There are 6 different interview styles that every interview will conform to or fall into. They are as follows;
Hard News
Hard news is very fast paced. It would normally be on the front page in a paper or the leading story in a news report as it will interest and captivate the audience, and will encourage them to continue to watch/read. Stories that would normally be considered hard news may involve business, politics and international affairs. However this will depend on the medium that is reporting them. The Times newspaper always has huge stories that entice the audience in. They do this with captivation headlines that give a very brief outline of what the rest of the story will involve. You can see that from the front page of 'The Times', on the left. It also uses an image of the queen. This may attract an entirely different demographic of people who are interested in her.Combative
Paxman vs Russell Brand - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YR4CseY9pk
Paxman vs Micheal Howard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwlsd8RAoqI
Paxman vs Boris Johnson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ldiXhDrHw
Light-hearted
A light hearted interview is an interview that is conducted in a light and casual manner, and while this doesn't mean the topic isn't serious, but the people involved are talking about in it a casual way. The aim of this interview is for the interviewee to be relaxed and at easy with the interviewer so that they open up and are willing to talk about all the points raised. While this can be unsuccessful, the aim is to make the interviewee talk, without being too hostile towards them. This interview style is more popular with chat shows that political interviews;
Jimmy Fallon & Donald Trump - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0BYqzdiuJc
Entertainment
Interviews are meant to inform the audience. In an entertainment interview the information that is being received often isn't very useful or helpful to the audience, but will still get huge audiences because the content is interesting. It is normally an interview with a celebrity or other well known person, so the audience can learn a little bit about them. The interviewer will ask questions that might be of interest to the audience or might be considered gossip
Investigative
This interview style is designed to find out as much information about a person or event. It's a similar style to hard news, as they are both used in political interviews. Investigative interviews are also used on the public to find out their opinions, as well as when investigating criminals, celebrities or anybody with information that could be useful. The interview questions are typically closed questions instead of open ones. This is to gain facts and figures, instead of the opinions of the interviewees.
Promotional
A promotional interview is often set up to advertise a new film, programme or product without the production company having to pay to advertise it. It is normally done on chat shows, as there isn't a script. In some cases, the interviewer doesn't want this to be a promotional video and will try and stop the guest talking about irrelevant topics and making points that don't relate to the question, just to advertise. In England, on programmes such as the BBC, they aren't allowed to advertise, so they try very hard to stop guest doing that.
Michelle Pfieffer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY3dRHJVb0c
Open Question
An open question allows the person being asked the question to expand on their answer so that the interviewer gets more content than he asked for. These are common of most interviews because they get the best content for the audience. They can also be written in advance and planned for without any improvisation. This is why they are the most commonly used question type in interviews.
Closed Question
Closed questions are much more prominent in paper questionnaires than in live and recorded interviews. Closed questions really allow the interviewee to answer with a yes or no answer without them having to expand. This is why it isn't very well used. A yes or no question would be good if you were collecting statistics because the results can be shown very easily. But this wouldn't interest and audience that can't see those sats.
Multiple Questions
Multiple questions are a series of questions that are all linked together and are all related. An interviewer might expand on one question because the answer they received was very strange or interesting. These questions might have already been written down, or might be improvised by the interviewer. This is an important skill that journalists should have. These types of question can come in any type of interview, but informal and chatty interviews are where they are normally included, as the interview develops.
Direct Questions
Direct questions are very hard hitting and sometimes intrusive questions that are normally asked in Hard news, combative and investigative interviews. Their purpose is to get a clear and detailed answer from the interviewee. They can be used a lot when interviewing political figures, and they have to be very skilled to avoid answering it. These can also be used to make the interviewees feel uncomfortable and defensive.
Suggestive Questions
Suggestive questions are used to make the interviewee think the same thing as the interviewer that is asking the questions. They will do this by including their own opinion in the question, or suggesting the answer to them. This will hopefully get the interviewer the answer they want. While it can be fairly easy for the audience and experienced interviewees, some people might not be aware and give an answer they weren't expecting to.
Introduction
The introduction of the interviewee always happens so that the audience understand who they are hearing from. This will typically be done by the interviewer, but can sometimes be done by a voice-over in the introduction to the interview. The person that is being interviewed will also be a huge factor in the type of interview that will take place. A politician would have a much more formal and possibly investigative feel, whereas an interview with a comedian would be light-hearted and funny.
Developmental Questions
These are the first couple of questions that are asked by the interviewer. They would be quite light-hearted and intrusive to make the interviewee seem more at ease in the situation because some people might be nervous. This might also allow the interviewer and interviewee to create a friendly relationship, which would set the tone for the remainder to the interview. This can be very important, especially if the interviewer intents to ask some more important and controversial questions.
Confidence Building
These are similar to the Development questions, however they are more about the interviewee as a person to make them feel confident about what they do and confident enough to answer the key questions later in the interview. They will also be about what the person is well known for, so they are able to answer the questions comfortably.
Key Questions
These questions are what the whole interview and build up have been about. Their purpose is to get all the information that the audience and the the interviewer want to know. The interviewee will need to get as much information as possible from them which is why confidence building before the key questions is very important. The key questions will always be open so that the interviewee will include a lot of their own content.
Sound Bites
These are the most interesting and content filled parts of the interview that would interest the viewers. They are the highlights of the interview, and might be used to show a preview to a potential audience, or might be played instead so that there isn't any unnecessary content that will bore the viewer. The best sound bites contain heated debates and conflict between the interviewee and interviewer, and the key questions and content from the interview.
