Codes and conventions of a documentary interview

• The interviewee is never central to the camera, they are always filmed to the right of the frame or to the left.

 

• The Mise-en-scene must always be relevant to the topic of the documentary, here we can see that the background is the teeth of a shark and this fits the title of the documentary "In The Teeth Of Jaws"

 

• The shot that is used to film the interview is conventionally a close up or a medium close up
• The graphics of the interview should always contain the name of the interviewee in the frame on the top line and their relevance to the documentary on the second line, the top line should always be larger and prominent than the second line.

 



 

 

 

 

• The interviewer's questions should always be cut from the documentary so it seems as though the interviewee is giving a direct address to the audience.
• Cutaways should be added to avoid any jump cuts but also the cutaway should always be relevant to the topic of the documentary.