HNl R fll. S NO Hl liTY VIU!O

' tl ttd r tatem nt

\llr <hi fer ' tl conv ·n·

Jlm r \ t<l o 1 'hol ut o( S\qu nee

·~ tors tn a film m;l n ,,. t · ll b m th Jnl 1 bl:e at the arne tim . ln ta l, il' · p sstbl -th u h rard · d sit :Jble- t lt.wc ,\ dia­l tl he w n two ~ct 1r who actually 11CW1 urc n thr mnc set, in

{ th sm1. am ra. at th ;1m tun .

, \ ilm or \ id~o I , \h1 l1V how 1 \ {t r th Fact

• f ' ' • <i ; f f f f 0 f I f • I f f <i ~ 0 ~ I ' It f I

I l l MEN IARY

INI RVIIW

The hghl are ~et The rwwlcdgeabk. Person I as taken IllS ptlce comfortably behmcl l11s dl'sk You've checked the ound levels, che ked your notes, and you're ready to do an on-camera

llllCr\' ICW,

CU't! I .cl 's fr czc the scene and ask a Stanislavsktan quest Jon usually

thought more appropri.1te to actors in dramatic fiction than to documenlclltans doing an mtcrvtcw·

What's the moUvatron for this dCene? \.\.'h<t t parl docs the scene p l <~y in your documentary? Why are

)Oil clotng ;1n interview at all? Why are yoll talktng WI h this p<Htlc­

ul~ r l erson? Vhy ts hG sitting behmd a dcsk7 What 1s lte go111g to . ay' Couldn't 1t be said qutckcr, easter, ;mel cheaper by a votce-over

narrator' Presumably you have answers to all of these questions. If so Roll

ound! Roll cameral And .. Action! But if not, you may be on the verge of wasting an afternoon and

a roll of film or videotape.

. 263

26 4 . MAKI 0 DOCUMENTARY fi LMS A\10 REALITY VIDEOS

WHAT IS AN INTERVIEW'!

An mterview is a relatively spontaneou~. more or less unrehearsed d.a!ogue On one side is the mterviewer, who 1S m cont rol of the form of the dJalogue and who suggests to pics, asks questions, and prompts respon~es. On the othe r s1de are one or more mterv1cwccs or speakers, who general ly have control of the con tent and informa­fo n va lue of tl1e :nterview

Why Not to Do an Jnt ervzew

What dis turbs me JS the trend toward cons tructing a documentary out of interviews. PBS, which for twenty-five years has had too much money and too few 1deas, has encou raged the document ry of talk-&o tha t th documentarian has people tell1ng the story

. 1at l1 er th an showing it to us Every now and th n lhe documentar­ian hrow:. in a few visuals for rel1eL This kmd of docu menlarv t n:~ s visual t.vtdtnce as a cu taway. '

1<ltional .nd(JWm nt grants provid welfa re for ~ cnden ics by req uiring the iuv<J ivemen t of humanities professor) and nrl lustoti­ans in documentary prOJect And I guess the docum~n la r i :t n ~ ft:: ,J bat a~ long as they are papng the academics a f ~;, the, tu ight a~

wdl pu them on earner -wh ther they have . ny th1ng to etJntnb· u e to th hl111 or 11ot

C, 11 I bi~ be tbe rea~on we rind 1 Jw bwg1, phcr of a Jll t·~ i de n t talking bout ba~ b II?

•• Artd Why You Mt~lt t } )1~ ( /If'

Jn erv1 w~ · re do11c lot :J Wlc.lt• varte l )' of r •a ons : I

Yot.J w:J ~ flJ~I W' Il l to !> 111/W l il t r~ I S l ll 1)1) <l l ll r.l 011lpil l1

pr<-' 1 d~ J 1ts, ptJh l l I.JII I u11 cl cdclm t 1 of t t n .dl iul o t lm .t t II'HY l'lwi t phy~1<.:1 l prto~l' ll L m h Jl)tU ll l~n l :~r m 1 b 1110n: 11111 orl• 11 lh 11 .uything th y S:l) ,

