WELD CCO George Rogers videos Becky Henderson of MountainMade during a recent production in Thomas, W.Va.
When you work at a video production company, there is a good chance you’ll find yourself conducting interviews. It’s easy to forget how much more comfortable it is behind the camera compared to on camera. Here are five things I do to make sure my interviewee feels comfortable and relaxed on camera.
1. Do your homework.
What I mean is, know the story, the key players and the main themes of interest. At WELD, we have three distinct phases to video production: pre-production coordination, production and post-production.
During the first phase, production coordinators conduct extensive phone interviews and aggregate interview notes for our production team to read through prior to production. When your interviewee arrives, he/she will be that much more at ease knowing that you’ve got a plan and know who they are and what their story is.
2. Lay out a plan.
As a general rule, production is a vague process without clear time requirements for each phase. Still, laying out a rough plan which allots time slots to interviewees and denotes main themes that will be covered during each interviewee’s slot helps everyone get a handle on the big picture. No one wants to go into a video interview having no idea what is going on.
3. Demonstrate your team organization and project comprehension by keeping all key players informed.
When possible, send interviewees a list of possible questions you will pose during the interview or key speaking points for them to consider before arriving. Again, put your interviewee at ease by keeping him/her in the know and up to speed.
When your interviewee arrives, really stop everything to meet, greet and make eye contact. Smile. Yes, I know it seems obvious, but really smile. Create a warm, welcoming environment. Make sure everyone behind the camera, lights and sound is introduced. Check to see if your interviewee needs to use the restroom, get a glass of water or has any questions.
Run through your list of questions, ideas and main themes that you’ve already identified. See if the interviewee sees anything that is missing from the list.
4. The right crew.
We prefer to have two people behind the camera: the camera-operator and the interview coach. Running a camera requires focus and attention to sound balance, lighting, framing and focus. That person needs to focus completely on doing the camera job.
The interview coach can focus on running through the interview question list and speaking points, taking notes on good points to revisit later and most importantly giving the interviewee full attention. Again, smile! You are sitting someone under bright lights and a lot of eyeballs. Make sure your interviewee feels at ease, or the footage you get will be sub-par.
5. Have fun.
That’s sort of simplistic. There’s no exact equation that equals fun every time. This takes practice. Everyone on your production crew should radiate positive vibes. Remember, it’s not easy being on camera, so send your subjects love!
What does your production crew do to make sure interviewees feel calm, cool and collected on camera?
Tags: interviews, tips, video, WELD
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