The Art of the Interview

Aside from film production classes where we were taught to elicit complete sentence answers, I was never formally trained how to conduct interviews. My technique has developed over the course of hundreds of on camera interviews, along with editing thousands of hours of interview footage—around 10% of those allowed me to see other directors’ approaches. 

Most of the people I interview aren’t used to being on camera. So, I try to make the cameras and mic disappear, at least as much as possible. That can mean everything from casual conversation while I set up and make adjustments, to juggling active listening with taking notes, assessing the usability of an answer, and keeping the interview on message. 

Just like real juggling, to learn it you have to earn it. Mending interview mistakes in the edit bay creates a sort of muscle memory—so does constructing narratives out of interviews. After a certain point a fair amount of it becomes subconscious, and that allows me to focus on what matters most: the conversation. 

It’s vulnerable being on camera. My job is to escort people through the process, with conversational confidence so they know they’re in capable hands, and their personality and authenticity conveys a story worth watching. That’s how you get the best soundbites, the ones that pop in the edit without editing magic.