After that, I would look at some classic observational films and think about how they work, what you like about them, what you might do differently. “Chronicle of a Summer” by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, which is the first “cinema-verite” film to many people, and the more recent “Shadow of the House” by Allie Humenuk, is a beautiful example of observational filmmaking (I blogged about the film a while back), and John Marshall’s “N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman,” is a beautifully woven mix of observational and direct address. I could go on and on, this is a very deep topic.

Experience shooting, reflecting, editing, reflecting, and repeating the process is the way to learn. If you can’t spend some serious time shooting, editing, and getting experience, consider partnering with another filmmaker that will work with you in a mentor/student arrangement.

I can’t suggest things like “what style” you have to figure out what works for you. I would avoid a boom in observational situations unless it’s required to get good sound. Use of an MS-Stereo Mic (like I talk about in my recent sound presentation, available here on the site) is good if you need to use an on camera mic to capture sounds to the front and side of the camera.

It’s my experience people repeat themselves and most of the time tell stories quite well a second and third time, often in a more concise manner. It also depends on the specifics of the project and what the person is like on camera.

If you’re concerned that improper lighting/sound/composition would make an interview unusable, go for a middle of the road approach: always get excellent sound (NEVER cut corners on this) and minimal, but adequate lighting. In the event you end up using the interview, you’ll be covered.

It’s not too hard to set up the interview using natural light sources, or if that does not work, try a minimal, but usable three-point lighting set-up, for example, 1K w/ Chimera soft box (or a Lowel Rifa light) as key, flex-fill as fill light connected to mic stand, and a 150W or 300W fresnel as back light. That’s only two lights, I often set up this kind of simple lighting, and with the boom mic on the stand, you could even do this working as a one-person crew. As far as the soft key goes, the larger the source (in terms of size), the better for a nice “wrap” around the face. Play with the positioning for a pleasing, dimensional look .

I am a first time filmmaker in vancouver, canada and I happened upon you site after searcing “pre-interviews”. I started my research for my doc by doing informal, but in-person pre-interviews with potential subjuects. Because my budget is tight and most people working on the film are voluteering for me, I can’t get lighting/sound etc for each and every interview. But, I do want to see how each person does on camera so that when I’m ready for the more formal, final interviews, I won’t be wasiting anyone’s time. You had mentioned doing phone pre-interviews. Do you think doing video pre-interviews is a mistake? I worry I’m getting the best of them during the pre-interview, which I probably wouldn’t be able to use because of improper lighting/sound/composition. Any thoughts? I’d hate to feel like I’m doing twice the work and half the results if the final interviews end up being less dynamic.