• St>Hlt.' l Hll t') I h ~p k~r b Ull >. p 11 ()Jl SI)IHt opa or htJI!~ .1

THE DOCUMENTARY l'iTERVIfW . 265

strong opinion about 1t, and ·ou want to hear what she ha to

ay, in her own words. . Somel11nes an interview 1s used as a sub ·titute for actiOn .. foot-

agc you don't have and can't get \\'hen a h1p ·mks at ea, )'OU 111terv1ew the SUIVIvors It 's the best e\lde--nce vou h:~ve You may want nn on-camero mte1·vH~w to bt: able to pro\e thJt the speaker s;ud whntever he said, esp cinll} 1 th stat'ment •~ controversial or can be shown to be untrue 'lbu ma~ ''ant to cross-question the speaker to probe hts ·t.ltement t r Raw· inaccurac1e or for the strength of h1 · convi tlon~ You hope that the person b ing mten·1 wed w1ll r ' al h ·r thoughts, hopes , dreams, and feel in · a· part I the:> textur of

your documentar ' Fin lly, you mny ant to use pte e · from a~1 mter\1 .'' t ·u • plement or replace n, rration, tn order to g11 -.our film a t • l of spont, 11eity , tH.l • l k f r '<llitv

\ Vhalc'ver your reason tor sh I Ill nn 111ter\l .,, , tc m mb 1 th.H

11 s u ~e in Lh fin ~ l "ers10n of th" 1 ~ um nt.H\ h.1 tu l Jll tin n the s.Hnc b; sis as an\ oth 1 s ·c:nt> 'l lut ''· 1t f t s nt · \ td n • prm ide~ in[c)llnatlllll, ur nlun~ · th fc l, llhl~ J, ll tla\ l 'I th p1o lu llon, cmJ tl ltt'll)S to tllO\ th ,lo ·unt nl,\1\ Jl n t \ard th

n·solut ion .11 d ndm~. Otherw1. tl btl n · c n th cutltnt'·hlul\1 tl .. 11 '1th th th r

~hot that dtdn't ' ork.

2 ·\~' Ill I Nl) Ml U l villi 0

s r 1

u 11 h;t\ th inl\IVI\ \l'!'t' 1 t p;tt " II t ol ~ug I r Y Ul u . Thi~ is ,I tln111lon rl VI ~ nf talk

t ron Ut;l t .n pro·

!11 L CATION

Dt th' intervi w in a pla • "here the peaker ts comfortable. Get c,·erything-11 'ht,, am era, und eqmpm nl sound checks, extra tap . 1 n l ~nmg. ;m l o on-blk n can.: of ah a I time Let the mt t~wce n w tn ;ldvan th<lt ·ou'll need a h;1lf hour or so to , t up

H,l\ ur r '' well briefed and well trained . TillS means t:at-il "' th mten·i ,,. Wtth a Ire h magazine of film or a nc\i roll of '1deotape nd che king that ever) thing i running proper! . Don' t let h camera perator direct the cene 0 1 the sound recordist mdula hi· or h r urio it .. You control the intervtew, and you ask the quc·t. n ..

IH{ ) I t llVI -N

No on • • 1 • hnd ,1 romfortalA pia 0 ~I IJI (Jt tcl I a

' tic all .,,,J of tlrrl'' wheth"r h,. 111 t VI wr•

or lu llw ca111 ·r

void /)umb S/tuattonl, lJumu Q1J"' twn , ulld I umb lntervunveea

'l'h' 111.111 111-th - Sl iCCt i11t ' rVir'W 19 h cliiUIC d11 n J

grab som b dy oH the strcc and gl· l11rn what h

2 1

m thu1g What you get is tlr}lllttfornwttorr Th lumb ·~t lfll ·s ion I t;flll think uf 1 the ''11 f hear 'limo

'VCI V rHght 011 ' j V news. 'I he JntCTYI 1.VCI \1 th SllfVIY I of 3 fir'

or" ar acctdent, " I low Jo you feel nbuut 1F'' No 1nfunu.1 10n Su define your purpos You can't re·tlly 1sk dufllb questwns 1f you know whot you're there for. '

• v ry no>v ond then you'll 111 crv1ew a !Jemm who IS ju~t no good on camera There's nothtng you can d0 exccp wind 11 up quick! and move on. Prc111l rvtews should lirru nate the people wlro will freeze up. But some people go through a personality ehongc when the camera begim to roll . There cx1sts; ch a thing as the Lnlk show syndrome Peopl watch "Oprah" and 11 the others ami Lhey think that's the way it's done So they try to ound like omeone on TV, and you're ill trouble.

