The document provides guidance on conducting interviews for documentaries. It recommends preparing questions in advance, making interview subjects feel comfortable, asking open-ended questions, avoiding yes or no questions, and considering location and visual elements. The workflow of documentary production is also outlined, including pre-production research, casting, shooting, and post-production editing, sound design, and distribution. Crew roles like the director, cinematographer, sound person, and editor are defined.

1. WORK FLOW
+
THE INTERVIEW
WEEK 3
SHANNON WALSH

2. THE ART OF THE
INTERVIEW
RELATIONSHIPS& RELATIONS

3. The Documentary Interview
◦ Prepare your questions in advance
◦ Help people relax and feel comfortable
◦ Don’t ask more than one question at
once
◦ Practice ‘active listening’
◦ Keep your mouth shut!
◦ “Save it for the interview”
◦ Ask for final comment
◦ Don’t stop filming when the interview is
‘over’

4. Approaches
• Interviewer on screen
• Walking interviews
• Discussion between characters

5. “Tell me …”
• “Tell me about…”
• Repeating the question in the answer:
• Q: “Where did you grow up?”
• A: “I grew up in….”

6. Avoid leading questions,
& questions with ‘Yes’ and ‘No’
responses
Example of leading questions that give bad answers:
Q: “Is it difficult as a new immigrant in Vancouver”?
A: “It’s not too bad.
Q: “You’ve been here for six months now?”
A: “Yes”
Q: “You said you come from the Philippines?”
A: “Yes, that’s right.”
How could this have been done differently?

7. Use Open Ended Questions
• Tell me what it is like to …?
• How long have you…?
• How did you feel..?
• Tell me about when….?
• Prepare a questions list before hand
• Develop themes so your questions flow, but don’t get stuck on your
questions
• Be prepared, but also spontaneous
• Ask easy questions first and go towards harder or more emotional
questions later

8. Considerations
Background – Location – Sounds
Visual Consistency – Weather - Light

9. “The Law in these Parts” (2012)
Incredible use of green
screen, and a single
interview location

11. DOCUMENTARY
WORK FLOW
Preproduction to post production

12. Pre-Prod & Production phases
Preparation / Preproduction
• Idea, treatment and script developed,
finding money, characters, locations, sets
• Preparation for production
Shooting / Production
Edit / Post Production
• Assembling material in the edit
• Sound edit, sound mix
• Colour correction, outputs
• Distribution phase

13. Preproduction
Research
• As extensive as possible
Writing
• Proposal & Treatment, Story Development, Script writing
Casting
• Finding your character(s)
Pre-Production People
• Producer – financial and organizational, sometimes creative
• Executive Producer – distant, financial or ‘rights’
• Line Producer – Organizer of on set production
• Associate Producer – coordinating lab and technical
personnel
• Script Writer
• Researcher & Visual archivist
• Production Assistants
This is the phase we will
be primarily working on
this term.

14. Production
CREW
Director
◦ Conduct and organize research
◦ Write proposals
◦ Explain creative (and sometimes financial)
elements to funders, subjects, crew, etc.
◦ Decide on content
◦ Assemble the crew
◦ Schedule the shoot
◦ Lead the crew
◦ Direct participants during shooting
◦ Supervise editing
◦ Supervise Post-Production Online, Sound
Edit & Mix, & Mastering

15. Production
CREW
Director of Photography
• Orders camera equipment
• Tests and adjusts equipment
• Masters all technical elements
• Answers to director, but takes initiative when shooting handheld or
other necessary situations
• Scouting locations, ensuring electricity requirements
• Lighting aesthetics and set ups
• Deciding camera positioning and ‘look’ in collaboration with the director
• Making all camera movements
• Listens and is sensitive to situation and human behaviour

16. Production
CREW
Sound Person
• Chooses right equipment for situation
• Checks equipment in advance
• Is aware of not causing shadows or getting microphone into frame
• Keeps mic close to sound source even during handheld shooting
• Hears sound inequities and finds solutions whenever possible
• Recording location sound and wild sound on own initiative
• Alerts DP and director if sound is un-usable and must be reshot

17. Post-Production
ROLES & STAGES
• Editor / Assistant Editor
• Sound Designer / Sound Editor
• Sound Mixer
• Colour Correction
• Graphic Design (Titles & Inter-titles)
• Conforming and Outputting

18. Production Schedule
PHASE TASKS DEADLINES
Pre-Production
Production
Post-Production
Distribution
Check out the PDF of an example template of a production planner

19. Call sheet