How to film yourself interview style?
Filming Your Own Interview:
A Comprehensive Guide to Captivating Video Content.
In today’s digital era, video content has become a powerful tool for storytelling, promotion, and engagement. One popular approach to creating compelling videos is to film yourself in interview style. This method allows you to showcase your expertise, connect with your audience on a personal level, and add a unique touch to your content. In this blog post, we will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to film your own interview style video that will leave a lasting impact on your viewers.
Define Your Objectives: Before diving into the technicalities, it’s crucial to outline the objectives of your video. Ask yourself:
- What ultimate message do I want to convey?
- What do I want viewers to take away from this interview?
- Do I want to entertain? Inform? Both?
By clarifying your goals, you can tailor your questions, structure, and overall approach accordingly.
- Prepare the Questions and Answers that you want the audience to know: Crafting thoughtful, engaging questions is essential to a successful interview, so build from them to craft the necessary answers you want to tell your viewers about.
- Consider your target audience and the topic at hand. Research your topic thoroughly and prepare answers that convey the specific concept to the audience you want to reach.
Plan Your Filming Setup:
- Create an environment that reflects the tone and ambiance you desire for your video. Choose a location that is visually appealing, well-lit, and free from distractions.
- Ensure that your background is tidy and relevant to the subject matter.
- To keep things simple, you can follow the diagram below when setting up your camera and lighting; keep the lighting in front of when filming,.
Set Up Your Equipment:
To film your own interview, you will need some basic equipment. Invest in any camera or use a smartphone with a good camera. Utilize a tripod to avoid shaky footage. Consider using an external microphone for better audio quality. Lighting is crucial, so explore options like natural light (sun) or invest in affordable lighting kits. And you can also use a teleprompter that will help you to read your script directly while shooting on camera, to avoid the mistakes and repetition.
Here are some options that will help you to create a good equipment setup:
- for filming with a Camera:
Sony Mirrorless Camera A6400 with lens 16-50 mm
Basic Tripod
Basic Lighting Kit or Soft Lighting Kit
Wireless Microphone
Teleprompter - for filming with a Smartphone:
Any Phone with good quality camera but make sure you are filming in HD or 4k mode
Basic Phone Tripod or Tripod with Ring light
Basic Lighting Kit or Soft Lighting Kit
Wireless Microphone for Phones
Frame Your Shot:
Position yourself in the frame as the interviewer. Leave enough headroom and put yourself at the center of the frame or maintain the rule of thirds to create a visually pleasing composition; this rule is a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open, like in the images below:
Test and Adjust:
Perform a few test shots to ensure everything is working correctly. Check the framing, audio levels, and lighting. Make any necessary adjustments before proceeding with the interview to avoid potential issues or distractions during the recording.
Conduct the Interview:
Once you’re confident with your setup, it’s time to start recording. So, roll your Camera/Phone and start, but be sure to stick to an right timing. For example, if the video is published on social media, you should consider that it does not exceed five minutes, but if you want to publish it on platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, or educational platforms, you can reach 10-15 minutes. It is also preferable to divide the video into small clips and publish them separately to form a continuous series based on one topic.
