Codes and Conventions of Documentary Interviews

In our class we watched two clips from television documentary interviews and analyzed, and made notes on the codes and conventions of the interviews shown below. These codes and conventions below can all be applied to most television documentaries.

Extract 1



Extract 2







Codes and conventions of Filming and Editing interviews

• Interviewee positioned to left or right of frame
  If more than one interviewee, it alternates
• Interviewees filmed in medium shot, medium close up and close up
• Questions are edited out
• Mise-en-scene - background reinforces the content of the interview and is relevan to the interviewee, providing mroe information abut them in terms of ocupation or personal environment.
• Graphics are used to anchor who the person is on screen and their relevance to the topic of the documentary.
• Always look at the interviewer, never the camera, never gives direct address.
• Positioning of the interviewer is therefore important. If the interviewee is on the right of the frame the interviewer is to the left of the camera and vice versa.
• Framing follows the rule of thirds. The eye line of the interviewee is always one third of the way down the screen regardless of the framing; even in close up.
• Interviews are never filmed with a light source behind the interviewee. IE. in front of a window or with the sun behind them, the light is always in front of them, behind the camera.
• Cuts are always edited into the interviews to break them up and illustrate what they're talking about and to avoid jump cuts when the questions are edited out.
• All interviewees are sat down so that they remain still which makes for constant filming.
• Cuts are always archive material
• Cut aways are suggested by something said in the interview and therefore filmed after the interview.
• Sometimes aspects of the interviewee are filmed with another camera such as extreme close up of eyes, mouth or hands.