Cinematic Interviews

How to NOT make another visually boring interview

This video provides a comprehensive guide on how to film a high quality interview through an example. There are multiple components that go into recording an interview such background decorations and additional lighting that gives a professional look. The video goes into details such as creating leading lines in the background that make it easier to pay attention to the subjects or how to frame questions. The steps covered in the video are:

Scouting a Location 1:51
Camera Placement 3:21
Key Lighting 5:39
Backlight 6:50
Background Light 7:20
Light with Practicals 8:00
Set Decoration 8:56
Second Camera 10:00
Audio Setup 12:27
Recording an Interview 15:29

Note: This video highlights some fancy equipment, which you can ignore. Most of the value in this video comes from the techniques and considerations, which can be applied to the use of any equipment.

Editing Tips and Tricks

As humans we get bored easily. So try to change your visuals every 15-30 seconds to keep visual interest by:
- - editing between multiple camera angles (easy multi-cam tutorial for premiere)
  - introducing b-roll that is relevant to what is being said
  - having short animated segments
  - highlight quotes or important ideas into animated title slides
While your visuals should change, your audio source should not. Even if you have multiple audio tracks from different cameras or sources, choose only one (the clearest) to use in your editing process.

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