Or they storl to talk on the record. I've already written about the chool administrator I liked very utuch who talked quite intelll­

genth aboul ptol>lems 111 education until he got on camera ' I l1en he turned tnto ;m cclucationist, speaking unintelligible jargon.

And of course, tl1e1e was the Wilkes-Barre police c ptain who retreated to talkn1g un the record out of msecunty

If you're rna grab situa twn-<J u111que evenl, a disaster, or what­ever-stay away from college graduates and profe sional people unless }'ou're very certuin about how you want to use them. They usually want to gtve you the cosmic framework within which the event happened, when all you're after are the facts. Find a working person-a wattress, a truck driver-or else a ktd or a housewife. They'll tell you what they saw and what they did. It

2 68 • MAK 'NG DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND REALITY VIDEOS

may come out a little dtsjomted, but it will make good footage on the screen.

Be sure to have each person say and spell his or her name on C."imera, including rank or title where appropriate. And it's always a good idea lo have the interviewee give you permiss ion on camera to use the interview.

SHOOTING Ofl.TIONS

Shoot the mterview before you shoot other kinds of ction with thts person T111S keeps the behavior of the tntervicwec fairly spon· taneous and free! of an b1as toward actmg )'OU might introduce later on.

ry o do the interview in an interesting locatiOn Llul helps lo ouild tht.: visual evide1 ce of your documentary In general, th~:: least int~ resting place you can shoot s,omeone in is hts or her office, with the subject SJtting behind desk. C:JJ1 you get someone nd111g a golf cart around th plant? hopping in a upennorkel? At a litllc leagu game? Carclenu g?

\VI ile 011 loc.l.ltion, go for document, 'Y footage lh, I provides visual ev tdcncc to go w1tla the iut ervi w You know wh. l the speaker talked about, so you sh JI) IJ lwv no problem pl Hn ing what to shoot. For exat 11ple, tf lht subtect wlls discussing I he opera­tion o a 11 w p llulioi! -CfJIItrol Jevtct:: that has b en installe I, gd y<JH I ~ l1 oh cJf 1L while you'r(' ther al the locution .

SlwoUng to ,dit

ff )''l piJn to d1t out th<! CJU~SI I Oll$ lha~ ar~ n~kl'.'d, h.t" the Lllll·

r.: ra opcr tor ch:.rng com1 r.t :rngl tJI lot.: d lengl h only 11 hd )'OU .tre • ~ 111g cltJ ~t10m lu · wHI giv •ou mow flexibility m d1tmg the iut 1vkw dQwn to 1 bort, m· Jllt'r:l ~ ttucnce v.ith ul ,,n , .qlp,ll ·

n! jlltnp cuts It rn. y Jbt> do aw.1y w1 th th use o( llllllWIIhllctl

!.:UIOJ\11:.1 ·~ 11 UJIIIIOilValcJ CUI:IW:l) j~ purt.'Jy H1 !'l]J(I ll d H'r;' ll is not u l to )hl)w til · ud1 llU som I h111g Jlllpo•Lmt, htil 111 1d I l

\' 1 .1 )·II • ·qunJ J~t po111t .tnd lrllllll;lt!• .1 l 'll lltl <'Ill

THE DOCUM(NfARY INT(RVIEW · U9

H, however, you thmk you may want to keep the questiOn· a part of the scene, then the rea tion of the subJeCt to the questions as they are asked may be as important a his or her anS\\ers. You'~l want to keep the camera hanges to a minimum o that the audi­ence can see the rca tions as they happen . Therefore, }OU ma, have to cover edit points w1th cut wa 'S.

lf you, or someone, keeps truck of th question t~at .ha\e been asked, you can move the camera around to th ub1ect · p mt of view fter the interview 1. over r~nd reshoot the Interviewer a kmo

the questions on camera. . Shoot eutaw:~ s after \ ou h.tve comph:ted the mtervlt'\\ ·1 hi· i ·

th p01nt nt wh1~h you tn<l} he ,hktn th mt rv1 we to •1 t. st 1t shou ld come nftcr you\e g 1tt 11 his m her . p nt;me us ,m·,, r·

and react1ons.

