The document provides guidance on conducting interviews for documentaries, including positioning interviewees slightly left or right of frame to avoid visual boredom. Medium close-ups and close-ups are most common. Interviewees should look at the interviewer, not the camera, so the interviewer's position is important. Mise en scene should reinforce interview content or provide context about the interviewee's occupation or environment. Cutaways are used to avoid jump cuts and illustrate points, using archive material or footage filmed later.

2.  Interviews are positioned to the left or right or
frame. When there is a lot of interviews, the
position then shifts so there is a mixture of left
or right, it therefore does not become visually
boring.
 Medium close up/close ups are the most
common shot types. Big close up is used
sometimes.
 Interviewee looking at interviewer, not directly
into the camera, the position of the interviewer
is therefore crucial. The interviewer must be to
the left if interviewee is on the right.

3.  The interviewee should be on the eye lines
of the interviewee
 Following the rule of thirds: eye line is
roughly 1/3 down the frame

4. Mise en scene
 The Mise en scene reinforces the
content of the interview, or is relevant to
the interview providing more information
about them in terms of
occupations, personal environment etc.
 Chromakey can be used to create mise
en scene interviews seated on an
“immovable” chair.
 The interview is filmed with the light
source behind the interviewee.

5.  The questions are edited out
 The cut aways are edited into the interview for two reasons
1. it avoids jump cuts
2. to break up an interview and illustrate what the interviewee
is talking about.
Cuts aways are either Archive Material or something
suggested by what the interviewee says and filmed later.
Sometimes aspects of an interview are filmed with another
camera e.g. extreme close ups of eyes mouth and hands
and are used as cut aways.
Graphics are used on screen to anchor who the person is and
their relevance to the topic of the documentary.
Open questions are used – a good technique to use is to ask
the interviewee to repeat the question. allowing a flow of
conversation.