How to Conduct an Interview

Ukrainian version here. Українська версія тут.

Create a diagram of all stakeholders in your film and decide who you want to interview. Also identify who you need formal and informal permissions from in order to obtain your interviews.
Prepare your questions ahead of time. Double check to ensure they are asking in a non-leading manner. A leading question suggests or implies the desired answer, while a non-leading question is open-ended and allows the interview subject to provide information freely without undue influence.
- Resource for Developing Interview Questions: Documentary Filmmaking: Capture Your Story
Describe the project to the subject:
- Who will and won’t the audience be?
Obtain signature on personal release form. Release form available upon request.
Tips for on-site location scouting
Conducting the interview in a safe area
- Check with police ahead of time about possible filming areas/locations.
- Then, double-check area to ensure safety. (See safety tips in later section of Appendix: Chapter 6
To consider again, are there:

Unidentified problems?
Hidden assumptions?
Quiet or silenced voices of communities you have not identified?
Evaluating your narrative and questions for implicit biases and assumptions
Determining whether the questions are ethical

Make sure that the subject feels comfortable physically
Be transparent about intentions
- Plan what to say about the project ahead of time to enable you to focus on subject’s responses to the information being shared with them.
- Assess their level of comfort and ability to participate as early on as possible during introduction.
Describe in a general way what you will ask about:
- Don’t allow subjects preparation time for the questions (even if only a few hours). When people attempt to prepare for an interview, it can create a rigidity and awkwardness as they attempt to recall what they planned to say. You are more likely to get an authentic perspective when someone is answering for the first time.
Help them help you. Empower them.
- Tell interviewees that they are the expert here.
- Assist with the mechanics of bringing out their perspective on camera (vs a letter or email).
- Do not offer a perspective at any time – it could hinder their willingness to share their own perspective.
Learn from subject:
- Appreciate their willingness to educate you and others
- Briefly summarize the challenge, as framed by locally-based residents
- Understand that, whether factual or contestable, residents’ perspectives have deep-rooted currency. They will affect your ability to operate in the area
- Understand why they might want to have a stake in the process, and how to engage these stakeholders
Have subject state a question in their answer:
- For example, if the student asks, “What is your name?”, have the interview subject answer, “My name is xxx,” not simply, “xxx.” Create your questions to elicit this kind of answer. For example:
  - “In the city of Boston during the major first snowstorm of 2014, what were you doing?” vs.
  - “What were you doing back in 2014 during that first major snowstorm?”
Do not interrupt an interview subject unless necessary.
- It might throw an interview off and confuse the subject, taking them out of an authentic moment.
- People can become offended if they are solicited for information, then interrupted.
Repeat questions if necessary
- Explain to subject that repetition of question is usually for editing purposes – it’s not to draw attention to their shyness or awkward response.
Set the tempo of the interview:
- Slow it down
- Do not speak over the subject’s response
- Allow for pauses for the subject to recall or add further information. A pause can be used to seek information that a subject might be more reticent to share.
Do not affirm with a yes or no.
- Only affirm that subjects are expressing their thoughts well.
For this exercise, do not worry if the subject is charismatic or not:
- If subjects struggle to clarify their thinking, say thank you and move on.

Always have two people present at the interview, when possible. One person conducts the interview, the other person takes notes—to keep a diary log—for the post production stage. Items to note in the diary are:

What are good answers?
What b-roll to obtain (see ‘definition of b-roll’)?
Whether the response was “clean” (i.e., the response was well articulated and can be heard – no gusts of wind, airplanes or sirens in the background).
The second person notes surroundings in case changes need to be made (e.g. loud sounds, moving vehicles, etc.,)
Second person should offer additional feedback about follow-up questions, as needed.

For a printable PDF of “How to Conduct an Interview,” please download it here.