5-Minute Excerpt Progress #1

Making an Interview more Conversational

For my 5-minute excerpt test shoot, I had a conversation with my partner who stood in as a test participant. I did this to figure out how I could frame this "interview" in order to make it feel more conversational for both the viewer and the participant, and also to see how the conversation flowed and what kinds of questions it raised. In doing this, the footage was also more subjective, as the camera is very up-close and intimate in regards to the participant, rather than adopting a distant, sterile, objective interview set-up. I also used natural lighting in order to avoid the image looking staged or ideal, however a single LED light would be beneficial for the shoots with my actual partcipants.

Raw footage stills

As I mentioned in my previous post regarding the planning of my 5-minute excerpt, I focused on specific parts of my participant at a time, rather than filming conventionally with a wide shot, then a medium shot, and then a close-up. This made the conversation look and feel more intimate and immersive, reflecting the subject matter we discussed. As a film with an innately subjective concept, a subjective filmmaking perspective is more suited.

What I learned:

• Making an interview more conversational often involves forgetting your intial question and listening closely to what the other person is saying, so that the conversation can flow more organically on both sides
• Natural lighting maintains the intimate and natural tone of filmmaking I want, but a singular light would help make the image brighter without compromising my initial vision
• Extreme close-up shots made for some nice framing; a more interesting (and busy) background would enhance this
• Encouraging the other person to turn questions back to me would make the conversation feel less conventional (and less like an interview) and also implicate my self back into the process