Notes on the documentary interview
Thrown together by David Tamés, September 12, 2013; revised on April 10, 2026
Why do interviews?
Some documentary media makers do interviews while others prefer to observe people and eschew formal interviews (in the traditions of direct cinema and cinéma vérité). Documentary makers who perform interviews choose between formal interviews and informal interviews, or simply capturing conversations as they happen. There is no right or wrong, no good or bad, simply different schools of thought.
The interview sits within a larger visual storytelling practice, the documentary approach is built on three core commitments: closeness: getting near your subjects physically and emotionally; showing rather than telling: letting images carry the story; and shooting for the edit: always thinking about how your footage will cut together. These principles apply directly to interview work and should shape every decision you make before, during, and after the shoot.
Technical and creative options
There are many technical and creative options to consider when interviewing subjects. I like to mix things up, and choose an approach that seems to make the most sense for each project and sometimes, for each subject within a project. In documentary, most decisions start with your subjects and the topic, always tempered by matters of style and budget. Primarily good interviewing is about listening, empathy, and preparation (knowing as much as you can about the subject to start with). The rest will fall in place as you practice and get the hang of it, there is no substitute for experience when it comes to orchestrating a dialog between yourself and your subject in order to capture it on video.
There are many creative and technical options to consider. The key decisions span several dimensions: the style and approach (informal vs. formal, planned vs. improvisational); your relationship with the interviewee (professional, personal, or adversarial); the interviewee’s physical position (stand-up, sit-down, walk & talk, or MOS); the direction of the interviewee’s gaze (first person or third person); camera support (handheld, tripod, or other); lighting (existing interior, exterior, small LED unit, or a formal multiple-unit setup); camera lens (telephoto, normal, wide, or ultra-wide); sound (boomed mic, lav on subject, mic on camera, or handheld mic); and the location (event, studio, home, office or lab, street, or the wild). Ask yourself which technical and interview style approach is best. It really depends on the specific nature of your documentary. Does a particular approach make sense for what you are doing? How might it work out for you?
Tips and rules of thumb for better interviews
There is no substitute for practice, the more interviews you perform, edit, and reflect on, the better you will get at it. I’ve been adding to this collection of tips and rules of thumb over the years and I share them with you here. I never apply them all at once; I apply these selectively based on the context of the specific interview I’m performing. Use these items as a starting point and create your own checklist to help you prepare for interviews.
1. Preparation
Preparation is key. Some knowledge of the subject is important. Be familiar with your subject’s background and their work and whatever is relevant for your specific documentary. Design your questions carefully given the specific issues you want to discuss. Research and preparation is crucial. Your interview subject understands that viewers may be new to the topic, but they will lose patience with you if you don’t demonstrate you’ve done your homework and know something about the topic or person that you’re discussing with them. Your interests and familiarity with topics of common interest will put your interviewee at ease and help you build the rapport that is so important for a good on-camera interview.
2. Design questions to elicit stories
Your questions depend on the kind of documentary you’re making and the purpose of the interviews, but most of the time I like to elicit stories, rather than information. Of course, if the purpose of the interviews is “expert testimony“ that’s one thing, but stories are usually more interesting and reveal a lot. So the most important thing is to listen and follow up on things that will elicit stories, rather than trying to get all of your questions answered. Great stories make the difference between “talking heads” and “storytellers,” and storytellers are much more interesting than talking heads.
3. Before the interview
Consider performing a pre-interview on a phone or Zoom call to determine if this person is right for your documentary. Sometimes spontaneity is more important and you will not pre-interview. Make this decision on a case-by-case basis, or depending on the specific topic of your documentary and the nature of the interviews. Personally I prefer an informal pre-interview whenever possible, and on the phone or Zoom, not email. This allows me to get a hint at how confident and articulate someone is, and determine if they are going to be able to tell me stories rather than just deliver facts and descriptions.
4. Rehearse your questions
Rehearse your questions out loud to make sure there is no room for misunderstanding if the stakes are high for a particular interview. Most of the time being straightforward is all you need to worry about.
5. Working with groups
Consider putting people together to talk. Sometimes couples or groups give you more; sometimes disagreements often yield good dialog exchanges. This is much harder to shoot and may require more than one camera to capture multiple sides of a conversation. However, you can certainly manage with one camera as long as you’re getting good audio of each speaker that is not dependent on the position of the camera.
6. Use a small notebook
Keep your list of questions in a small notebook that does not call a lot of attention to itself, but allows you to make your own notes as you go along, e.g. making a note to make sure you get back around to a particular topic. Do whatever works for you, but certainly you want to come up with a system for this. I strongly suggest paper over a tablet or your smartphone and there is a lot of evidence that shows that taking notes on paper is better for you and less distracting for your interview subject.1
7. Decide on the setting
Decide what setting is best for your interviewee: their home, office, in the park, in their studio if they are an artist? The context has a huge influence on the look and feel of the interview. Showing people in their own environment is often my preference. Some people are better when they are walking around their own space and talking to you. The walking and talking interview can be very effective, especially with artists and craftspeople who work with things.
