Interview Codes and Conventions

In the Teeth of Jaws

These are the main codes and conventions for a documentary interview:

The interview set up uses the rule of thirds, where the interviewee is framed either on the right or the left side of the screen.

The eye line of the interviewee is looking off to the side off the screen.

The mise en scene is relevant to the topic of interview or anchors their positioned relevance to the topic.

The camera shots that are usually used in the interview is a close-up, medium close-up and sometimes an extreme close-up.

There are graphics on the screen to identify the name and the relevance to the topic.

Questions are being asked but they are then edited out.

Cutaways are used to avoid jump cuts. In the cutaways other relevant footage is used to cutaway from interviews to help with the editing process.

Example

Rule of thirds where the interviewee is located on third of the screen.

Graphics shows the name of the person speaking and their role.

The background is relevant to the topic of the conversation.

The camera shot is a medium close up with is conventional of an interview.