Ten Top Tips for Shooting an Effective Interview

Out of the ten Tips listed, I highlighted and elaborated on the top five that I personally thought was most important.

1)Position the camera, interviewer, and interviewee at eye level in relation to one another.

*Ensuring the interviewee's sight line is natural and non-distracting will help to not confuse the viewers for the camera is sure to capture the interviewee's gaze.

2)Avoid placing the interviewee directly against the wall.

3)Avoid placing the interviewee in front of the window.
* Windows generally make poor back drops, especially on a bright day. Window light that is too intense creates a darker backlit image. Facial details, shape, and depth are lost or diminished.

4)Avoid swivel chairs.

5)Follow the rules of thirds- place subject to the right or left of center.
* Off centering provides lead space between the subject's nose and the edge of the screen and produces a stronger, more visually pleasing composition.

6)Have the subject look slightly off-axis to camera- never directly head-on.

7)Place the interviewer as close to the left or right side of the camera as possible.

*The more the interviewer is to the left or right, the more the interviewee's face will be angled away from viewers, resulting in a perfect profile shot.

8)Alternate shooting with the interviewer on both sides of the camera.

9)Eliminate distracting background mergers and clutter.

10)Monitor audio and video recording
*Be sure to do trial recording prior to the start of your interview and monitor video and audio during taping. It is important to review snippets before leaving to ensure your happy with the results.