The setting also shapes the visual story you tell. Think about what the background says about your subject. Consider what your camera-to-subject distance, camera angle, and composition implies about your relationship with the subject: Are you on their level? Are they above you? Below you? Are you in the position of a social actor (participant) or a distant observer?
In most cases avoid shooting subjects in front of a white wall or dark wall unless you want a “floating in limbo” effect. Work on getting interesting foreground and background elements in your shots. It’s not only your subject in the frame, the background plays an important part of the story too, and you need to be aware of frame, angle, foreground, and background simultaneously.
8. Disclosure
Explain clearly to your interviewee why you are interviewing them and what you are exploring with your documentary.
9. Release forms
Don’t forget to get a personal release form signed and make sure you have name, address, phone, email, etc. in order to be able to contact your subject and stay in touch. Do this before the interview starts. No release, no interview, unless special circumstances require a delay in obtaining the release. There are times I’ve had people sign the release and allowed them to keep it, and only after they have decided they are comfortable being in my documentary do they need to give it to me. You need to have the rights to everything that ends up in your documentary, otherwise you may run into trouble later. On a professional production, obtaining proper written permissions is the responsibility of the producer. Take a look at Release forms for documentary media makers for more information about releases and forms you can download.
Performing the interview
Be natural and true to yourself in your interviewing. This will come from practice and genuine empathy for your subject. Make sure you have some quiet time with your subject before you jump into the interview. This is easier if you can work with a partner who sets up the camera and sound (and lighting if you are using lighting instruments) while you sit down and talk with the interviewee about how things are going to roll.
1. Warming up
The first ten minutes or so are usually a warm-up period, even if you’ve done a pre-interview and have spoken with your interviewee right before the interview. It’s a new setting, a new context, therefore, give your interviewee time to warm up. Start with some pleasant, warm-up questions, but don’t make them trivial or seem like throw-aways.
2. The first couple of questions
Usually the first question I ask is something fun, like “what’s your favorite breakfast,” during which the sound recordist (or you if you’re doing your own sound) can set prior dialogue levels. Then I ask them to spell out their name on camera while I’m rolling, in order to both “slate” the interview and make sure whoever is editing the interview has the proper spelling of the interviewee’s name and title.
3. Complete sentences
Depending on your stylistic choices, instruct interviewees to include questions in their response, speaking in full sentences, as this will make things much easier to edit. You may have to coach your subject on this, and approach it that way: rather than telling them they are doing something wrong, explain how it makes the editing easier and if they would give it a try.
4. Interruptions
Depending on your stylistic choices, if you are going to redirect or interrupt interviewees, let them know this in advance and try to make it conversational and organic.
5. Listening
Listen actively and carefully to make sure answers can stand alone. This gets easier the more you interview. You are also listening actively not only for what you want, but what the interviewee is really saying. Don’t rush to the next question. If you don’t have something complete or coherent, ask the question again, or take another angle on the same question. It has been my experience that very often the second time around the answers are more coherent. Practice active listening: getting deeper with gentle “And…” and “Yes, go on…” and even silence.
Listening is the central skill of documentary practice and involves patience and genuine curiosity, I suggest it is better to follow where the subject leads rather than steering then through a preset list of questions. Good listening is the foundation of the empathetic relationship that makes a subject feel safe enough to speak honestly.
6. Specific details
Avoid vague and general questions. Ask for details, specifics, and examples, as this makes the interview more interesting. In most cases you not only want stories but specific details that bring the story to life.
7. Timing of specific questions
Start with factual questions and keep the more intimate or emotional information for later, when the subject is more comfortable with you and relaxed in the situation.
8. Delicate issues
To get into a delicate area, you can use the devil’s advocate approach, for example, saying “some people would say there’s nothing special about the river dam project,” and let the interviewee respond. Another way to get into a sensitive topic is to start with a general question and then ask for specific examples.
9. Silence
Don’t be afraid of silence. A moment of silence between questions serves two purposes. First, in some situations, it’s the best way to get more from the interviewee. If you allow some moments of silence after an interviewee has finished answering a question, look at them and approve with your gestures, but be quiet for a moment, they might be thinking and go into something else. Even if the moment of silence does not result in any follow-up or additional materials, your sound editor will appreciate having little pieces of “room tone” that match closely what was said.
