they going to understand the question? Are the answers too long? Do we need a different camera angle or b-roll to keep them engaged?

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve shot, produced, directed, and edited multiple interviews. Regardless of my role, there are a few key factors I consider before the cameras start rolling:

• What is the goal of the interview?
• Will we be asking the same set of questions of different people or different questions depending on the person?
• Will the client provide specific questions or do we need to come up with a list of questions in advance? If so, does the client need to approve the questions?
• Carefully research the subjects. Make them feel that you truly care about their stories and lives.
• Test all the questions with someone else before the interview to make sure they’re clear.

As a director of photography, these are my pre-interview questions to the producer:

• Will the interviewer be in the frame or not?
• How many cameras and what kind should we use?
• Which lenses, lights, audio gear, and accessories are ideal for this project?

Figure 9.2.2 My typical one-man crew interview setup

• Can we scout the location?
• How long before the interview can we access the location?
• How much time do we have to set up?
• Can we set up the day before and leave some things (mostly lights and tripods) securely overnight?
• Do we need to change locations for different people or are all of the interviews happening at the same place?
• Are we going to have a digital imaging technician (DIT) on set (see chapter 2)?
• Who will take care of the post-production work?

My rule of thumb is that you need 20 to 30 minutes per interviewee to get a great one-minute clip, and about 60 minutes to get a three-minute clip. This does not include capturing b-roll.

Data storage, batteries (for cameras, external recorders, audio recorders, lights, etc.), and light shapers are important considerations.

DURING THE INTERVIEW

Although we all have real-life production and budgetary constraints, shooting interviews doesn’t need to be as hectic and fast-paced as shooting a low-budget documentary. Allow enough time for your crew to set up and fine-tune the lights and for the interviewee to relax and look and feel great. These tips will help you to capture a great interview:

• Make people feel and look good. Make it a conversation, not an interrogation.
• Keep technical instructions to a minimum, but ask people not to look into the camera.
• Keep your questions short, avoid yes or no answers, and don’t answer your own questions.
• Ask people to wait, and repeat the questions.
• Get what you need.
• Interrupt if you have to.
• Learn to nod and truly listen. This is a hard skill to master.
• Stories and anecdotes are better than straight answers.
• Truly pay attention to the answers, not just to your list of questions. Very often people will mention things that were not part of the original research, but that might lead to more interesting conversations.
• Always prepare more questions that you think you will need.

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

As you’re finishing the interview, ask the interviewee for feedback. They might want to clarify something or mention a topic that wasn’t covered. My go-to questions are:

• Is there something you would like to mention that I didn’t ask?
• How can people find you online?
• Are you working on something exciting that we didn’t discuss?

I guarantee you will be happily surprised by some of these answers.

Figure 9.2.3 Sometimes I also have to jump in front of the camera.