Preparing Answers To Interview Questions In Advance?

S

seunosewa

Well-known member
Hello,

I shot some test interviews recently to prepare for an upcoming educational video.
My subjects were teachers and I asked them questions about their profession.

Reviewing the footage, I found their responses far too wordy and full of mistakes. In short, they did not 'perform' well enough because they were not actors.

While I want them to share their diverse opinions for my video, and I want it to be somewhat objective instead of completely scripted, I think such interviews will be far too boring for most viewers.

So I'm considering this approach:
1) I'll submit the questions in advance to the people I'm interviewing.
2) Ask them to submit written responses to those questions.
3) Edit their responses in a word processor for style and brevity.
4) Ask them to go over the edited version of their responses.
5) Conduct a fake interview in which they'll perform their edited responses over and over again in different ways until they get it just right. Like regular acting.

I'm sure I'm not the first person that has faced this problem, yet I've not heard of any interviews being conducted this way. What do you think?
 
Any chance you can get other subjects to interview? Subjects who dont mind the camera and can articulate themselves better? Some people are just not camera-ready.

To me, prepared answers always sound prepared, no matter how much work you put into it. I prefer honest spontaneity to prepared and pat.

Your production may not hinge on that kind of on-screen performance, though.
 
Is your project a series of interviews only with no visuals, VO, or cutaways? If so, it will hamper your editing possibilities. Personally, I would not do prepared answers. I usually don't even give interview subjects a list of the questions I'll be asking. Whenever I've had to ask a question twice for technical reasons, I'm usually not happy with the results. It's nearly always better the first time.

If possible try to incorporate visual cutaways. It will open up your editing possibilities.

Good Luck!

-Bill
 
Give them a list of questions beforehand, but EDIT the video to cut out the uh's, um's and pauses, move phrases and sentences around, etc.

During their answer, nod with them so they're getting feedback. Sit beside the camera so they're looking at someone. At the end of the question when they're done answering, look at them and wait for them to continue. After a few uncomfortable seconds they'll most likely keep talking (often paraphrasing what they just said, or adding something new and spontaneous) -- and this is where you get the best bits.

Asking them to remember stuff will just make them nervous and it will sound terrible.

I write out the answers I want to hear (which goes into the script), then write questions to get those answers (which they get to see). If they don't answer the question the way I need for the script, I rephrase the question on the spot until they get it right.
 
Forgot to mention cut-aways. Always shoot lots of material to cover the talking-heads. Talking heads are boring, and you should show only perhaps 5 or 10% of the interview, and cover the rest with shots of what they're talking about. So for a 1-minute interview, you'd only show 5 to 10 seconds of the interview.
 
Thanks. I'll work on my interviewing techniques and try to select people who are camera-ready. I'll also try editing more aggressively and masking the edits with cutaway.

Later, I'd still like to experiment with the prepared answers approach. It might be like working with amateur actors.
 
i just did a shoot for non-profit in NOLA. Some of the answer i got from the head of the organization took 3 minutes to answer. I kept having her simplify her answer. Using the follow up "can you sum that up in a few sentences" works well. Keep doing it until you get something useable. Since this was a commissioned project (which imo i dont hold in the same ethic category as straight up documentary work) I have no problem helping the subject mold their answer, something i do not do while working on more journalistic based work. Good interviewing skills is sooo important.
 
a few things i have worked on for interviews. being a one man show is tough enough but. .. people react different when they are telling a story looking into someones face that is reacting to what they are saying. breaking up into smaller bites as well will give you a better sound as well as a more animated look from your subject. wear your head phones ,the more you react to what they say the better it look and sound. best stuff is usually not the first question but the follow up one. great thing with hvx200 is that the quick play back to check picture. long rambling answers are terrible.
 
I have to agree with a previous poster -- finding the RIGHT people to interview is critical, just like casting the right actor in a dramatic film. People who are bright, have personality, speak well and handle themselves well on camera -- these are the folks you want to talk to. They will give you the fewest headaches.

I've found the next most important thing is to actually have an interviewer asking them the questions, not the guy who's also trying to run the camera. Your choice of interviewer is also very important -- someone warm, open, inviting and friendly. Your interviewer puts your interviewee at ease and helps them to be more comfortable, less nervous.

I usually have my interviewer and interviewee sit and chat for awhile, as I am setting things up. I encourage them to talk about things that are the subject of the interview, as well as just chit chat in general. This warms the interviewee up and gets him/her comfortable. By the time I roll tape, they're talking like old friends.

Having an actual interviewer also gives you something to cutaway to -- reaction shots, mainly. Just make sure your people are forewarned to be careful not to step on each other's words or to echo back what the other one has said. And your interviewer has to be careful not to put words into the person's mouth or anticipate what they're going to say.

Hope that helps!

.
 
great advice, . funny you said that. i am a echo-er .so tough not to talk over them by agreeing with them. i find it hard not to junp in with the next topic. now i have 2 zylights and a bouce ,i just need more practice. and i mount my 8 in hd ikan where i can see it.
 
I'd definitely give them the questions ahead of time so they would have some idea how they want to answer it and not stumble around that answer when asked. Unless, of course, you want to do a "gotcha" interview.
 
were those real documents at the begining? If so how did they make it look like that? If not, how did they make it look like that?
 
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