10. Multiple replies to a question
Try to cover each issue in more than one way to give you the ability to cut in and out of the interview in order to tighten the material. Let people talk at their natural pace; avoid too many interruptions. But for important things you want to cover again, circle back and ask the question again in a different way or ask for expansion.
11. A good story bares repeating
Sometimes you want to go around and get the most compelling stories a second time. In my experience people repeat themselves and most of the time tell stories quite well a second and third time, and often in a more concise manner. It also depends on the specifics of the project and what the person is like on camera. I will often ask people if they can clarify portions of a story that was particularly compelling, and shoot this retelling in a different framing. This allows me to later inter-cut the versions as needed in order to compress the story in editing, and the shot variety is nice to have too.
12. Discourage interviewees from editing themselves
It’s important to remind your subject that they should not edit themselves, and that you will cut out any “bad bits” and it’s your job in the editing to take the best parts of the interview and make sure they end up “looking good” or coming across as “credible.“ In all cases, you should be empathetic and respectful to your subject. You want to bring out the truth and the best in people, unless you are doing an adversarial interview. Even then, you have to find what you like in the person; otherwise you’re not going to get a good interview, as they will sense where you’re coming from.
13. Winding down
As the interview has wound down and you feel you’ve gotten all that you need, I suggest you ask: ”Is there any question I should have asked that I’ve not asked today?” Sometimes people will go on a whole other tangent that relates to something important to them. Sometimes this is great footage, other times people have nothing to add. But just in case your subject has been wanting to say something, give them the chance; it may turn out to be what you needed for the interview.
14. Positive acknowledgement and honesty
Always acknowledge what was successful about the exchange at the end of the interview. Be positive and thankful, yet don’t lead your subject to believe they are going to be in the documentary. If they ask, explain to them that the interview was successful, but it’s eventually up to the editor what ends up in the final documentary. Express that you’re happy with what you’ve got. Basic respect is key in managing the relationships with your subjects, many of whom you’ll end up developing relationships with over time. Strive to develop your own ethics of documenting others, balancing openness to wherever the story leads with honesty about your intentions. Always treat your subjects honestly, being clear about who you are, why you are making this video, and how the footage may be used.
Camera and sound recording considerations
1. Framing and composition
Fill the frame with what is significant. The size of the object in the frame is relative to its importance. This also means that the space around the subject should be significant. Don’t float your subject in a lot of space if you don’t need to. Do not be shy of using partial images, as this suggests that the image continues offscreen. Use the standard shot sizes for the human figure, but remember that due to the size of the screen on which many people will watch videos (mobile devices and computer screens), you should favor the close-up side of the spectrum. Use a close-up if in doubt. Avoid the natural divisions of the body. Don’t give a “lollipop” shot of the head. Try to include a hint of shoulder. Avoid excessive headroom.
Position yourself to get the “angle plus angle” so that you show the three-dimensionality of your image. This may mean ducking down or looming above your subject; if appropriate, play around until you find the most pleasing angle.
2. The interviewees gaze
Ask your interviewee not to look at the camera unless you are doing first-person address. In a conventional sit-down interview the subject looks slightly off-camera toward the interviewer. In a first-person direct address, the subject speaks directly into the lens, which creates a very different relationship with the viewer, one of intimacy and immediacy. This usually requires special equipment to pull off well with non-actors, as people will have a tendency to look around. When starting out, have people look at you and engage with you. As long as you place your head to the left or right of the edge of the frame, the interviewees gaze vector will be slightly off camera, and viewers will be aware they are addressing an interviewer off camera.
3. Lighting
Plan your shoots for good lighting. Open curtains. Choose to shoot scenes outside during the morning or evening when lighting is best, because the sun is at an angle instead of directly overhead. A key light coming from the side or behind the subject is more pleasing than harsh overhead light. Don’t shoot someone in front of a window unless you’re using it as side lighting, or when you can provide sufficient interior light to compensate. If it’s too sunny, try to find a position in the shade, away from direct sunlight. Side lighting and backlighting are often more beautiful, therefore, position your subjects so that they are lit by the natural light coming from a side window when shooting interiors.
Be meticulous and shoot everything with proper white balance and correct exposure. In most cases it is better to start with a perfectly exposed and color-balanced image and then take care of looks and effects during postproduction, where you can try things and back out changes while having more creative control. Overexposing or underexposing video results in the permanent loss of highlight or shadow detail, respectively.
4. Sound recording
Always make sure you are recording excellent sound. Never, never cut corners on this. Sound is half the picture, yet most often it receives only casual attention by video makers. Viewers can’t always articulate what’s wrong, but quite often it’s the sound that either engages or disengages them.
