So when you need to interview non-professional talent here are some things you can do to make the experience for everyone go a little better.

Create a friendly environment and remove all non-essential personnel. It is bad enough for some people to appear on camera, let alone speak in front of a group of strangers.

Let the subject know how things will go. Show them around the set and introduce them to the remainder of the crew.
Start off the interview with easy questions so you have time to make final adjustments and gently talk the talent into any changes you might need.

Make good eye contact and really listen to them. If they are talking WITH you as opposed to TO you, you are doing a good job.

Like any lawyer in court, do your homework. Know the answers in advance. Don’t be surprised at what they say.

Let them know it is ok to make mistakes and you will ask the question several times and in several ways.

Relax. Its just film (or tape).

Now you have a few pointers…. What’s your favorite ice cream?

Chapter 4 - Storyboards for Film or Video Production

Almost everyone knows what a storyboard is. They are panels, like comic strips, which outline the shots needed to create a scene or even of the entire film. Alfred Hitchcock was famous for his use of storyboards. He would have the entire film boarded in advance of production. For him, shooting the film was a mere formality, and is perhaps why he thought of is actors as “cattle.”

In our film and video business we don’t typically work from storyboards. When we make a corporate video, we create shot lists, and work very intuitively. The documentary style films and videos we have made really come together in our editing room. Television commercials really are the only part of our business where storyboards are a regularly used, and that brings us to this Tale from the Front.

We are big believers of the idea that working begets more work. Many times we have been working on a television commercial, or even a corporate video piece, and just by being in the agency in front of writers, art directors and producers we have been given more work. One such case happened about 10 years ago. We were at a meeting in an ad agency where we had done a lot of car commercials. The agency had a concept for a Camaro Z28 commercial where the car would break out of the winter doldrums and into the sun. They had a storyboard comprised of six frames, one of which was the hero shot of the car. They told us, “We don’t have a lot of money (nothing we haven’t heard before) but a snow storm is going to hit Chicago the day after tomorrow. If we get you a Camaro can you shoot the spot?”

Cut To: Ext. Chicago- Day. Two days later, a blizzard hits. Jim and I and a film camera make our way around downtown Chicago, shooting snow scenes. Anything interesting in the snow we shoot it. Meanwhile the Camaro is in the studio parking lot getting buried under a foot of snow.

(continued on page 9)

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