My 5 Most Important Tips for Shooting Interviews

Prepare your questions:
-Think ahead about the type of questions you want to ask your interviewee. What kind of information are you looking for from this particular person and what are the type of questions that will best get them to give you the information you’re looking for. 5-10 questions is usually a good amount. Avoid “yes” or “no” answers, your questions should be asked in such a way that you won’t get “yes” or “no” answers. You need your documentary interviewees to give you substantive answers that you can use in your video edits.

Avoid shooting into a window and against a wall:

-When positioning your interviewee, you should never put them in front of a window if you can avoid it. Often what makes an interview visually striking is what is happening around and behind the subject.

Use the “Rule of 3rds”:

When positioning, or “framing” your interviewee, try to position them either left or right of center.

Light the interviewee and Audio:

- Lighting is crucial in any production, especially interviews. Try to have a key light on each person and also a flood light to brighten up the entire scene. Remember to adjust the lighting for each individual depending on the color clothes they’re wearing and their skin tone. Make sure that the lighting appears natural if inside and not too over powering if shooting outside. Audio is also very important,  if possible mic each person in your interview with a personal microphone. This will create the most professional result. If this is not an option, do your best to limit any and all outside noise during your shoot. The less ambient noise, the better.

Additional tip: 

Chair Set Up This may seem like a no-brainer, but a classic “two chairs facing each other” approach to your interview is going to be the easiest and most professional looking. Then, you can set up a camera over each person’s shoulder (just make sure you follow the 180 degrees rule). A third camera to take a shot of the entire scene would be ideal.