{"id":4425,"date":"2010-02-24T13:56:59","date_gmt":"2010-02-24T18:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/?p=4425"},"modified":"2023-10-06T18:52:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T23:52:13","slug":"video-interviews-how-to-make-your-subject-comfortable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/video-interviews-how-to-make-your-subject-comfortable\/","title":{"rendered":"Video Interviews: How to Make Your Subject Comfortable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interviews are the heart and soul of many video productions.\u00a0 For a quality video, you need compelling interviews.\u00a0 Beyond securing an interesting person to speak about something worthwhile, great interviews require some behind-the-scenes work beyond just getting the equipment set up right.\u00a0 This post will share ways to get the most out of your interviews.<\/p>\n

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GETTING THE BEST OUT OF YOUR INTERVIEW<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Above and beyond anything else, the comfort level of the person being interviewed is the single biggest factor in getting a compelling interview<\/strong><\/em> recorded and into your final video.<\/p>\n

If the subject of your interview is uptight and nervous, it can make people watching feel uncomfortable too.\u00a0 Stilted, nervous interview subjects also lose credibility because the video seems more fake.<\/p>\n

Plus, someone real uptight will not be able to think and respond well to your questions.\u00a0 You’ll get a crummy interview unless you learn to make people relaxed and natural while they’re being interviewed.\u00a0 A lot of that can boil down to using less intrusive video production techniques.<\/p>\n

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Helping people smile and making them laugh was a trick I used all the time. People feel less nervous if they can get a few genuine giggles out. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a video maker, how do you do this?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

First, realize that this is actually a major component of your job.\u00a0 The vast majority of people need help ignoring the fact that they have a cold, hard camera lens glaring at them.<\/p>\n

Add two-thousand watts of hot light and they really start to sweat!<\/p>\n

Which brings me to my first and biggest tip.<\/p>\n

Do your best to keep them distracted from the equipment.\u00a0 \u00a0 Give them plenty of opportunity to ignore it all.\u00a0 Have them look at you instead of directly at the camera.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Engage them in conversation.<\/p>\n

Turn on the lights several minutes before the camera rolls, so they can adapt to the brightness.\u00a0\u00a0 Make SURE your lights are as non-obnoxious as possible, which means they need to be soft, diffused and not right in their face.\u00a0 Diffuse your lights by aiming them at the wall or the ceiling instead of your subject.\u00a0 Or, use professional tools such as umbrellas, diffusion gels and soft boxes.<\/p>\n

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If your interview subject is moving around during the taping, it helps a lot to use a wireless microphone<\/a>.\u00a0 Nothing reminds people they’re being recorded quite like being attached to an audio cable that acts like an unrelenting, always-too-short umbilical cord.<\/p>\n

If your subject is sitting or standing still, a lavalier mic clipped onto their collar will be more easily ignored than a handheld microphone shoved into their face.<\/p>\n

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Wireless mics can allow freedom of movement for your interview subject. People tend to forget they are wearing these, which is a sign of a high comfort level. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By its very nature, professional level videotaping is “staging reality.”\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 There are really no two ways about that.\u00a0 Ironic thing is, unless a person has experience being on camera or is a laid back, loosey-goosey personality<\/a>, the more you as a producer try to control them, stage the event and get it all picture perfect, the more they will tense up.\u00a0 Trust me on this.\u00a0 I’ve seen it a million times.<\/p>\n

I have watched shoots drag on unnecessarily because the producer was so involved in creating their visual masterpiece and so dead set to make the on-camera person say it JUST so that it was crazy.\u00a0 Take 9 million and 72 is not productive.\u00a0 These people, who were NOT professional on-camera talent, got so wound up I felt sorry for them.\u00a0 So unless you are working with a pro, don’t expect a person to be perfect on camera.\u00a0 \u00a0TV loves perfection, but that can be so nerve wracking as to be counterproductive.<\/p>\n

Having been involved with literally thousands and thousands of video interviews over the years, I can promise you that if your subject is relaxed and comfortable, you will get a better interview.\u00a0 There were times I had the person so distracted that the interview was over before they even realized it had begun. \u00a0 Then I’d say, “See, that wasn’t hard now, was it?”\u00a0 They’d usually laugh and thank me profusely for making it so easy for them!<\/p>\n