Pre-Interviews: The Simple Trick for Stronger Nonprofit Videos
In nonprofit videos, it’s common to feature interviews with staff or people you’ve helped who can talk passionately and authentically about what you do, from the single parent sharing their struggles and need for help to the adult professional giving you credit for their success.
Today, I want to talk about how a quick pre-production chat can help these interviews really shine, making the videos that come out of them all the more memorable and affecting.
The usual approach
Typically, there isn’t any contact (or only very limited contact) between the filmmaker and the subject before filming. The subject is asked to participate by someone in the organization, and everyone shows up on production day knowing generally which topics need to be covered. Once the cameras are rolling, you start chatting and gradually zero in on the interesting details and emotional aspects.
That same production day is also used for getting b-roll or supporting visuals of the subject to go along with the interview. Usually, since nothing about the interview contents are known in advance, this footage will be limited to things that don’t require prior scheduling or planning—images of them walking around the office or maybe in a nice field outside. These shots are perfectly acceptable, but of necessity, they tend to be pretty generic.
The alternative
The idea behind the pre-interview chat is that by making contact in advance, you can craft a more specific and detailed plan for the day of production. While you already know the basics from your associates within the organization, this five-to-ten-minute conversation will give you a much better feel for the interview subject as a person. You can also answer any questions they might have and advise them on how to dress for the interview or otherwise present themselves.
Stick to the facts during this talk without trying to get into the deeper end of the pool. How long have they been involved with the organization? What is their background? Save anything more emotional for later, so you can capture their honest reactions on camera.
You might be surprised to find that the way the subject defines their experiences, and the elements they consider the most prominent and important, are different from what you expected.
In fact, due to miscommunication or other factors, some interview subjects can really surprise you, giving answers that completely change the story you were expecting to tell. In one project I worked on, I was told the video would focus on people visiting Israel for the first time, with the goal of contrasting their perceptions with what they had previously seen in the media. But when I spoke with a few participants a week before their trip, I realized most of them had already been to Israel 10+ times. Because of that early conversation, I was able to flag this for the client and suggest a pivot—giving us enough time to reshape the story before production day.
Even when you don’t discover anything dramatic, having a better sense of your starting point will make you much more efficient on your busy production days, ready to aim right for the good stuff. The subject will also probably feel more comfortable with you after having been previously introduced, reducing any camera-shy nerves and improving your rapport right off the bat.
Finally, when you know more clearly where an interview is going, you’ll have time to prepare props, locations, or any other interesting customizations in advance. This will make for much more compelling b-roll, taking your video to the next level.
In short, with just one quick conversation, you can avoid confusion and wasted time, not to mention produce stronger, more nuanced and distinctive material for your videos.
Got any stories of interview surprises? Want some advice on what kinds of questions to ask? I’d love to hear from you.