How do you like to shoot interviews?

C

custerc

Well-known member
I got tired of there not being interesting discussions about actual filmmaking techniques here, so...here's one. Obviously, this depends on the project, but just for your personal taste, how do you like to shoot interviews?

I've been working on a project for a couple months now, and spent a lot of time thinking about this and doing some tests. In the end, the way we're shooting them is with the speaker facing directly into the camera, which is on a monopod rather than a tripod. I really like having people look directly into the camera for a piece that's about characters. The looking-to-one-side-of-the-camera thing just feels too "staged" to me. Similarly, I love the look of an interview shot with a monopod rather than a tripod. It's fairly stable--way better than handheld--but there's still a little bit of motion, which I think makes it feel more intimate.

What about y'all?
 
I do a pre interview which is really just a BS session on the topic. When I turn the camera on, he's already rolling on the subject.
 
I'd like to see a sample of that technique.

As for lighting I like to bounce a 1K into a Westcott, which is mounted on a c-stand, then dial in the height and angle to suit the person's face.
I like big soft back lights, and a soft fill.
You can add a small hard inkie to make the eyes pop.
Also, Camera height according to the strength of the subject's chin : )
 
bill totolo said:
As for lighting I like to bounce a 1K into a Westcott, which is mounted on a c-stand, then dial in the height and angle to suit the person's face.
I like big soft back lights, and a soft fill.
You can add a small hard inkie to make the eyes pop.
Also, Camera height according to the strength of the subject's chin : )
Click to expand...

That's funny Bill. I put it low on the bad ones, because everyone over 30 has a flabby chin.
 
I got a few extra cams o i generally set up 3 cams. One wide shot, one on the interviewie and on the interviewer. Edit in post.

When using one cam at school We would keep the cam on the interviewie, then ask the interviewer to repete all the question with the cam on them. make sure you get some wide shot before the interviewie leaves. Another solution is cue interviewing. Cam on interviewer...then pan to interviewie...then cue the interviewie to answer. Remove the pans in post and you can make it look conversational. i havn't taped to many interviews since college though.
 
Richter Video Equipment said:
I got a few extra cams o i generally set up 3 cams. One wide shot, one on the interviewie and on the interviewer. Edit in post.

When using one cam at school We would keep the cam on the interviewie, then ask the interviewer to repete all the question with the cam on them. make sure you get some wide shot before the interviewie leaves. Another solution is cue interviewing. Cam on interviewer...then pan to interviewie...then cue the interviewie to answer. Remove the pans in post and you can make it look conversational. i havn't taped to many interviews since college though.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I have always hated interviews where the interviewer is visible. Not sure why, really. We've got two cameras for the film I'm working on now and it never really occurred to me to put one on the interviewer. I guess it depends on the situation, though. In what situation would you want to have a camera on the interviewer?
 
I don't like putting the interviewer into the film unless the interviewer is a character that has a purpose. I like to place the camera really really close to my subjects and use a wide angle lens. soft light or hard light take your pick. have a relevant and meaningful background. get good sound or you should just stop.

darrell.jpg
 
as for your question about where the person should be looking. your camera's height should be vertically aligned with the eyes of the subject. This is called eyeline match. Your interviewer should be next to the camera with their head at the same level of the camera lens, and simply tell your talent to look at your interviewer. when they are talking.
 
My first real shot at doing an extensive "sit down" had a somewhat unconventional approach. I'm a big fan of the old 70's interviews of old rock bands and I love the old Woodstock film. I was going for a modern homage of that.

FASHION BOMB: BEHIND THE LIFTED VEIL
http://www.digitallizardproductions.com/WEB/FB001.html

For the backstage interviews, we ran three cameras. One head on at just about eye level, one from a skewed angle and then the third was for wide and "artsy" shots.

For the sit down, it was rough. I had the elevated downward wide shot and tights and then one roaming.

Sorry about the audio, we're taking really big baby steps here. lol Outside of some HV30 live footage, the rest was shot with Canon ZR800's. I'm looking to upgrade ASAP, but am on a budget at the moment.
 
