Workshops

Hosting a Good Interview:

Today we had a zoom session with Beth Turrel on contributors and how to host a good interview in order to extract clear information from the interviewer, but while also being respectful and sensitive to the topic that we are interviewing about. I have never interviewed anybody before so I felt a bit apprehensive about it and how to correctly interview someone whilst also thinking about the setup of shots. 

Beth Turrel gave us some of her top tips, these included:

-Don't get too immersed into the interview and the emotions behind it, however if there are any moments during an interview where we start to feel that we are getting invested too much into what the interviewee is saying, then these are the moments to use in the edit.

-You don't always have to use the visual interview on screen, sometimes it is more interesting to have the interview audio and then other footage to represent what is being said.

-If we are interviewing contributors that have opposing views on a topic then we could have them facing different directions to represent their different points of view.

-The audience and how we want them to feel should be at the centre of everything. 

-Make it feel as organic as possible.

-Avoid pre interviews; build up a good relationship with the contributor but try not to reveal anything, save it for the camera.

-During the interview use gestures rather than voice, as voice is harder to cut out. 

-Keep filming even when the interview is over as the contributor may reveal new information that was not mentioned during the interview. 

We then had a chat about the right kind of questions to ask. We had a go at asking each other different types of questions over the call and this was really useful as it allowed me to realise the difference between an open questions and a closed question. I started to note the language that we were using for open questions and I started to see a pattern that most open ended questions started with 'how' or 'describe'; these allowed the respondent to not reply with 'yes' or 'no'.  Open and closed questions were something that I had not considered at all before this session, but the more that we were practicing asking them, the more I was realising the importance of them as it could be the difference between a very short closed answer, or a long detailed answer revealing lots of new information to the audience, which is desired. 

Finally we noted down ten open ended questions that we would like to ask our contributors. I found this task difficult initially as it was harder than it seemed to make a question as open as possible. These questions were just a rough idea of what we would ask each contributor but a good opportunity to start thinking about what sort of information we would like to reveal to our audience.

Sequencing and Actuality:

During this workshop with Beth Turrel we discussed the differences between sequencing and actuality but why they are both equally important. I had never heard of these phrases before starting the unit and now that I have learned about them I can see why they are both needed for documentary making in order to build a strong story but also do it effectively through use of shots and style. 

I made some notes on the difference between sequencing and actuality when it comes to documentary making and put them into the table below:

I began to look further into actually and sequencing and found some online tips with how to get the optimise them both to get the best possible sequencing and actuality. For actuality I found the concept a little harder to get my head around because you have to control the environment and make sure the set up is how it should be and safe, but at the same time what is discussed in an interview or while getting B-roll is out of control and cannot be rehearsed. I started to look at some examples in online videos and this really helped me to understand how actuality can make a documentary feel real, I then did the same with sequencing and began to watch videos on different sequencing techniques which also helped to further my understand after the lecture. There was so much more to sequencing than I imagined and after watching the following video I understood how important it is to prep and plan when sequencing, as well as compress time. Even though it is real life it is being adjusted to make it more fluent and not boring. Even though I will not be able to practice this much at the moment due to lockdown laws, once I have the opportunity to I will definitely have a go at trying out some sequencing and actuality. For our interviews I believe they are more focussed on actuality, for example with Susan and Kevin Thorne's interview it was filmed from when I was in the car before I was even with them and I did not stop recording from the same angle for the whole thing. 

(Video Sequencing Made Easy, 2010)

How set up a Documentary: 

This workshop with Helen and Fergus was very interesting. I had never realised before how complex lighting a documentary can be, especially for interviews to try to create different effects. the first aspect that we covered was space, something that is not normally considered it how much space the lights will take up therefore it is important to ensure that there is enough space around the setup to create the best lighting.

We then discussed backgrounds and how the create the best look behind the talent. This is because:

• If the background is too plain then the interview may not be as interesting to watch.
• If the background is too busy it will become distracting for an audience. 
• It is good to have a background that reflects the talent; for example if they are a doctor then have an interview in a hospital or if they are a beautician then interview them in a salon.

It is also important to focus on filming techniques that we would normally use such as rule of thirds and getting the correct eye line by the talent to look slightly to the side of the lens but not too far off of it. It is important to also always record sound for atmos incase the audio needs to be mixed. We also discussed the importance of getting GV (general view) on the subject. 

We also discussed a few things to avoid during interviews and this consisted of:

• Do not film hands as this is very generic.
• Do not chose a random location.
• Don't show a mic in any shots as this will deconstruct the film.

We then began to discuss lighting and how to create the best effects when lighting an interview. Fergus stated to us how LED lights would be the best to go with as they are light and can be easily moved around to different filming locations. I wanted to look further into lighting setups and decided to do some research online. I found an online article that discusses how to get the best interview lighting, and the first thing it mentioned was "Location is everything", which I feel reinforces what Fergus had taught us about backgrounds being very important and key to getting the 'magazine look' standard of an interview shot. Furthermore it begins to approach the topic of hard and soft lighting, it states how to "use soft lighting if the client is looking for a pleasant, flattering look" (Meehan, 2017) and to use "hard lighting if you want it to appear that something has more of an edge to it." (Meehan, 2017) I began to look at different lighting setups that he had created and thought what would be appropriate for our documentary. Although w are unable to take out kit to use to set up lighting as we would have done to create these looks I still wanted to think of what we would choose and do. After reviewing all of the set up that he created in the article my favourite was the one below. It uses a key light in front of him, a fill light to the right of him which is diffused and a small back light. I feel this enhances a soft and subtle look and keep the talent well lit. If we were able to use lighting for our documentary I would have chose a setup like this.

Screenshot from Sean Meehan Article of Interview Lighting (2017)

Bibliography: 

Video Sequencing Made Easy [online video clip] Drew. DrewkeUW (2010) 4 mins At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaiJIaQAvUI&feature=related (Accessed on 25.04.2020)

Meehan, S. (2017) How to Setup 3 Popular Interview Lighting Techniques. At: https://www.borrowlenses.com/blog/popular-interview-lighting-techniques/ (Accessed on 25.04.2020)