Krishnan Guru- Murthy/Richard Ayoade Interview - Techniques

What interview techniques did the interviewer use, considering communication skills and question types?

Krishnan used informal and formal language, as if he was talking to an everyday person (casual language as well). He was quite intrusive when it came to questions, as he could see Richard Ayoade was getting annoyed with the interview situation. The communication between Richard and Krishnan was difficultly achieved, as Krishnan found it hard to get any answers out of Richard, due to his lack of interest in the interview. Krishnan sounded a little bit agitated as he was not getting any information out of Richard, often ending with him repeating himself.

Was the interviewer successful in extracting information from the interviewee, if so how was this achieved?

No, because at the end of the interview there was still no information from Richard collected, which defies the purpose of an interview. Although in this case I don't feel this was the interviewer's problem, more the interviewee, as he was reluctant to answer any questions, which is confusing as
the interview was basically banter between two men.

What was done by the interviewer to incorporate structure into the interview? 

Krishnan began by introducing Richard Ayoade, but from then on there was not an apparent structure, as Richard was reluctant to answer any of the answers asked by Krishnan, so there was no structure, just conversation between both parties.

What would you have done differently to make the interview successful?

I would have firstly talked to the interviewee before hand so I knew where I stood with the interview, so I could make my interviewee feel more comfortable. I would also let Richard finish what he was saying throughout the interview as he felt as though he had to talk over Krishnan because he wasn't being heard.

List general and specific interview skills needed to conduct a successful interview in different situations 

With a difficult interviewee, I feel that if the interviewer was to keep calm and collective, it would make the situation easier, as the interviewer would not show themselves up or act unprofessional.

For an emotional interviewee, the interviewer would need to act with empathy and have sensitivity toward the subject as they can see that it is effecting who they are interviewing. As well as this,
comforting the interviewee without patronising them is important, as they want to feel as though they can talk and still feel comfortable with the interviewer despite their emotional state.

With a interviewee reluctant to talk, I feel it would be important for the interviewer to carry on with the actions they are taking to get information from the interviewee, as well as sustaining a professional interview.

Evaluation of ADR: Sound Production - TASK 10

Similar to our previous unit within sound production, we were asked to create two more ADRs of our choice from moving image, either television or film. From this I decided to take on two familiar pieces of entertainment. The first was a scene from the 2004 film Mean Girls, which showed four friends having a split screen conversation on the phone in which they were putting each other on hold to gossip about the friend on the other line. I felt this scene had a diverse array of elements to recreate throughout, such as sound effects (beeping of phones being used throughout conversation), music in the background and most importantly, spoken word – dialogue. The other ADR I created was from the new television show Gotham, which again had the content I needed to recreate in order to meet the criteria for this unit such as sound effects (ambiance, clattering of tables/chairs in background), music to create mood/atmosphere and again spoken word dialogue. This scene focused on the death of one of the main characters in the show, Oswald Cobblepot, who the Detectives Montoya and Alan were questioning Fish Mooney about.

The first thing I did was try and find the scripts for the two scenes I was creating ADR for. When looking I couldn't find the script for Gotham, so instead I listened and transcribed the dialogue onto word and printed out 3 copies so each of the voice actors had the words in-front of them, which I felt was important to do considering the dialogue was quite in-depth and confusing in parts. For Mean Girls, it was a little more straightforward as the script was available to print online, which again helped within the recording process as we had the dialogue in front of us. It also helped each members of the cast learn the lines more rather than just watching the clip to learn them. After this, I began to record Gotham and Mean Girls. The Mean Girls recording took quite a lot longer than the Gotham one, as Gotham took 15 minutes and Mean Girls took an hour. I feel this was due to the content, as there were a lot of different parts to record and in some cases we had to re-record because the lines were messed up. Once this was done, I set up Garage Band and imported the videos so I could start creating my ADRs.

I began to manipulate the dialogue that I had recorded with my cast within Garage Band. The cast consisted of Theresa and Wallice (who voiced Detective Montoya and Alan) and me, who voiced Fish Mooney. The character which I did the dialogue for had a very smouldering voice, almost seductive and a bit evil. I wanted this to come across with my role, which I feel even though having a massively different voice to the character, I pulled off quite well. Theresa and Wallice also did very well at being Detectives Montoya and Alan, although their parts were easier (as their voices were as every day folk, not much acting involved or emphasis on words) but never the less they did very well. In some instances, the words were spoken to fast or too slow - which was a huge issue, as I wanted the recordings to sync exactly to the video. Similar to the dialogue in Gotham, me and my cast (Me as Regina George, Theresa as Karen, Noran as Gretchen and Cloud as Cady) had to vocally act and put a lot of emphasis into the spoken word side of things, which I felt was quite difficult as the characters were speaking in quite an unusual pace and got confusing throughout the recording.

To create the illusion of the ADRs being the original dialogue for both scenes, I began to move the sound clips around, snipping them in certain places (such as unwanted distortion of sound bites heard at the start and beginning of the clips) by holding cmd, T and then selecting the place I wanted to cut, then removing the unwanted sound. This helped my project's quality, as there were no sound bites that would look unfit for the scene and again created the illusion that this was the original sound recording. Another thing I did which I feel improved the quality of the finished production was the technique I used to sync the sound with the video. As the original video had sound along with it, I had the option whether to listen to it or not (by clicking small speaker icon, I could turn mute on & off on this track). Although I did not keep the original sound within it, I occasionally kept the track off mute, as by doing this, the track was able to show me the levels of sound and where they were at their climax. This helped me as I was able to move the new sound I had recorded in the exact place, replicating the levels (clicking and dragging back & forth) so they matched the original but in a new track beneath it. I feel this technique helped me a lot, as it was hard for me to sync the dialogue perfectly but this gave me the upper-hand as I could visually see the sound rather than just hearing the audio along with the mouthing of the words. 

