Tips for Shooting Professional Video Interviews

Compelling narration and strong testimonials are at the heart of most successful interview-based videos, but there is so much more to producing an interview than pointing a camera and a light at someone and asking them to tell their story. Learning the basic skills to craft good-looking and clear-sounding interviews will not only help you create solid stories– these same skills can be applied to many different styles of production including corporate videos, promotional content, behind-the-scenes documentaries, run and gun event videos, and much more.

With over 100 pages of content, the information in this e-book has been created to help videographers and filmmakers produce professional video interviews.

The Nuts and Bolts of Staging an Interview

This e-book will teach you what to look for when scouting locations so that you can set yourself up for success. Re-shoots are costly which means getting clean audio and appropriate lighting the first time you shoot is an absolute necessity. 

Throughout this e-book, we’ll cover the basic concepts of interview lighting and how to work in a mixed light environment. We also take you outside and walk you through the process of effectively planning for the many variables you'll encounter that are out of your control. 

The Subtleties of Your Composition

Have you ever seen a celebrity in person and thought to yourself, “Wow, they are really short in real life!” That’s likely because when they are being filmed for TV or movies, the camera is at eye level. It’s small changes like these that can affect how your interviewee comes across to your audience. With thoughtful use of framing and composition, you can enhance certain feelings that you wish to convey to your audience.

The Importance of Audio

If your video doesn’t turn out well, you can usually cover it up with b-roll footage. If audio isn’t captured clearly though, there’s not much that can be done to save it. We explain common microphone types, recording techniques, and what to do when you just can’t get rid of a background noise.

As an additional learning tool, we include five bonus videos to help you better understand certain topics we are discussing. Here is one example:

Asking the Right Questions

What this e-book won’t teach you are things like how to operate your camera or expose properly. We focused specifically on the interview process, and spend many pages describing techniques to communicate effectively with someone who will appear on camera. These methods can be used by one-man bands, but also implemented in larger documentary crews as well.

These are just a few of the topics we cover in this e-book.

What Is Included With Your Download

1. Location Scouting
2. Shot Composition
3. Basic Lighting Techniques
4. Conducting the Interview
5. Adding Visual Interest
6. Shooting Interviews Outside
7. Capturing Quality Audio
8. Accessories and Extras
9. Using Make-Up
10. Using Color To Create Mood
11. Releases and Clearances

Bonus Content: Links to five original videos covering topics like location scouting, focal length, picking a frame, using lavalier mics, and using shotgun mics.