Codes and Conventions of Filming and Editing Interviews

In class, we compared tow interviews to establish the codes and conventions of filming and editing an interview.
The two clips we watched were:

• In The Teeth Of Jaws- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Zj8R0kumw
• Downton Abbey- The Making- Extended Interviews- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVJn5SN-eg4 

Camerawork
The interviewee are always framed to the left or the right of the screen. This breaks up the documentary and makes it less 'boring'. It also reinforces different sides of an argument e.g. the 'for' side could be positioned on the left and the 'against' positioned on the right.
If the interview is framed to the left of the screen the interviewer should be sat to the right of the camera. This makes it so the interviewee is not talking directly to the audience, which would be unconventional of a interview.
The camera should be steady when the interviewee is giving an answer however the camera is moved to create a different shot whilst the interviewer is asking a question. This again breaks it up and makes it more interesting.
Rule of Third: This is when the interviewee is positioned so their eye line is a third of the way down the screen regardless of the shot type. 

 

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene reinforces what the interview is about. Is sometimes has images in the background which anchor the person to the topic and keep up the relevance of the topic. For example, the interviewees in The Teeth Of Jaws were all places infront of pictures of sharks. 

The interviewee is never placed in front of a window as it creates a sillouete.

Editing
The interviewer is never heard asking the questions to the interviewee. This is cut to ensure that the documentary is kept professional. This time is covered by the use of cutaways.

They are also used to show archive material if the interviewee starts to discuss something which it is relevant to.

Cutaways are also used to avoid jump cuts and to break up the interview so that the whole programme is not one big interview which would lose audience attention.

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. The name of the interviewee is always the biggest text on the screen. The text is also placed in the corner opposite the interviewee.

 

 

Sound:

The background music always relates to the topic/era 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 clip.