Interview Set - up

Although this topic may sound basic, it must be done correctly otherwise the finished product could look a mess. The interview set – up isn’t how it seems, it requires careful consideration to make sure everything is in the right place. First things first, the camera angles used must be appropriate and done right. Conventional angles incorporated are medium shots, close ups, profile two shots and extreme close ups of cutaways to break up the interview where necessary.  With all of the single shots the most important rule that must be respected is of course the Rule of Thirds. The head space must be located inside a far third in order to leave space in the other two to give it a professional look. Combined with lighting it draws the primary audience’s attention and engagement to the interviewee. This should be replicated with all shots of characters. In addition, the positioning of the camera is essential in order to maintain a good eye – line for both the interview and interviewer. This is executed by having the interviewer looking right to left and the interviewee looking left to right and vice versa. This enables a steady eye – line and allows the interview to look as real as possible.

Also, another factor to take into account when considering the set – up of an interview is lighting. It is so important that you get this bang on otherwise the complexion of the interview won’t look right and will create a disorientated atmosphere for the demographic. Depending on the type of interview, whether or not you purposely want to create mood, conventionally interviews would take place under high – key lighting. We conducted two different forms of interviews and one – to a certain extent – contained high key lighting, although we used a combination of not only high key but chiaroscuro lighting too. This was done to draw the audience’s attention and give the interview a sense of drama as it was suited to the theme of the interview. Moreover, our other interview was an anonymous silhouette interview so the identity of the participant was protected. Very low key lighting was involved here and the silhouette figure was created by careful placement of lighting to give it an intense feeling.