Prepping for the Interview

 As we enter the 3rd week of working on our portfolio projects, it is soon time to start filming. I currently have organized an interview with my subject for next week on Monday (date tentative depending what we are doing in class that day). With the date coming close, I wanted to share some of the prep I’ve been developing in order to be prepared for it.

Last time I filmed an interview for the documentary I created a little bit ago, I had two camera angles set up for filming. Personally, even though it’s a little more to edit, I loved how it looked visually as it gave the doc a more professional look. It also allowed for the visuals he to be more engaging to viewers whenever they were viewing the actual interview clips, as they weren’t just staring at the same clip over and over again. The second angle provided some variety. 

Another aspect that I’ve been thinking about is the actual location of the interview. My subject, Riley, is a very busy person outside of school as she is involved in so many things (the main reason I wanted her to be my subject in this doc). However, this means that I only really have one chance to film said interview, as it was already a little hard to find a day for this in the first place. I also don’t want to have to refilm again in the sense of continuity and also convenience for her. I am also apart of the TV program at our school, meaning I have access to the studio where they film the morning announcements. In that room there is a CBTV sports background/board that I think would be perfect to put a chair in front off and still be related to the topic of the doc. I thought of maybe trying to film it outside, but since I’m trying to make this interview as seamless and problem-free as possible, I didn’t think it would be a good idea. Filming outside is too unpredictable. There could be wind that messes with the audio or inconsistent lighting due to clouds. Filming inside allows me full control and manipulation over those aspects.

The last thing I’ve been working on to prep for the interview are the actual questions I will be asking her. I have experience with conducting interviews, and though I know most questions come from the responses of the subject in the moment, it’s always good to go in with preset questions in order to keep the interview structured and on-topic. 

Here are some I’ve come up with:

They are still a work-in progress, but i think it’s a good base, just maybe a few questions I need to add or tweak.

I’ll let you know how the interview goes!!