Experimenting Interviewing Techniques

The video above is me and Charlie experimenting with different interviewing techniques to create different atmospheres for the audience. The first technique of the art teacher was used to create a positive atmosphere for the audience, we can tell this from the lighting used and the position of the interviewee in the shot, you can see that the shot is slightly shaky, this was my best attempt to keep the camera as still as possible without using a tripod.

The second shot of the sixth form student walking down the corridor whilst talking was created as a tense atmosphere and and to convey to the audience that this person is very busy and maybe a professional, we had hoped to have other people to come into shot and get the student to pretend that she was signing a form or otherwise, further emphasising the interviewees professional status. This shot is often used in documentaries to mostly create tension.

The third and final technique of the interviewee sitting down is to create an opposing view of the interview. We can tell this from the content of the interviewee and the position and lighting used in the shot. The lighting above the interviewee creates shadows across his face further emphasising the point that the person doesn't agree with the interviewer. The position of the character shows the audience that the person is very confident about his views and therefore reclines in his seat.

All of these interviewing techniques were practiced to help us get a better understanding of them and help decide what of shots we would use and what atmosphere would be created in the process. Overall i think that this exercise was very helpful and that we will definitely be using some of these techniques in our final documentary.