difficult person to coach/direct

P

powerdog

Veteran
Not sure if this should be under "directing" forum, but...

I've been doing a series of short videos on different inventions discovered at our university. The inventors themselves serve as the talking heads, and they come in a wide range of public speaking abilities.

I worked with one yesterday, the toughest yet. Nice guy, and sounded fine when the camera was off. But whenever I shot, he sounded like Pat Paulsen on the Smothers Bros. Totally flat, emotionless, monotone...I guess he was nervous.

I tried standing next to the camera and having him talk to me, tried an interview format so he could just respond to my questions. Thing is, he was very critical of himself, so I couldn't be too hard on him. I almost suggested he have a drink of wine and try again!

Any suggestions, tricks, whatever, that I might have tried?
 
powerdog said:
I almost suggested he have a drink of wine and try again!

Any suggestions, tricks, whatever, that I might have tried?
Click to expand...

You answered your own question. :)

Actually...can you change the venue? Do the interview somewhere else? Sure, why not a bar?

Or even just strolling the grounds at the university. Harder to shoot, but...

Or hire a fluffer. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I actually turn the tally light off and told the talent I turned off the camera, but left it running and started talking to him as if we were going through practice runs. If that didn't work, I just started talking to him in casual terms then insert a question that realted to the subject I wanted on film. Worked everytime.
 
It would be fun to do something interesting, but these need to be the video equivalent of an academic paper.

I think the university bans alcohol on its property, unfortunately.
 
powerdog said:
It would be fun to do something interesting, but these need to be the video equivalent of an academic paper.
Click to expand...


Sounds like you got the right guy then for your interview. :grin:

:beer:

Don't forget to put a plastic plant by the wood paneled background :grin:
 
Almost TOO right for it!

I almost forgot, the more we worked on it, the less short-term memory he had. Got to where we'd shoot one sentence, he'd pick up his notes and read through them, speak another sentence, read the notes again....and it's HIS invention! I think in a comedy about shooting a video, we would have been quite funny.
 
That would be funny! Sounds like something those guys from Spinal Tap would make.

"Remember, if you get hungry, eat something!"
 
My method is this, and maybe I'm crazy. Every interview I do is at least an hour sometimes 2, depends on how much time they have. Usually not planned that way but it just happens. First set up, and explain what your film is about, what you're trying to say with it, sign the release, etc. At this point THEY KNOW WHAT YOUR FILM IS ABOUT and they know in their head what you want from them since you prefaced them with the kind of things you're looking for. So then you start the interview and just ask them about themself like when you meet the friend of a cousin or relative. Where do you come from? Where'd you grow up? Can you tell me about school or work you're involved in? All this will ramp them up and cool them off, and it tells them you actually care about them and their personal story (even if this has nothing to do with your actual subject) and in that time they will engage with you, and let go of the camera's presence and respect you more and usually on their own get around to telling you exactly what you wanted to hear and more. Also, never fill uncomfortable spaces with a question, let it sit no matter how agonizing it is (unless they actually say something like "now what? what else?" ; this is the time when their mind is searching deeper to give you something you didn't know you wanted to hear because they feel like their supposed to deliver; these are often when the most amazing, obscure stories come out that will make the entire interview a success, but if you feel the pressure and you plug that space with a question or blurt out "OK! Lets see, what else we can talk about here", then that golden memory in the back of their mind only brought out through the odd interview pressure, will vanish and you'll never know what it was. I'm totally serious, these things have almost never failed for me. Even though some doc shooters will tell you not to shoot more than 20 minutes or whatever. Be Patient and be very interested in them and it'll all come out. Thats my strategy.
 
Here is a trick that I have used many times with boring talent. Now, it wont really work on a sit down talking head, but it works great if they are standing up. Might sound silly too, and I'm not sure how good it would work for old folks, but what I do is try to get them moving. Either by doing a walk-along, or (and this might sound wierd) having them jump up and down three times and them leap into the frame. Yeah, it sounds lame, but it really does work. If that fails, get them drunk.

On another note, one thing that will definately relax talent is to get to know them, make them feel like you are thier friend. Sit down and rap with them. I recently worked with Bryant Gumble and he is amazing at extracting info from interviewees. He walks into the room and just chats up the talent for about ten minutes, then they sit down and he just gets everything out of them.

Also, only pull the booze card if you have too. It can work wonders, but it can also suck.
 
I actually do a whole get-to-know-you meeting a couple of days before I shoot. Usually it does work very well. Not with this guy. He just couldn't relax when he saw the camera. At least he's not typical.
 
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