Summary
The summary of an interview is what is used to indicate to the audience and the interviewee that the interview is coming to an end. This might be done to relax them or just to inform them. The question will normally allow the interviewee to conclude on their main point throughout the interview, as a final statement to the audience.
Wind-up
This is where the interview is brought to a close by the interviewer. This is normally done by thanking the interviewee for their time, regardless of the disputes and disagreements that there were throughout the interview. This is so that it ends in a positive or at least a calm way. If the interview has been cheerful and happy then it might end in a much more friendly way like with a hug or handshake. If the interview was in front of a live studio audience then the interviewer might invite them to applaud the interviewee to show their appreciation. This would then lead onto something else.
Building a rapport
This isn't always important in interviews. It depends on the style and content of the talk. In a friendly discussion, where there is no conflict, it is easy to build a rapport because there shouldn't be any misgivings about the interview. There can be jokes and funny anecdotes to make the interviewee at ease. The questions that are typically asked at the beginning of an interview are there to build a rapport between the interviewer and interviewee. They allow the interviewee to fell comfortable in the company of the interviewer. This is done regardless of the topic of the interview. In some cases, the relationship between the people involved is bad. This can be very clear throughout, but it is the interviewers job to get all the information needed by trying to build a relationship with the interviewee.
Active Listening
Active listening is done predominately by the interviewer so that they can adjust the questions they answer based on what has already been said. If the interviewer doesn't do this, it might annoy the interviewer because they are clearly not listening to what is being said and means there will be repeated points in the interview which are unnecessary.
Body Language
The body language of both the interviewer and interviewee are very important as they can show to the audience what they are thinking and if they are being made uncomfortable by the questions.
Print interviews are very common in newspapers and magazines because they are a great source of information and are often of interest to the audience. What a print interview does differently is that it might not contain all the questions that are asked, only the answers, or there is only one long answer included in the print. This is so that the audience don't get bored with hearing from the same person. Magazines often don't have this problem because the content can be quite revealing and interesting. Their interviews are also with mainstream celebrities that a lot of people are interested in.
Television
Most television interview come from factual programs such as the news and documentaries. These will happen very regularly and with an interviewer asking questions to the interviewee so there is a more personable touch. This is what we are doing for our factual programs.
Radio
Radio interviews are also very common and radio stations will often get a expert in or a celebrity to talk to their audience to get more interest and listeners. Radio interviews with experts will often follow a set script and while they do often branch of to include other conversation, the main questions will however be the main topic of conversation. On radio stations such as BBC radio 1, there isn't a set script, there might be a list of topics that are relevant and will interest the audience. Celebrities and musicians will often appeal of radio stations to promote something and raise awareness for it.
Sport
Sport broadcasts also include interviews with the players and managers so the audience and the presenters know what the people involved in the match are thinking. This is often of great interest to fans because they often notice certain things that the audience don't notice because they aren't professional players or coaches. There might also be interviews in the studio between former players. An example is match of the day, which always has at least 3 people in the studio to discuss the different matches. These could be considered interviews because they ask each other questions and get responses.
Purposes of Interviews
There are five different purposes of interviews. The first is research, and is used often by companies and individuals to gain knowledge. This can be done on the streets, where the interviewer asks questions of the public, which can get a very detailed insight into the public opinion of a matter. This is a style that is often shown and used during the news and occasionally during a documentary. These interviews don't have to be filmed or record either, and some are used purely for statistics and to reference later. Another research interview method is through focus groups. These are small groups of people that can give detailed information from their point of view. This can also be linked to the next purpose, which is 'increasing public awareness'. This can be done through broadcasting other peoples opinions through TV and radio. Having well known and popular people discussing information and giving their own opinions is a very popular way of getting information out there. The public are more likely to listen to celebrities and politicians because they are supposed to be people we trust.
Information can also be presented through interviews. This is often done by politicians that want to show what they have been doing, or tell the audience about developments in society. The whole purpose of and interview is however to provide and present information in different ways. When presenting information to an audience you would talk directly to them. Telling the audience what you know and what they should know instead of directing questions at a guest. This is the style that most news platforms take, and while it isn't really an interview, it is presenting information directly to the audience. During news broadcasts, the presenters are meant to be impartial and not show emotion to the audience as they are merely reporting and not trying to influence the viewers own opinions. During interviews, often the interviewer will be directly combating the interviewee because they don't agree with something they have said, or they just want them to explain their own opinions. Sometimes the interviewer will have the same opinion as most of the audience which will allow them to ask questions on behalf of the audience, and it's down to the interviewee to justify what they have said.
Finally the last interview technique is evoking emotions from the interviewee. Their job is make the person open up, and give out all the details that the people watching and listening want to know. Different interviewers have different ways of interviewing, which will get different emotional reactions from the subject. Jeremy Paxsman is very aggressive and forward talking. He uses confrontation to get the response that he wants to hear. This often works because the interviewee is on edge, and doesn't have time to compose themselves and think of a better answer. They might even get emotional and flustered as they aren't being given time to say what they want. This is all so that the audience can know the real information, and to understand their knowledge of the topic. Other interviewers try to be friendly and lull their interviewee into a sense of security and safety. This can also get information out to the audience, but it isn't always the correct information. The interviewer doesn't force questions that aren't welcomed, which can frustrate audiences, as they appear deceptive.
No comments:
Post a Comment