Conducting an Interview - Demo
Lesson 4 from: Produce And Create An Impactful InterviewAbba Shapiro
Conducting an Interview - Demo
Lesson 4 from: Produce And Create An Impactful InterviewAbba Shapiro
Lessons
Class Introduction
03:43 2Interview Preparation
19:27 3Conducting an Interview
42:44 4Conducting an Interview - Demo
08:30 5Location Scouting
04:35 6Camera Placement and Gear Overview
16:19 7Common Framing Mistakes
03:39 8Interview Subject Placement
02:29Lesson Info
Conducting an Interview - Demo
- [Abba] So, we're going to talk a little bit about today. We talked on the phone before...well, we didn't talk on the phone, you were actually in one of my classes earlier, so I know a little bit about you from that. And we did talk a little bit before the class actually started, just to kind of see what you're doing lately. And I want to talk to you a little bit about your new business venture, okay, which is exciting. It's a challenge, like you literally went from something here to something there. - [Woman] Yeah, absolutely. - Tell me a little bit about what you're doing now. - Yeah. So, I'm founding a video blog or a vlog. It's all about learning how to develop recipes, from the beginning, from the envisioning of it, all the way through the execution and to the plating, and sharing that with people around the world. I've always really loved to cook, but I got to this moment where I was like, gosh, I can execute anybody else's recipe that I want. And I can do it pretty darn well an...
d be very reliable about putting something delicious on the plate to serve to my friends and family and I love that. But I want to be able to walk through the Farmer's Market and see what ingredients are seasonal and delicious, and invent something that is all my own. And so, I thought about how I would get those skills, and I was watching, you know, food shows, and no one ever talked about inventing the dish, it was all about somebody else's dish and how you do that. And so, I wanted to learn that set of skills, and I thought other people would as well. - That's great. That's great. Now I get to break the fourth wall, right? So, we sort of talked about nothing. It's like a Seinfeld episode, okay? So I'm talking about nothing. And something that I had noticed that, you know, you came in, you were a little bit frazzled because it was like, "Oh, I'm really late," and so, we kind of just relate it to something that we interacted with today. The other things that I'm thinking about and it's happening, first of all, her answer was great, it was too long. I knew that in my head. Not a bad thing, I'm not going to say, "That was too long, make it shorter," but I know now that I need to help, you know, focus her on giving me shorter answers. And there's the energy there, which is good, but I'm also in my head going, "It's going to be hard for me to grab sound bites because you didn't breathe." And you know, this happened to me even when I did the interview that we're going to see later is like, you kind of know what you want to talk about, you were a little prepared, you've been asked this question. But that was a good, I'm guessing, two minutes or something and I don't have the key things. So, I now need to manipulate this. Manipulate, not a positive term. I need to take the conversation to a place where I can get what I need, okay? But I need to be, you know, gentle about that, so it's like, that's great, you like told me you like all this stuff and let's focus on a couple of things that you talked about. First of all, how you got into this. And, you know, let's just keep these kind of self-contained because I want to be able to put this in and then show a video of you, you know, walking through the Farmer's Market. So I need to let it breathe a little bit. So don't worry about telling me everything. - Okay. - Just tell me little nuggets and think about this, and there's something, you know... Imagine we're in an elevator and we only have a few story's and I'm like, "Sarah, tell me about this new thing you're doing. This is great, but I have to get off on the fourth floor because, you know, my cat's getting, you know, Lasik," okay? So, random stuff always works. So, tell me a little bit about, you know, what got you into this, you know? Why did you start this vlog? What was your motivation? But tell it to me as if we're riding on an elevator, if I only had 30 seconds. - Yeah. So, I was executing a lot of other chef's recipes and I was really good at doing that, but I wanted to be able to create my own recipes and I wanted to learn from others how to do that. - That's perfect. I had one tricky thing. They're not going to hear my question. So, I need you to say, "I started my vlog because I was doing this," okay? Because it's really all about you. - Right. - Okay. They're not going to see me. They're not going to know in context what you're saying. So, I'm going to ask you the question again and we'll do it and you know, this is normal. This is something, you know, I do interviews all the time, you're not a professional person being interviewed. Don't worry, there's no right or wrong. We're just trying to get it because we're trying to tell your story, and I want it to be natural, but we need