Codes and Conventions of Filming and Editing Interviews

In class we compared two interviews to establish the codes and conventions of interviews.
They were:

In the Teeth of Jaws - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Zj8R0Kumw

The Making of Downton Abbey - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVJn5SN-eg4

Camerawork:

• The interviewee is always placed to the left or right of the frame with their eyeline a third of the way down the shot.

• The interviewer is always placed to the opposite side of the camera shot just out of the shot so that when the interviewee responds to the question they are looking at the interviewer and not into the camera (This prevents direct address and the interviewee looking into the lens of the camera)
• The camera shot can be adjusted during the short period of time that questions are being asked.

Mise-en-scene:

• The background of the interview is normally relevant to the topic of the interview. For example; the Downton Abbey interviews were shot on set so that the background was that of the programme and so gave it a period feel, and in the Jaws interviews a giant image of a shark with its mouth open was used.

• You never place an interviewee in front of a window because it creates a silhouette of that person and makes their face unclear.

Editing:

• The interviewer is never heard asking the questions to the interviewee. This time is covered by editing cutaways into the interview so that it covers this time.
• They are also used to show archive material if the interviewee starts to discuss something which it is relavent to.
• Cutaways are also used to avoid jump cuts and to break up the inteview so that the whole programme is not one big interview.

Graphics:

• Text is overlayed onto the interview at the beginning of each new interviewee's interview for a few seconds so that the audience know who the person is and how they relate to the topic.

 

Sound:

• The background music always relates to the topic of the interview and/or programme. For example; The Jaws theme song was used in the Jaws interview and period music was playing during the Downton Abbey one.