Interviews allow the message from your Key Person to be delivered directly to your audience, they are a powerful way to get that message across, and there are several different styles of interview commonly used depending on what the interviewee or talent and director of videography decide.
Talk to most people about being interviewed on camera and they will often freeze or suffer some kind of anxiety, especially if they feel they have to talk straight down the barrel of a lens. It's not an easy thing to get used to. However look carefully next time you are watching a TV show or Documentary and see exactly where the interviewee is looking, nearly all the time they are looking 15-20º off camera to the left or right, but they are not looking into space they are looking into the eyes of someone who is asking them questions, they are responding to a real person and this gives the impression of a relaxed, realistic conversation.
This technique has been around for many decades and is still the preferred method for non experienced and often experienced talents alike. It is up to us to help and coach the talent gently through this process in a fun and co-ordinated manner so that they feel relaxed on camera....and we do this very well. Douglas our Director of Videography has spent a decade as an international public speaker and uses that experience to coax the professional speaker out of everyone in front of a camera.
But making a great interview takes more than just a well coached talent, it takes a specific amount of equipment, setup carefully to ensure the interview is not boring. SkyBiz Media Productions use 3 cameras generally to capture the scene, all of which are 4K/50 high end video specific cameras designed for this kind of work. The first camera is a close up facing 15-20º off the talent face on a tripod, the second camera sits on a fully automated computer controlled camera slider and is a wider side shot. The last camera is a stabilised handheld camera used for getting in closer to the face to bring realism and emotion to the scene, this modern technique gives realism and subtle movement to the interview. All cameras are synchronised together for seamless cuts from one angle to the next.
We always light our scene, lighting technique is paramount in bringing clarity, shadow and emotion to the finished product, this is done using a 3 or 5 point LED lighting array. And finally Audio, there's an old saying "You can get away with bad video footage, but never with bad audio" So we take audio as seriously as video. We use high quality Sennheiser AVX wireless systems and back this up with a high quality Rode wireless broadcast Shotgun mics into two separate audio mixers for added redundancy. If something happens to one audio stream we always have a HQ backup to edit to.
As you can see there's a lot more to getting a high quality interview than just rocking up with one camera and a lapel mic. The quality of your interview video will be interpreted by your viewer as either professional or not professional and either one will be reflected onto you company message.
Skybiz Media Productions has been involved in creating videos for a number of years offering clients value for money and exceptional service. In addition to being professional camera technicians all our operators are qualified CASA certified drone pilots. We have also been involved in creating works for Local Councils, National Corporations, TV adverts and local businesses. So we look forward to seeing how we can best help you with any project moving forward.