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Making a Mini-documentary, Ep 5: Interviewing tips for a video interview

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Woman conducts video interview of two teenage girls sitting on bed
Making a Mini-documentary, Ep 5: Interviewing tips for a video interview

SUBJECTS:  Arts

YEARS:  3–4, 5–6


You've got your questions, your equipment, your location and your interviewees.

How do you do the interview? Catherine Marciniak and Benj Binks from ABC Open have some practical advice for you.

This clip is one of eight on making a mini-documentary.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Have you ever interviewed anyone or been interviewed? Were you nervous? Ice-breaking, that is, making people feel comfortable, can help. Before the interview, chat with your interviewee about anything but the interview questions. You might ask, 'What have you been up to today?' or 'What did you do on the weekend?' Have your parents or carers ever had to sign a permission form for you to do an activity?
  2. 2.What else can you use the ice-breaking time for? What does Benj say is the first step? What do you need to do if your interviewee is under 18 years old? How do the twins introduce themselves? What sort of questions are asked? As the interviewer, how should you act? What makes a great interviewer? What is the most important thing? What do you need to do when the content is personal? Why should you leave space at the end of an answer? What is 'atmos'? What is the final thing you should do?
  3. 3.Watch the clip carefully for examples of the tips. Make a list of all the things you need to do when you're interviewing. What ice-breaking question does Catherine ask? What are the words the twins use when consenting (agreeing) to the interview? Copy them down to use for your own interviews. See if you can find a standard consent form for filming. Being empathic means sensing other people's feelings and being able to imagine what they might be thinking or feeling. Why might this be important when discussing very personal things?
  4. 4.Benj says that the more you practise interviewing the better you will get. Using the advice in this clip, practise your interviewing techniques. Try being the interviewee as well as the interviewer so you can see what it's like being on the other side of the camera. Do you think the filmed consent would be used in the final video?



Date of broadcast: 2012


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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