Interviews — LIGHT TEAM

IDENTIFYING INTERVIEW CANDIDATES

Generally, the most powerful interview content comes from individuals who:

Excel at public speaking
Can speak clearly at a moderate pace
Can “think on their feet” and articulate well without reciting pre-written material
Exude a positive energy
Don’t mind being photographed

We recommend prioritizing these attributes over position, grade, length of employment, popularity in the school community, etc. While those factors are also important and should definitely be taken into account, the best building blocks for an emotionally engaging video are Interview excerpts from individuals who are calm, confident and able to speak articulately from the heart in front of others. If your School has someone in mind but they express strong initial resistance to the idea of being Interviewed, that is a usually good indicator that they may not be the right fit.

SELECTING INTERVIEW LOCATIONS

When choosing interview locations, the goal is to find spaces that look good and are relevant to the story being told. Once you have uploaded your Schedules, Scouting Photos/Videos and School Map, our team will study these uploads to learn about your buildings and flag potential Interview Locations. We will then work with you to determine which Location offers the best combination of the factors listed below. Like all aspects of filmmaking, this is a subjective creative process and thus there is never an absolute right answer. However, through our experiences we have found that the best interview locations meet as many of the following criteria as possible:

Large spaces (the bigger the better)

Quiet

Available all day

Have walls painted shades of white, gray, blue, green

Do not have walls painted shades red, orange, pink, brown

Not directly adjacent to a busy street

Accessible without using stairs

First floor

North-facing windows

No skylights

Examples of spaces that usually work well:

Large classrooms

Art rooms

Libraries

Theatres

Gymnasiums

PREPARING AND DESIGNING INTERVIEW LOCATIONS

Interview backgrounds frequently benefit from colorful furniture and wall decorations that can be seen behind and around the interview subject. It is common practice for our crews to move desks, furniture, posters, paintings, lamps and other room fixtures to decorate the area being seen on camera. If the selected interview location at your facility is lacking decorations, we may ask if items from other rooms can be temporary relocated to the interview room. You can maximize our efficiency on filming days by pre-selecting an abundance of colorful decorations, and by removing delicate/sensitive objects from the room in advance.