I like to add character to my interview shots by having a 600W soft box close to the face at a 90 degree angle to the cam, a 300W fill-in light (12 feet away and close to the cam), and an accent light very high behind the interviewee.

interview.jpg


I usually have two camera running:

2.jpg

1.jpg
 
Last edited:
The film "Cinematographer Style" has the best light interviews I have ever seen. Below are some screen shots.

interviews.jpg
 
Interview Examples

Interview Examples

Here are some grabs from a couple projects I shot a little while back. These were both indicative of most of the types of projects I work on; little-to-no set up time and a lot of interviews to get done at once. Because of this, I really like being able to throw up only a couple lights (and it saves me from having to rent for the day). All of these are shot in natural light, plus a 1k openface through a small Chimera for a key, and a little pepper for the back light. I like taking advantage of natural lighting a lot, and spend a lot of time trying to figure out where to best place the subject with no other lights on, then season to taste.

One thing I find myself doing a lot is having to shoot with windows in the frame that I cannot gel or a lot of natural light coming into the room. I also like shooting against windows for the depth they add if I can hold the highlights. Since I don't carry daylight fixtures and full CTB kills your output, I use a half CTB on my 1k key and WB to that, letting the background go a bit blue which helps to "pop" out the subject.

Also in general I think the less lighting/grip "stuff" in these situations helps me a lot. There are no flags, reflectors, bounce boards, etc. that I use regularly and none were used for these setups. Was on set the other day and had a whole Arri Softbank kit out and fired up, sat back and it just seemed wholly unnecessary.

More natural:

1fbdd5ad.jpg


69841c05.jpg


180e44e9.jpg


A little more expressive:

9e882fcf.jpg

*used a daylight florescent to throw the background "blue"

01d88528.jpg

*used a daylight florescent to throw the background "blue"

22523aa8.jpg
 
bill totolo said:
I'd like to see a sample of that technique.

: )
Click to expand...

I set the Q3HD up to get the preinterview, interview today. i I Wasn't sure where I wanted to set up the big camera.

This was at 8:30 AM in the Diner where I planned on doing the actual interview.
At 8:30 AM, a fellow started drinking Bloody Mary's and he more he drank...the more noise he made.
I finally took him outside.

I thought that was an odd morning until I read te naked man in a church post here.
 
custerc said:
Here's one: http://vimeo.com/15761635 This was just shot as a solo interview, not part of a project or anything. Lit naturally. Shot with DVX100a and a s**tty, s**tty cheap monopod.
Click to expand...

1. Pay more attention to composition, there is way too much headroom in that shot.

2. Have someone for the interviewee to talk to. Few people can interact successfully with a camera lens. Their eyes move around which makes them look shifty/insincere.

You'll see almost all beginners start off positioning the interviewee on the "rule of thirds" grid looking across the camera to the interviewer. It does get really monotonous and boring, but it is very simple to learn and implement, and because everyone uses it it looks "professional".
 
@William. Is this relentless application of rule of thirds template really the way to go?

Check out the making of Seinfeld documentary at the end of the DVD box set for seasons 1&2. 45 minutes or so - dozens of interviews. You will notice all shots are composed with the interviewee in the horizontal center of the screen. Let me know what you think.
 
pwyll said:
@William. Is this relentless application of rule of thirds template really the way to go?

Check out the making of Seinfeld documentary at the end of the DVD box set for seasons 1&2. 45 minutes or so - dozens of interviews. You will notice all shots are composed with the interviewee in the horizontal center of the screen. Let me know what you think.
Click to expand...

Totally depends on the project. The frames I posted were for pretty standard "little interview vignette" pieces where I thought standard interview framing was appropriate. I have a shot a few more personal projects where I have placed the subject in the center of the frame and I like the look a lot, but production design and lighting need to be stepped up a bit (in both time for set-up and the extent of the set-up). I have even done center-framed 2.40:1 interviews before. Stunning, but you have to have the right location to be able to do that.

Experimentation is the best way to figure this stuff out. Working with producers, I find they normally want your standard rule-of-thirds interviews because that is the accepted norm, but it is nice to step out of that from time to time. I'll try and get my hands on those DVDs and take a look. You might want to look at some of Earl Morris' films. Great, great interview set-ups.

Edit: Another fun thing to do is hire a teleprompter for the interview camera. Then take another camera (doesn't matter what it is), have that on the interviewer and pipe the feed through the teleprompter so the interviewee is talking to the interviewer, but looking directly into the lens of the "interview" camera. Makes it extremely personal to the viewer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top