Hotbed’s Documentary Approach

From the outside perspective, interviewing subjects can appear to be a very simple process. “You just sit down and ask questions, right?” In fact, achieving the right information and emotion during an interview is a nuanced and fragile task.

Here is an overview of Hotbed’s interview process:

Pre-Production Process

  • We research and gain an understanding of the subject matter
  • Based on our research, we develops a genuine curiosity that will drive the questions. We believes that all documentaries hinge on the director’s spirit of inquiry.
  • Based on our understanding of the subject matter, our vision for the end product, and our genuine curiosity, we develop a list of interview questions.
  • Unless the subject demands to see the questions in advance, we prefer not to show the interview questions to subjects prior to the interview. Showing questions to subjects in advance can minimize the emotional impact of the subject answers.
The Interview
  • We allocate enough time to build rapport with the subject on the day of the shoot.
  • The director begins questioning with casual conversation that extends from conversations held prior to shooting, At this point the crew is set up and the cameraman quietly rolls camera. The director softly launches into the interview.
  • The director maintains eye contact with the subject and engages in conversation while guiding the subject to give us the answers that we need. Typically, the subjects almost immediately forget they are sitting in front of a camera.
  • The director, by creating a vacuum of silence, delicately encourages the subject to keep talking.
  • In some cases the director will throw in a personal anecdote to encourage the subject to open up.
  • The director allows the subjects to be the experts. He will bring an element of humility to the interview process so that the subjects feel like they are explaining to us or teaching us about the topic Our subjects are the experts and the director is there to listen and guide them through their answers.
  • Our list of questions becomes a guide and allows the director to confidently let the conversation flow and naturally weave through information that we need to achieve.
  • While the director goes into each production with a definitive plan and a defined list of questions, he also remains open to discover new story elements and processees that will make the final videos better. This discovery typically includes adding interview subjects, questions and themes as he moves through the process.