In most circumstances, the audio from the built-in camera microphone is going to be terrible unless you are shooting very close to the subject in a very quiet room. If you’re not using an external microphone, then you must shoot close to the subject and in a quiet location, otherwise, the sound recorded with the on-camera microphone will not be usable. But always get the best ambient sound you can. The built-in stereo microphone on the camera is good for capturing ambient sound from the camera’s perspective; for everything else, consider the use of a shotgun or lavaliere microphone.
Position your microphone as close to the sound source as possible. If you are placing a lavaliere microphone on a subject, place it in the upper chest area. When you record dialogue on location, always make sure the background is quiet. If you can ask people to stop making noise, do so. When shooting outdoors, shield the microphone with a windjammer to avoid wind noise. When shooting indoors, close windows and doors and switch off sources of noise like air conditioners.
Whenever possible, record room tone, since ambient noise often changes over time, I’ve discovered that recording room tone an hour later yields a very different sound. Most often the pieces of room tone I end up using when I edit are those moments of silence after a question has been answered. So it’s probably a good idea to record 30 or so seconds of room tone at the start, middle, and end of the interview if possible.
Don’t forget to also record sound effects and ambient sounds that help create the aural texture of a place, situation, or event. Video is also about sound.
5. Context and visuals
Don’t forget to cover the environmental context with visuals, also known as B-roll. This illustrative footage can be very important. B-roll provides the visual elements that help move your story forward. Ultimately, documentary is a visual medium. Images should drive the story while the stories interviewees tell provide emotional connections, help bring us into the story in a visual context. The camera’s ability to observe, to capture small, telling moments and gestures, is what distinguishes documentary video from a recorded conversation. Think about what the camera can show that words alone cannot convey.
The interview in context
The interview is only one of many element within a larger visual story. Documentary is a visual medium, therefore, images should drive the story while the interviewees provide anecdotes and emotional connections. Even in a short work, you have to think about what’s in the frame and the role it plays in your visual storytelling. You have to be very focused with your choice of images to tell the story and editing that keeps the viewer engaged and wondering what’s next since the viewing context these days is likely a browser or mobile device and you have to complete with the many options simply a click away.
Good documentaries, even those about ideas, are always primarily about specific people. People convey their character through their actions. A character with a specific need or an interesting personality or on a mission will carry your work. Consider building each interview segment around a central character or a central question, and letting the visuals of the setting, people, and objects in the environment do as much if not more work as the spoken word. The most successful documentary makers are who maintain genuine curiosity about what they are filming and following what is actually happening rather than confirming a preconceived script. The interview is an encounter from which you will discover the nuances and human dimension of the story you discover though your engagement with people.
Examples
The following documentaries provide objects of study that demonstrate that documentaries can be structured with interviews without yielding to the talking-head conventions of traditional documentaries.
- Justin Boyd: Sound and Time (Mark Lee Walley and Angela Guerra Walley, 2013, 8:38) is a well crafted short documentary with good b-roll footage about a sound artist that is engaging and informative. It is clear that the filmmakers interviewed Justin Boyd in more than one setting, and then wove the interviews with observational footage and only brief glimpses of the original interview footage.
- Dogtown and Z-Boys (Stacy Peralta, 2001, 91 minutes) weaves together interviews, narration, and visuals to tell a story using a style grounded in the subject matter. Because Peralta was himself a Z-Boy, the interviews feel like old friends reminiscing with candor that gives the film an oral-history quality. The interviews are woven with rapid cuts, zooms, and reframing within the interviews that match the energy of skateboarding culture. Sean Penn’s voice-over narration provides historical and cultural context in a measured style contrasting with the anecdotal style of the interviews. The approach results in a documentary that feels like skateboarding: fast, irreverent, and improvisational.
References
For further study, the following books are recommended:
- Visual Storytelling: The Digital Video Documentary by Nancy Kalow, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, 2011, Download PDF.
- Directing the Documentary by Michael Rabiger and Courtney Hermann, Seventh Edition, (Routledge, 2020), WorldCat, Amazon.
- The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers: A Legal Toolkit for Independent Producers by Thomas A. Crowell, 3rd Edition, (Routledge, 2022), WorldCat, Amazon.
Footnotes
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There are a lot of studies that demonstrate the cognitive advantages of handwriting for note taking and note making. And while much of the research is focused on classroom note taking, I suggest it applies to the context of preparing for and conducting interviews. See: Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking,” Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159–1168; Van der Weel, F. R., & Van der Meer, A. L. H. (2024). “Handwriting but Not Typewriting Leads to Widespread Brain Connectivity,” Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1219945; Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N. J. (2013). “Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and Nearby Peers,” Computers & Education, 62, 24–31**; Torres, T. (2025). “How to Take Notes During Customer Research Interviews,” Product Talk, https://www.producttalk.org/how-to-take-notes-during-customer-research-interviews/ ↩