Videography: Interview Etiquette 101

June 8, 2022

Jessica Goldfarb

Social Media Account Manager

Why interview? Interview-style videos are perfect for getting your message across to the public in an engaging and informative manner.

Question and answer; interviews are generally pretty simple! However, if you want to take it a step beyond, there are a few tips and tricks you can follow to get the most authentic and highest-quality footage:

Lines and memorized dialogue aren’t going to get you good quality content. Instead, speak to the interviewee as you would if you were just having a friendly chat!

We find that this is the most natural way to get someone talking about their business. Instead of awkward and stiff responses, this way we capture an authentic conversation that makes for a much better video!

Setting Up in Style

All you really need to capture an interview is a camera, an interviewer, and a speaker (the interviewee). However, to get the best quality, there are a few more steps you can take in setting up:

Location: Consider where you’ll be shooting. The background for an interview should be somewhere well lit, with minimal activity, and overall somewhere aesthetically pleasing.

Camera: Your camera should be on a tripod for stability. We like to have two cameras filming from different angles. This makes the resulting video a bit more engaging by adding some movement when you switch between the shots.

Script: It’s helpful for both the interviewer and interviewee to have a loose script that goes over basic talking points that they want to cover. Don’t worry too much about the wording, the script is more of a guide on what you should say, not how you should say it. It can even be just bullet points!

Additional equipment: Things like extra lighting and microphones can really enhance the quality of your video and take it to the next level. Clothing as well can make a big difference to how you appear on screen. Always aim to wear solid, non distracting colors like blue and black!

Aaaand… Action!🎬 

Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to move on to the actual interview. Have your interviewer sit behind the cameras if you don’t want them to be in the video.

The interviewee should make eye contact and talk with the interviewer as if they were having a friendly conversation, instead of looking at the cameras. If you plan on cutting out the questions portion in editing, then it’s important to have them answer in complete sentences that restate the question.

Keep rolling! If your interviewee stumbles on their words halfway through answering their question, just ask them to start from the beginning of their sentence. This is where having two cameras comes in handy. In editing, you can cut out the portion where they messed up, and switch to them speaking from the second angle for a smooth transition.

That’s it (we told you it was simple)! Throw in some B-roll and you’ve now got all the ingredients available for filming an awesome interview. Remember to keep things authentic and you will undoubtedly not only have some great quality content, but a fun and memorable experience as well!

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