The Art of the Interview
With the rise of celebrity brand ambassadors & influencers, Gavin Knight asks — is the art of the TV interview dying?
When people only appear on TV or radio to promote something, how can you persuade them to talk about other topics? How do you grab people’s attention with effective interviews in the fleeting digital world?
In the age of Video-by-Zoom it’s never been more important to ask the right questions in order to get truthful & interesting answers. A good interview on camera should be like a really good conversation. Talking-heads need not be boring, and you have to sharpen your techniques to get some great soundbites & thought-provoking answers. As with most things in TV & Filming, preparation is key.
Directors and reporters that research their interviewees & topics in detail, get better answers & make better TV/online films. Let’s consider one of the greatest interviews ever conducted on camera: David Frost talking with President Nixon in 1977, after the Watergate scandal in the USA.
Nixon agreed to do a series of interviews with Frost because he was writing a book about his life and wants to clear him name. Through detailed research & preparation Frost got Nixon to lose his cool and to admit to his crimes! In a nutshell: that he had used the FBI & CIA to spy on his political opponents while president, including bugging their offices & then destroyed the evidence when his people were caught.
Given Nixon had resigned only three years before the filming and had been pardoned of any crimes (without a trial) by the incoming President Ford, it’s an extraordinary admission & apology that Frost teases out of him.
In 2006 the interviews were made into a celebrated stage play by Peter Morgan that turned into the feature film “Frost/Nixon”. The film was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture & Best Screenplay.
If you want to know all about the Watergate scandal then the film to watch is “All The President’s Men” (1976) starring Robert Redford & Dustin Hoffman as the young journalists who uncover the scandal. But if you want to know all about interviewing techniques then watch “Frost/Nixon” (2008)…better still, hunt down the original TV interview series on DVD. The four episodes drew 45 million viewers, the largest television audience for a political interview in history according to the BBC — a record that I think still stands today.
Famously, when Frost asks Nixon why he did what he did, Nixon says: “Well, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal” — a statement that is still extremely pertinent, given the current state of American politics.
While the Frost/Nixon interview was groundbreaking for what Nixon was willing to admit while he knew he was on camera, perhaps the other most famous celebrity interview is Martin Bashir’s BBC Panorama interview with Princess Diana — recording in secret, detailing her marriage to Prince Charles.
In 1995 this programme got 23 million viewers and was hailed as a sensation by the media. She talks about her post-natal depression, bulimia and famously says: “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded”, in reference to Camilla Parker-Bowles, publicly confirming Charles had a lover. It’s a very candid conversation that reveals a very unhappy woman, nervous about her future.
However new evidence has come to light that proves Martin Bashir used faked documents to gain access to her. Without these faked documents, her brother Charles Spencer, would not have introduced Bashir to his sister. As recently as November 2020, the BBC announced an independent investigation into how the interview was obtained… So, 25 years on, this story is still running & could implicate Bashir — with the general public’s renewed interest thanks to the Crown’s coverage of Diana’s life.
Whatever methods Bashir used to gain her confidence, it’s a brilliant interview because he gently asks questions that trigger an emotional response.
So how do broadcasters like Bashir & Frost make their guests talk so openly? Here are my top tips to get the best interviews on camera — whether you’re interviewing a former president, a princess, or just a standard talking head:
- Research all interviewees; find out what makes them tick. Research the subject area thoroughly too. Plan your desired content, like you would a script.
- Write down all your questions carefully
- Learn all the questions you want to ask (but keep your list of questions handy)
- Chat to your interviewees beforehand & make them feel comfortable
- Ask them to look at you & not at the crew or others in the room
- Ask open-ended questions, NEVER ones that can be answered with YES or NO. Encourage them to use the subject of each question in each answer.
- Never speak when an interviewee is talking. Let them finish (deliberately pause before your next question if you’re editing your questions out)
- Make eye contact and encourage them to talk more with your eyes and gestures.
- Let the conversation wander, but come back to your list of questions or desired content (refer to your list if you loose your thread!).
- Never ignore the elephant in the room, if there is one. Ask the same question a different way if you want another, more truthful, answer.
