May 21, 2015 at 7:49AM
Interviews for commercial videos - scripted or not?
Hi,
I was wondering how others approach these kind of interviews - do you script the answers and make the interviewee prepare, do you surprise them with your questions on the day...? How do you get exactly what you're aiming for out of them but at the same time, get an authentic and enthusiastic 'performance'?
This is for videos that will feature employees of a company or maybe customers (along those lines). In case of the latter, you might not be able to script the answers for example.
I always wonder what the "standard" approach is for these things (or if there is one) and how I could improve my own technique (which varies a bit as I'm still trying to figure this one out, and unfortunately, it's a hit and miss kinda thing for me).
Thanks!
4 Comments
Never script an interview because most people are NOT actors and the whole thing will sound as fake as can be.
For educational "interviews" I use a teleprompter, but I only allow people to have text "talking" points or graphics on the screen to remind them what they want to talk about.
Also NEVER give your subject a list of the questions you are going to ask, but instead give them a list of topics that you want them to talk about. The danger in giving them the list of questions is that they will rehearse very long and over detailed answers that will sound fake as h*ll on camera. ( I even had one person try and read their answers from a yellow legal pad, which I eventually took away from them )
Lastly, make sure your subject delivers answers that are less than one minute long. I once had to edit an interview with a clinic doctor that somebody else shot, and some of the answers to simple questions were 6 minutes long. The person conducting the interview should have stopped the interview and told their subject that they have to answer in less than one minute to answer each question.
May 21, 2015 at 11:52AM
Thanks Guy - that's by and large also my experience actually. Giving the subject a list of topics is great advice - I will do that in future. That's a great way to avoid them being overly prepared.
I guess the main trouble sometimes is to convince people that they really don't need to read off a notepad to answer a question on what they do every day, they know the answer!
May 22, 2015 at 2:05AM
Guy, you're a stud. You always are quick to help others out on this site. Thanks man!
May 23, 2015 at 2:02AM
If I can add to Guy's tips:
-Start out easy. get the simple stuff on camera first so you can build rapport and get your subject (who almost always isn't going to be used to being on camera) comfortable, before you get to the good, authentic stuff.
-Don't be afraid to ask a question again. Like Guy said, a rambling, 2 minute answer is a nightmare to cut up in post. "that was great, but can you sum that up/put it in layman's terms?" can make them feel like the smartest person in the room (again, confidence is flattering), and get you generally exactly what you need
May 23, 2015 at 11:29PM
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