to know what you're talking about. So, tell me a little bit about why you started this whole vlogging. - Yeah. So, I created my vlog because I had become a pretty proficient home chef and I wanted to go from cooking other peoples' recipes to creating my own. - Excellent. So you see, I kind of got where I wanted to. It wasn't forced. I would probably have her do it again because there's trips on some and words, but I wouldn't have her do it again now. Because now I'm going, "Do it again. Do it again. Do it again." In my head or I would write a note, I need the opening thing again because I want to get it...because maybe we'll do the interview and then we'll come back and I'll say, "Let me hear that opening again, okay? I got it, but I want to make sure we have a nice, clean take of it." If I was at the end of my time and she gave me that sound bite, I would say, "That's perfect. I always do a backup in case the audio has an issue, in case the camera's not working and I know you don't want to necessarily do it again, but let's just try it again so I have a safety." And then, I would ask you to do the question. I'm not going to make you do it, okay? So, again, you're getting what you need but you're allowing the person to feel comfortable and you're reassuring them that they're not doing anything wrong because they'll start tripping over their tongue. And it will only get worse if it's like, "Do it again. Do it again." The other thing to keep in mind is, if I did this at the beginning and as we go through the interview, they get more relaxed, I may have them talk about what they did at the beginning again because now they're relaxed talking about it. And I'm really open with somebody, it's like, "You know, at the beginning, you gave me a great sound bite, but you know, after we've been talking awhile, you're like so chill. Let's try that... I want to hear it again with this new you from 20 minutes ago. Let me hear about why you're doing the vlog." So, transparency is important. It's a conversation. Okay? And if you're asking them to do something again, they need to know why. They need to know that they're not doing it wrong because they're going to become more nervous. So those are some of the ways that I would relate with the conversation and keep it moving. And in my head, I'm saying, "Okay, is this a good sound bite? Do I have a cut in or a cut out point?" I know also, there are some key points I want to get from Sarah based upon how I think I'm going to do this piece on her. And I know one thing I'm going to want is I want a good hard open that will catch the viewer. So I want a good sound bite, maybe I'm lucky in getting it, you know, because of something she said, I'm listening for that. And I want a really nice out, okay? So I know that I don't want just it to trail off or for me not to have, you know, anything... So, I know I have some questions and it'll be something like, you know, "So, picture yourself in five years. Your vlog is a success, where do you see yourself in five years from now?" - So, five years from now, I would love to actually take the show on the road and be able to learn from chefs, not only here in Seattle, but around the world. - That was nice. Kind of asked her where she wanted to be later. And if it wasn't there, she was doing very well. Sometimes, you may not get that. Sometimes, you have to let them think. Sometimes, you have to kind of guide them. It's like, I don't know, it's like, "Do you want to be traveling around the world? Do you want to be independently wealthy? Do you want to open your own restaurant?" Sometimes, you have to kind of give them the idea because they're not expecting always to have that answer. They're not professional interviewees. So, you as the professional, and you will get better each time, need to sometimes guide them to get the sound bites that you want. So that's just an idea how we would interact. You know, there's nothing between us here. It's very open. I would probably put the camera as close to me over my shoulder, if I'm doing one camera. We're going to go into the technical stuff a lot more, but I would make sure that we're having eye contact, and I'm not worrying about this. I try to create an environment where I don't have to keep checking because that breaks the communication.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Jess Connor
At first, I felt like the class was difficult to get into during the "live" instruction but quickly found after the first few classes that the information was extremely valuable. Maybe it was just me- maybe it just wasn't my style at first. I absolutely would recommend this class to anyone interested in learning interview or basic film skills. It's brilliant!
artmaltman
I found this course very helpful and I recommend it. I picked up a lot of tips, and frankly this course made me realize that putting more preparation into client interactions AND using a more sophisticated production pays off in higher quality video. I wish he had gone into more detail on microphones and camera gear but I can pick that up on review sites.
Geo Wright
Abba was great at explaining why you would do a specific thing in an interview and also the editing as well. Well worth watching.