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Shooting an interview

Shooting an interview

Shooting an interview is a fairly easy task. In the world of marketing videos, you’ll likely shoot a lot of sit-down interviews.

 

Follow these steps to shoot a simple but professional-looking interview:

 

  1. Set up two

One is for the subject and one is for the interviewer (who may be you). The subject should be seated.

  1. Set up your camera on a

Place the tripod to the side of your chair, facing your subject.

  1. Frame the

Use a medium shot, moving upward from mid-torso or slightly closer.

  1. Light and mic your

For more on this topic, see Chapter 6.

  1. Have your subject look at you, not at the

Looking into a camera lens tends to make a person self-conscious. You can conduct an excellent interview that has a conversational fl by having the subject speak to you. The camera serves to record the conversation you’re having. (The most common camera style on YouTube is to have the subject speak directly into the camera; we recommend this style only if the subject can appear natural.)

 

A person who is verbose the first time he answers an interview question may want to answer a question a second time, after having the opportunity to find the best wording for his answer. To avoid being heard asking the interview questions, you can edit yourself out, by having the subject rephrase your question within the answer, as in this example:

 

You:

 

“How long have you been the president of Smith Industries?”

 

The subject:

 

“I have been president of Smith Industries for 40 years.”

 

Encourage your subject to answer as simply as possible, always including the crux of the question within the answer, and you’ll have a professional-looking, easy- to-edit interview that you can replicate with different subjects.