Photo by Jan Mehlich
A colleague referred me to washingtonpost.com’s On Being multimedia series. Basically, it is one-person interviews on an interesting topic that illuminates and reveals the person in front of the camera. The Gazette is planning a similar series in launching Iowa.com where we interview Iowans and present their voices. People, occupations and interests discussed — all Iowa-centric.
I bring up On Being because it is an amazing series of interviews. One man discusses what makes him “particular,” another woman talks about cutting and a mother and her developmentally disabled son talk about family life. The interviews are simple. The subjects are shot behind a white backdrop. The range of emotions the interviewer elicits is superb. I will conduct some of these interviews myself for Iowa.com and hope to make them equally compelling.
From a technical point of view, the camera angle changes frequently breaking up the tedium of just one shot. This means, however, that the interviewer had to stop and restart the subject or get them to repeat information for the new angle. Getting good information from just one vantage point is difficult enough; changing things around without the subject getting annoyed or bored is impressive.
Interviewing is the most difficult task of being a Video Journalist or a regular journalist for the matter. With video, people are reluctant to go on camera and frequently make guarded statements. Getting a subject to open up and be candid is truly difficult. When shooting a story, often the interview is secondary. You spend all your time and energy on taping visuals that tell the story. When you get to the interview, you often rely on the prosaic “tell-me-who-you-are-and-what-happened.” Frequently, just getting someone to go on camera is a major triumph!
As stated, I hope to achieve similar results with Iowa.com. If you are an Iowan and have interesting point-of-view or anecdotes about the Hawkeye state, let me know about you in the comments section below. I promise not to bite during the interview! — Michael Barnes
