At first it might seem obvious. There are a multitude of places an interview can occur in, some planned and some unexpected. There are also a variety of types and styles of interview that can occur as a result. The interview participants, the places they occur in and the conditions under which they occur all dramatically affect the type and quality of the interview. Knowing what to do in each situation will help the interviewer appreciate and understand both the advantages and drawbacks each present.
Pre-recorded Interviews Person to Person
It’s hard to get any kind of quantifiable data about the numbers of each different type of interview that occur each year in the medium of radio, but person to person, human being talking to human being, face to face and pre-recorded or live is probably the most common. The advantages for interviewer and interviewee, or a number of each recording the interview as ‘people,’ are numerous:
- A handshake between strangers can work wonders as an opening exchange.
- Both parties can set the scene, and get to know each other, however briefly, before the interview starts.
- The interview can take place at a time convenient to all involved.
- It’s two (or more) people talking, the most common of human interaction.
- Participants can react instantly to the other’s input.
- Body language plays an important part, and can set both parties at ease.
- It can be a conversation the listener can legally eves-drop on.
- As its pre-recorded any audio not required or that doesn’t add to the interview can be edited out.
The interview is the life blood of a lot of radio broadcasting both music and speech radio and interviewing the right guest face to face, and recording the outcome gives the station and the broadcaster the opportunity for a range of audio from a short news item to a longer programme piece.
Pre-Recorded Interviews on Location
With the development of portable recording equipment and its increasing sophistication and decreasing bulk, the recording of radio interviews can occur in a plethora of places, wherever there are people the interviewer wants to record them, and wherever the interviewees happen to be. Each again has it benefits and detraction.
Recording Interviews in a Studio Offers:
- The chance to control the environment,
- The background noise or rather lack of it,
- The microphones used and therefore
- The quality of the recording, and
- Control in the final editing process.
Location Interviews on the Other Hand:
- Promise a measure of interesting background noise.
- Sets the scene and creates pictures for the listener.
- Sets the interviewee more at ease in their own or familiar environment
- Are subject to the recording equipment available being portable.
- Are harder to control to maintain a constant recording quality
- May make editing more difficult with often constantly changing background noise
The choice, if there is a choice offered to the person recording the interview, is between a controlled studio environment that may not be familiar to the person being interviewed but offers better quality and control, and the location recording where more can go wrong, but promises perhaps more interesting and live audio.
The Phone Interview
For the listener the phone interview can often feel like the person being interviewed is talking to them down the phone line, as well as the person doing the interview, yet they don’t have a receiver to their ear. A phone interview, recorded in a professional recording studio offers several advantages:
- Instant access to the subject in a number of locations all over the world.
- Saves travelling time for all involved.
- A quick and ready response to any situation.
- Because it’s being recorded, time to establish a good quality link.
- Chances of good editing points as background noise is constant or reduced.
Whilst recording phone interview offer instant access to a wide range of subjects, there are significant drawbacks.
- Phone quality can be variable in some parts of the globe.
- Lack of face to face interaction.
- Recording is usually suitable only for shorter interviews.
- The studio has no control of the conditions at the other end of the link.
Conclusion
There are two major inputs to any interview, people and equipment, and there are two main kinds of interview - live broadcast and pre-recorded. The choice for the interviewee is often dictated by the demands or indeed the preferences of the interviewee. The choice of where and when, and how the interview is conducted is ultimately up to the person conducting the interview and they should make this decision based only on what is best for the listener.
Dan McCurdy - Dan McCurdy is a freelance writer producer creative and lecturer. Dan is one of the UK's most experienced radio writers and producers. ...
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