The Documentary Filmmakers Handbook is another excellent source of information. Genenvieve Jolliffe and Andrew Zinnes provide a fairly comprehensive view from training to legal, from pre-production to post-production. On page 276, Ian Wright, one of the many contributors, lays out 10 interviewing techniques he uses:
1. Relax your subjects by talking about a non-subject issue.
2. Don’t schedule more than two to three interviews a day so that you stay fresh
3. Keep your subject from saying things in pre-interviews. It’s hard to recapture that magic in the second go around.
4. Be honest with your subject and they will open up to you.
5. Keep eye contact. This keeps your subject engaged, so don’t look through your notes while they are talking.
6. Don’t speak while your subject is speaking. Active listening is good for day to day conversations, but it will wreak havoc in your edit sessions if your voice is there – unless you’re part of the film.
7. For more formal interviews, have your subject repeat the questions as part of their answer.
8. Try not to be too encumbered by people and equipment when interviewing.
9. If a subject is lying to you or being difficult, you can confront them on it as long as you know you’re right.
10. Don’t speak too much. It’s not your question that is important – it’s their answer. It’s a human reaction to fill silence so they might give you more if you say less.
If you missed this discuss, make sure you check out:
Interview Techniques for Social Filmmakers – Web Resources
Interview Techniques for Social Filmmakers – Peer Dialogue
Interviewing Techniques for Social Filmmakers – Part 2
Interview Techniques for Social Filmmakers
