Interview One:

Interviewee: I was the first person in my group to be interviewed. While it felt a little strange to be the first, I'm not the type of person to get shy in front of a camera. It was also a bit strange because we didn't have to prepare questions ahead of time, which meant there was a lot of downtime in between questions. As I was being interviewed, I started thinking about the questions I was going to ask when I was the one conducting the interview. I also started to think about people I might want to interview in the future and stories I might want to tell. 

Director of Photography: Considering the camera was set on a tripod and remained in the same location for the entire duration of the interview, being the director of photography was probably the easiest of the three jobs. One challenge that my group did face, was that we didn't have a microphone. Of course, the location we picked was outside and in very close proximity to a well-traveled road. 

Interviewer: Since I was the last person in my group to conduct an interview, I had more time to mentally prepare questions. Unfortunately, I do feel that there was a slight language barrier between me and my interviewee. I'd ask an open-ended question that had the potential for a very interesting, in-depth answer, and instead I'd get a one or two words response. This made it very challenging for me to get a minute of worthwhile content. When cutting the interview and adding B-roll, I realized that there was a lot of B-roll due to the amount of cuts I had to make. 

Interview Two:

Interviewee: Once again, I was the first person in my group to be interviewed. I thought that since I'd already gone through the process once, I'd be a better interviewee and would be more able to give more in-depth answers and responses. This was not the case. While my interviewer was good at forming open ended questions, the questions he asked were similar to the ones I was asked in my last interview. Not wanting to repeat my answers from my last interview, I gave shorter, more broad answers, rather than better, more specific answers. 

Director of Photography: Once again, the camera was set on a tripod and remained in the same location for the entire duration of the interview. Because of this, being the director of photography was, again, probably the easiest of the three jobs. Unlike the last interview, my group was given a microphone to work with. This did not add much difficulty, if any, though. 

Interviewer: Again, since I was the last person in my group to conduct an interview, I had more time to mentally prepare questions. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that this extra time helped much. I was hesitant to ask my interviewee the same questions that I asked my last interviewee, so I struggled to come up with worth-while question. Although I once again interviewed an international student, I did not feel that there was a language barrier between me and my interviewee. I was given lots of interesting, in-depth answers to my questions. This made it very easy for me to get a minute of worthwhile content. 

The link to the second video was never sent to me. 

Vocabulary:

B-Roll: Pictures / short videos you put in to cover cuts.

Video Server: A server on our computers in school where you can find every video anyone has ever done before. 

Rule of Thirds: An interviewee's eyes should be positioned on the top third of the screen. 

Where are the lights and light stands? They are located in the Green Room.

Where do the batteries get charged when you are finished? Next to the shelf with all the camera, there is a table that contains a charging station for the batteries.

JVC HM100: This is the name of the second camera we used. We used it for interviews.

Lavalier Mic (Lav Mic): A small microphone that is stuck to the shirt of an interviewee. It is connected then to the camera.

Canon T3I/T5I: A reflex camera.

Director of Photography (DP): The cinematographer who is responsible for the camera.

Dissolve or Fade: Transitions used to begin and / or finish a clip more smoothly. 

Editing: The process of cutting clips and using effects to create one cohesive piece.

Editor: The person who does the editing. 

Lower thirds: Where you put the name and description of the person who is interviewed. 

Shoe: The thing on top of the tripod where you fix the camera.

Transform: 

Ken Burns: Ken Burns created the Ken Burns effect while creating a 12 hour informational series about the civil war. This effect is used to move / zoom still B-Roll footage.

Notes:

- rule of thirds and have the interviewee look towards the negative space

- be silent between questions — this will force the subject to continue to talk or react

- always act interested when interviewing someone, even if you have to fake it

- let your interviewees be themselves — this will make the interview much more interesting to watch

- make sure your microphone is working before you film a whole interview

- spend the time to find a perfect spot to place your interviewee before you start shooting

- write up some basic questions before hand — to keep the conversation going

- try your best to come up with questions on the spot based on the answers that you were given from the question before — the answers you will get will be longer and more personal

- Ken Burns is very important and his effect makes still B-roll pictures much more interesting to watch

- B-roll is vital in covering up the transitions between questions

- don't detach your audio!

- B-roll can be either pictures or videos 

- splice frames and answers to shorten the length of the interview

- watching other peoples films, documentaries, and movies is a great way to improve your own skills and methods

- take the time to set up the light — if done right it will greatly improve the quality of the film