Interview Filming

[hatsoff2halford]

Hi Everyone,

I have been offered a job filming an interview for a client. This would be the second interview I've filmed, but I would only have my one Af-100 this time. Is filming an interview with more than one camera a necessity? Are there any tricks I should be aware of in regards to filming with only one camera?

Thanks for any help, I appreciate it!

 

[clang]

The standard technique is often referred to as the Reverse Polish: film just the interviewee during the actual interview, then the interviewee leaves and you film the interviewer asking the identical questions to an empty chair, plus some generic shots of the interviewer nodding thoughtfully. Then edit together in post, using mostly the interviewee footage but cutting to the interviewer when necessary. It can also be useful to get a few establishing shots of interviewer and interviewee chatting, you probably won't use the sound from those.

 

[randomname]

Is the finished video going to have any B-Roll or is it ONLY showing the interview? When I do those kinds of videos, we always have the interviewee rephrase the question, cut the interviewer out completely, and cover up the cuts with B-Roll.

 

[Snoman13]

A 2nd cam on the interviewer, some B-roll, or the above method of shooting the pickup/reactions of the interviewer afterwards are all going to help make the edit easier. Trying to cut from one camera without something to cut away to is going to be nigh impossible unless you know the person being interview is EXTREMELY well-spoken and it's almost rehearsed beforehand, though I don't think you're going to want to rehearse answers if you're just interviewing someone about a subject.

 

[bmxbud4130]

It really depends on the direction you'll go with the edit. Will you hear or see the interviewer at all? Will you have b-roll to cover cuts? Will there be any graphic elements?
If won't have any b-roll or anything to cut away to, one technique is to shoot with a zoom lens and change up your focal length every few questions (this also kind of depends on how long the interview will be).

I shoot a ton of interviews, and they really vary between one or two cameras (depending on budget and creative direction), but almost all of them go into a video where the story is driven by the interviews or a combination of interviews and VO accompanied by b-roll. If the interviewer isn't a key part of the story there's no reason to show him/her, and in my case my clients are usually the ones asking the questions and they don't want to be seen or heard on camera.
I will say this, when I have to edit interviews I'm thrilled when I have two angles AND b-roll to cut with. It makes the editing process a whole lot easier.

 

[lmiles89]

One technique I really like to use when I'm shooting interviews is implementing a B camera into you're interview. This is where I set up a second camera at an alternate angle, usually from the side of the shot. This way you are covered wth two angles. I tend to use two camera ops but this effect can be created by a locked off camera. If you do lock the camera off, use a slightly wider shot so you don't lose the interviewee out of frame. When I use a manned B cam I tend to choose Close ups.

When it comes to the edit I like to add a few filters to the B cam, usually a black and white filter works really nicely. One of my mates introduced me to adding a bit of grain on top of the B+W to give it a really nice look.

The B cam allows you to cut away to a slightly different shot if you haven't got any B roll to fall back on.

 

[paulears]

The luxury of not only a second camera, but also a lighting kit capable of lighting both people properly has meant for me plenty of the technique Clang mentioned and not much else! It does need a good interviewer and you need to ensure that the questions are very, very similar or you'll be accused of creative editing - using a different question to the one actually asked the first time. Proper interviewers are so used to this, there's little problem. It's also very handy of the interviewer also makes sure they don't interrupt - so you have clean talent sound, so if you need to cut short a question or change the order, you can. If the interviewer talks over the end of each question, you're screwed!