What I Learned After Filming 20 Interviews in Two Days

Video Production Oakville – The Captain’s Blog

What I learned after filming 20 interviews in two days.

Hello everyone, it’s John again, producer here at Groovy Concepts. Today I will review the pitfalls of filming too many interviews in one day. Shooting interviews can be one of the most challenging aspects of a professional video production.

Over the course of two days last week, we filmed 20 interviews; 12 the first day then eight more the second day. The plan was to complete one interview every half hour, including the pre-interview setup. Everything rolled beautifully for the first eight interviews. However we soon came to the realization that working non-stop, through lunch, without a break was draining our energy levels and tapping into our reserves.

Professionalism and discipline are keys to a good corporate video production. But people do get tired and the one thing you don’t want to do is allow tiredness to get in the way of giving the people you are interviewing the proper attention. It’s important to stay focused, locking in on the eyes of the interviewee, showing interest in what they are saying. By showing interest you get the best out of your interviewee.

There is no magic formula, but as a general guideline we at Groovy have come to realize the importance of limiting the number of interviews on any given day to between five and eight. It’s important as professionals to honour the process by maintaining absolute energy. Just like we would schedule how many scene setups we can film in a day, we need to be realistic about how many interviews we can cover in one day.

Whether we are shooting in Montreal at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel as we did last week, or a local video production in Toronto, if there is to be 20 interviews, we would establish our limits in advance with our client; eight interviews on day one, eight on the second day, and the balance on the third day. We are not in the business to simply pump out a project. It must be done beautifully and to do so energy levels must be maintained.

One other quick but very important point while working a video production is to drink lots of water to maintain hydration, maybe cut back on the coffee and try to eat some fresh fruits and vegetables. Good nutrition is a key to really maintaining energy levels but water is an essential to maintain clarity. Also, the night before the shoot, you should try to get your seven to eight hours of sleep. Show up to the shoot in top shape, lucid and keen to go – in so doing everybody wins!