The codes and conventions of interviews
- 1. The Codes and Conventions of Interviews
- 2. Camera: • -Interviewee positioned to left or right of frame. • -When a lot of interviewees position shifts so there’s a mixture of left and right. • -Medium close up or close up are the most common shot types. Big close up used sometimes. • -Interviewee looking at interviewer, not directly as camera.
- 3. • -Position of interviewer is therefore crucial. • -Interviewer should be on the same eyeline as interviewee. • -Follow the rule of thirds. • -Mise-en-scene reinforces content of interview or is relevant to the interviewee, providing more information about them in terms of occupation, personal environment etc. • -Chromakey can be used to create mise-en- scene. • -Interviewees seated on an ‘immovable chair’. • -Filmed with the light source behind interviewee.
- 4. • -Questions are edited out. • -Cutaways are edited into interviews for two reasons. • 1) To avoid jump cuts. • 2) To break up interview and illustrate what interviewee is talking about. • -Cutaways are either archive material or something suggested by what the interviewee says and filmed later.
- 5. • -Sometimes aspects of an interview are filmed with another camera e.g. extreme close ups of eyes, mouth and hands and used as cutaways. • -Graphics are used on screen to anchor who the person is and their relevance to the topic of the documentary. • -Uses open questions, forces interviewee to give a longer opinion.