As a videographer, there may occasions where you will want to tape the personal story or testimony of an individual. We often use an interview format when preparing video clips for worship. Using good interview footage, we can condense an experience into a concise, professional and compelling presentation. This is especially important in a worship setting, where time is limited and we want the audience to capture the central theme of the interview clearly and quickly.

Prepare for the interview. Good interviews are the result of preparation. When you interview someone, whether it is to capture a life story or just a sound-bite from a man on the street, plan your shoot ahead of time. Write down the questions you want to ask--impromptu questions often work, but you'll want a solid base of questions to fall back on. If possible, prepare the interview subject as well by giving them your questions ahead of time and speaking with them about the subject matter prior to the taping. This "pre-interview" has been used for years on television talk shows as guests are talked through the interview prior to the program.

Shoot in a controlled environment. In an interview, location is key. Pick a quiet location that is well lit. If you do not have access to a studio environment, inside a bright, evenly-lit room is preferable to outside. Avoid dim-lit rooms or fluorescent lighting. Avoid interviewing "on the move" in a car. Place your camera on a tripod and frame your subject with a neutral background. Determine whether or not you want your subject looking directly into the camera lens--often looking off to the side gives a more natural appearance.

Pay attention to the audio. Good audio is very important in an interview. Remember you are capturing the story as they tell it in audible form. Loud background noise or distracting sounds can ruin a powerful testimony. The boom mic on your camcorder is inadequate for an interview. Don't even think about trying it. If you have a high-quality lavalier mic for use in professional applications that's great. If you don't, at least go a step beyond the camera's built-in mic. Go to Radio Shack and buy an inexpensive lavalier mic that clips on to your subject's lapel. These work great both indoors and out to cut down on background noise and clearly capture the voice of the interview subject.

When outdoors, use a windscreen on your mic to cut down on ambient noise. Handheld mics work great for man-on-the-spot type interviews. In any instance where you as the interviewer are holding the mic, take special care to place the mic close to the subject's mouth and not to allow them to start their answer until the mic is in place.

Prompting your subject. I don't recommend entering a ministry interview with a specific result in mind. Prompting your subject to "say this phrase" or asking a question repeatedly in order to find a certain response, in my experience, frustrates the interview subject and weakens the resulting material. I prefer to enter the interview with a subject clearly defined and functioning more as a listener then a questioner. God often has something to say through the interview subject, and I want to be ready to hear Him speak.

As you ask questions, concentrate on the interview subject versus your "list." Take time to listen carefully to each response. Probe deeper in areas where the subject is passionate or knowledgeable. In my experience, every person is interesting once you discover their passions and they find you have a genuine interest in their story.

Sound-bites. Ask your subject to phrase their answers as complete sentences. It is difficult to make a compelling video out of responses like "uh huh" and "I agree." If your subject tends to ramble in run-on sentences, make your questions more specific. For instance, instead of saying "Tell me about the mission trip," you could break it down further by saying "Tell me about the first day of construction on the church," or "Tell me how you began each morning on the trip." If you feel an answer is going too long, don't be afraid to interrupt an answer to break it down into manageable chunks.

Sound-bites, which are one or two sentence answers, make the best raw material from which to put together a finished interview segment. Often in a worship setting, we take dozens of short "sound-bites" and re-order them to make a more compelling story, masking the breaks with layers of additional video clips. The interview becomes a voice over of footage from the project as the audience experiences a testimony in both words and pictures.

Putting your subject at ease. Occasionally an interview subject may be nervous or scared. I do not recommend interviewing individuals who are not thrilled about the opportunity. Unwilling participants rarely yield excellent material. In the case where participates are willing but unsure of themselves, you may prefer a few "throw away" questions to put them at ease, like "Tell me about your best family vacation ever,” or "Tell me about what makes you laugh." These can be lead-ins to the more serious questions of your interview. If you use throw-away questions, however, listen intently to those answers as well, so your interview subject does not notice an abrupt change in your demeanor as you segue into the harder material.

Keep it short. Remember we are working in a media saturated culture and long, 2 or 3 minute answers to questions will simply bore your audience. Keep answers short by making your interviews short. Interview a subject for no more than 15 minutes or so unless you are dealing with an extraordinary subject or story.

About the Author. Eugene Mason has more than two decades of experience in ministry communications and technologies. More...