Editing Opt1ons

lnt~ rv1 ' II .\ud1 o

HO · l ~ I N v IJOt;lJ Ht-; t r, y f ll ~ 'NO llt\lln VI0£0 'i

\ 'K lll · HI HT lJt 11 N'

\II q\le~liOil ~hould c I ' lli 11 u •h t roinl t1 dir dl011 fm t !1 pcaker :m l vJ ue n ugh th:H h · 01 sh lm l fill i11 the dd;Hh tt) I( sla · ·1W<IY ft(lJll kad111 qu llons,l wht h the tntet-

11'\vee Cl tl an '\\' •r "vc." ~'r "no" lmtc·1d, a~k quc~Li 11 such as .

"1 ·H m \\·hat h:lpp 11 d.'' . "II w \~ \.ild , u . plmn lhis situation t p ·oplc?" "\.\ 'h<ll would vou lik' p 'Opl' t() kno\ nboul tl11S ?" "\ \'l1<1l d -..ou sec in the futmc?" "!low dtd thi ( 111(' nb ul ?"

Don't sh()\ (f yom knm k lg(' of th~.: topic. You ' re asking qucs· t'i n m th nam · oh'{]ui ,llldlcu e. :.llld you wunt answ rs ftonl the speak 1 that \.\·lll infcwm them , Don't L mbarrasscd l sa)', "I d n't kn w about that.' r ''} Jon'~ understand,'' vc 11 if •ou do. It's · )0{1 \~<l}' t •et more inr1 rmat ion.

, mellmes you ]l,l\'e lo pia • the devil's advoC<lle ::md tak a po iti n that e ms to upp st: the 1 e:.1ket's views- 01 our own­in order tog t good expl:lnations and darili alion .

Li tel , Li ten, Listen

Aft~r you' e a ked a qu stion , li te1r to the answer. Let the speak r -no,~ ou 'r tntere ted. FoJlo, up any intc.rc. ting po1nts ou1 sub­

ject bnn • up. The onl~· rca ·on you have wri tten que ·tions is lo ha,·e omething to go back to 1f the interview slows down.

Don't ru h to a k another q'tl stion as soon as the speaker pau-es. Wait a bit A iknce m;~y prompt the in tervie ce to elabo­rate on ' hat he or he i sa ·ing in important ways that would otherwi ·e be missed. nd that c:m etten be better than the first answer gi \'en.

I ~I I_ or CtJ Mt II A IN I 1/lf I •• 71

The 'hvo /\ los/ J,rt('orlant QuiJi ltiJtll

\Vbc>n }!Jtl c tn• n th' end flf ·v r lh111g you've plarm br J e intcrvl •w, you stdl huv • two cptet.lt•m~ oak

1'h firs is "I her any lnng I slw ld ltt ve ;,d d )'£JU lta I pl I d1dn't know uough to a~k?" TillS g;ves yrJUI · tl-, t• ne t .. ~t ch.mcc to show h;t l hr• m lte ~ttows rrH;rt: h.an yuu do abou h subject

The ~cco11d ts "h I h ·re ilnytluttg lha you'd hh. o ay ha you haven' t lt<.Jd a chilnv ~ o?" Sometuncs your sub1 L h.ts bpen hm1-il1g :1bout he mlervtcw <tltd rr.:hearstng ltttle ~p ·eches, l1u I ·el he or she should only an wt•t the quc:stwm yms ask

ccns iot1ally one of these qu ·sttuHS tutly open the Aoodg<t cs, ;md you' ll get more th~n you ver clrcamed of. Hut be su te o bn ' you r crew that )'ou'rc gomg to >~sk tim 011c t:rew but down he cnmera und recorder us soon as they l1eard rne ask the fmt of the questions, because they though I WiiS gu ltenng inforrna 100 off the tecord . Kc'ep the camera runrn11g. You only get one shot a the answer to these questions.

PRACTI f

Finall y, if ~·ou want to be a good intervtewer, pmctLC:e. The hardest thing to learn to clo is to listen . Try to Lhtn k abou t wha t the peaker is say111g and where it's leading, not about what you're gomg to ask next. Learn wha t kinds of questions pro111pt good amwcrs and what kinds tend to shut off the response Sc<' if you can 't find way~ to nudge the speaker tn lo rcvea lmg more Without asking a drrec ques­tion . l11lcrview yol1r fnends, your relatives, and people yo u meet at partie~ . Don't just talk to them, interview them

And when the time comes to do it on camera, you'll be ready.