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DVworkshops
.com
Newsletter
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DVworkshops has
moved
to Fisherman's Wharf
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You will love our
new teaching space
right in the heart
of Fisherman's Wharf
and just a few
blocks from North
Beach.
Now you can use
priceline.com to get
an affordable and
nice room in the
Fisherman's Wharf
area...then just
walk to class.
Always feel free to
call with questions,
qualifications,
housing and more.
DVworkshops can be
reached at
(415) 810-5934
Aron Ranen
Instructor
Link to our website
DVworkshops.com
Click here for our
Free Documentary &
DV/HD Handbook
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Don't...
Flat Line your
Interviews |
In the past two
weeks I have seen
two people
"Flat-Line " their
interviews with
their subjects....The
lighting and camera
positions are all
correct...( proper
eye-line
rules....lighting)
..but when they
start
interviewing....they
really blow it .
What do I mean by
"Flat-lining" an
interview?
This is when
the interviewer
never builds upon
his subject's
answers..and just
continues on to
their next written
question..or
jumps into another
topic...without
giving their subject
a chance to
elaborate on their
answer.
Every interview
should be treated
like a Scuba diving
expedition...you
will dive down to
different
depths...explore
while you are
there...then rise to
the top for
air...and then dive
back down for more
adventure.
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The Interview that
Flat Lined..but was
later rescued Click
here to watch The
Dolphin Club
|
The first "Blown"
interview.
A student in last
week's 6-Day
Documentary workshop
was interviewing a
woman who belongs to
the
Dolphin Club,i
t's members swim in
the 45 degree San
Francisco Bay all
year-round.
During the interview
at her Apartment.
The Students began
with simple
questions about the
club and her
swimming techniques
and feelings about
the Frigid water she
swims in.
As I listened in the
other room, I turned
to another student
and whispered, "Boy
are they Flat-lining
the interview".
All I heard was
one question after
another, with no
follow-up questions,
or
attempt to "Dig
deeper into
emotional material".
The woman was
talking about the
"Zone" she goes into
when swimming in 45
degree water...that
her body went into
"automatic".
Instead of
building a question
by simply asking her
to expand on what
the "Zone" means to
her...they
asked her about what
she wears when she
swims.
I ran into the room
minutes later, and
pointed out they had
missed an emotional
opening to dig
deeper and explore
emotional content
instead of just hard
information.
They then
incorporated the
interview techniques
we teach at our
workshops....started
the interview
again...the results
can be see
at this link on
youtube to
THE DOLPHIN CLUB
documentary.
Click here to view
it right now
and see
how they 'Fixed" the
interview and ended
up with a touching
and inspiring
documentary...instead
of a boring just the
facts film.
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The Second Blown
Interview...the
Client/Producer got
what he wanted..but
could have had more.
|
The
second "Blown"
interview was on a
corporate shoot I
filmed yesterday.
In this case I was
just the hired
Cameraman/Lighting
person...so I kept
my mouth shut, but
it was
obvious that this
person had read
instructions on how
to do an interview
from a 1950's text
book on
filmmaking.
I sat there as he
read one question
after another from
his computer
generated list of 10
questions.
Not once did he try
and develop the
interview subjects
answers..even
though he had ample
time and cooperation
to do so. He still
walked out of the
shoot with plenty of
material to edit his
short customer
testimonial...but
he could have had
more than what he
had expected.
Many people walk
into an interview
already knowing what
they want the person
to say....that can
lead to predictable,
boring and often
unauthentic
material.
Be patient and open
to the unexpected in
an interview..use
the interview
techniques below to
explore unknown
content and the
EMOTIONS of your
subject.
If he had simply
repeated the last
key phrases of the
subjects answers,
and noticed
emotional keywords,
he could
walked away with
material he never
knew existed...instead
of sound bites he
knew days before the
actual interview
ever took place.
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The Interview as a
Scuba Diving
Expedition |
 Part
of the Scuba diving
analogy includes
exploring different
emotional levels of
your subject's
feelings, thoughts,
dreams, desires,
relationships with
others.
When someone
expresses a
"Feeling" (keywords
like, love, special
place, zone, hate
..etc) you MUST
build a question
around this person's
emotive answer....you
can do that by
shaping a new
question to
ask for them to
elaborate on this
feeling, or
just
repeat the key
emotive words.
For Example
Subject:
I love the people of
the Dolphin club, it
is such a warm place
to be."
Filmmaker:
" A warm place to
be?"
Subject:
"Yes its an Oasis in
a stressed out city,
where you are not
judged and that
brings great warmth
to my heart, and
hope."
I would have then
gone on to build
more questions
around this feeling
of warmth and
hope to
further explore the
subjects different
emotional depths.
Remember to
explore and 'mine"
for emotion..not
just information.
We spend a lot of
time in our 4 and 6
day Documentary
workshops helping
people realize the
power of emotion in
documentary
filmmaking, and how
to both capture it
and story tell using
it.
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Summary
|
In
Summary, to avoid
flat-line
interviews:
-
Always build
questions from
your subjects
answers
-
Listen for
Emotional
Keywords, and
build from them
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Repeat the last
key phrase some
one says,
instead of
jumping to
another question
-
Never just read
one question
after another on
your
pre-prepared
list
-
Explore
different
emotional depths
of your subject
-
Treat the
interview like a
Scuba Diving
Expedition
-
For your last
question, always
ask this" Is
there anything I
have not asked
you about, that
you would like
to share with me
?"
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Watch
great Documentary
made in Last week's
6-Day Documentary/DV
Journalist Workshop.
A
Film by student Joi
Falana about a Cable
Car driver that can
play "We will Rock
you" on his Cable
Car bell....Click on
Photo to view at
youtube.com....A
must see.
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