I then began to find room ambiance sound FX for the Gotham scene. I decided not to use ambiance within the Mean Girls scene, as it was quite basic layer wise and I did not feel the need to add in any ambiance FX or atmospheric sounds, as in the original I can only hear three sound elements such as; FX of the phone buttons, music and spoken word. I feel if I were to add ambiance within the Mean Girls ADR, it would have been pointless and would not be heard when listening to it back, as the background music and dialogue would have overpowered it more than say the Gotham one, as the sound level of the ambiance was higher in the Gotham scene. In the original sound for Gotham, in the background we hear distant clattering and talking, in which I felt was important to keep within my version as it creates special awareness for the audience and creates the scene through sound as well as picture. On YouTube, I sourced a sound effect, which was not copyrighted and was free to use without concern. This sound effect mimicked that of the original, and felt that this combined with the other layers of sound would create a convincing scene. As this was the base of my project on Garage Band, I began to build upon it, as then I knew what direction I wanted to go with my ADR. 

When editing my Mean Girls ADR, as the scene did not audibly have any signs of ambiance or atmosphere, I decided to concentrate more on the music in the background, which would add a reflective mood onto the scene. To do this, I used Google to find songs which were released the same time of the movie (as I felt this would have a relevant connection to the scene in this case) and found a song by the Ting Ting’s called That’s Not My Name. I used this song due to the upbeat tones used within it, which I felt would work well with the contents of dialogue. I used an instrumental version of this song, so the sound of the scene was not overpowering along with the other layers I was to add in later. The impact this had within the scene was that rather than having only the dialogue, we had depth within the ADR and it sounded more natural that if it hadn't been used. Looking at the original Gotham scene, I realized there was subtle background music used, which actually impacted the scene much more when listening to the music and dialogue together. I decided to use YouTube once again to find a piece of music which would resemble my scene audibly, as I wanted to reflect the serious mood that the scene was giving off to the audience. I found a soundtrack when researching for serious toned sounds, and even though it was my first I decided that it was perfect for the clip, so I made a new sound track on Garage Band and dragged the newly downloaded song into my project. The only difference I made to this sound clip was snipping the beginning of the track off by using a familiar method (cmd + T) and deleting it as it was dead sound and made the beginning of the ADR sound odd when listening to it in full. 

Once I had re-recorded the dialogue I needed, had reviewed the ADR and made sure it was in sync, the final editing decision I made was to add in sound FX to emphasis and highlight an important part of the scene. This was the part when Fish Mooney revealed Cobblepot's death by bluntly saying 'He's dead' and the detectives turn to one another in shock. I decided to add in a sound effect within this part as in the original there was one, which I felt worked really well, but wanted to do another in a different tone as I felt that I could improve on the original. I created this sound effect by drawing in notes with a cello (as this instrument is associated with serious mannered situations and I felt reflected the on-going situation. I drew in around 6 different tones, one on top of each other, to create a depth-y and rich sounding effect, such as the infamous 'dun dun dun', often associated with revelation of story line or character. When it came to adding SFX for Mean Girls, it was pretty straight forward as the only sounds I needed to recreate was the beeping when the girls pushed the buttons to change caller. To recreate this, I decided to put a sound recorder up against my phone whilst pressing the buttons, so that the recorder captured the beeps, which I needed for the scene. The first time I did this, it didn't turn out too well but when using a different sound recorder, which was able to collect a high level of sound, I had quite a good outcome. With this, I imported the sound clip into Garage Band and snipped the bits I didn't want out, moving it around to fit in the place of the original sound.  

When showing this back to class mates, they were impressed with how I was able to create the scene atmospherically, without making it look fake and still being as effective as the original. Once I knew that my peers were impressed, I decided to mix down the project and was finished with my Gotham and Mean Girls ADRs. If I were able to re-do these again, I feel I would have given myself and my voice actors a bit more time to rehearse the scenes, as this would have avoided any re-recording of particular dialogue that was not up to scratch while also maybe having more convincing voices for the characters, especially when looking to the Mean Girls ADR, as this was a big issue within the production. Other than these improvements, I don't think I would change anything about how the project went or what quality the production was. This is due to me feeling that I did very well within this particular ADR, as I feel the goals I set for quality were met in all areas (music, spoken word and sound FX). When comparing it to the original sound, I myself can see a little difference in quality - as the original was obviously done professionally, but I feel I recreated the scenes quite well and in terms of what was better, I would say the original. This is only due to the fact that they had the equipment and actual actors voicing the characters which synced perfectly, whereas mine was not, but I am proud with what I have achieved within this particular part of the unit. I kept the original idea in mind rather than creating a completely different one (using similar sound effects + music) as I felt this was the best way to convince my audience that what they were hearing was the original sound. I feel if I was to have gone in a different direction with the scenes, such as if I were to put a comical spin on the Gotham scene, it would have been risky as I feel the visual content would not match a long with anything other than what was intended originally. I feel I could have gone a different direction for the Mean Girls seen though, as the comedy within it could have been exaggerated a little bit more, but other than this I am happy with the outcome of both of the ADRs I have created. 

Evaluation of interview

When looking at the footage I have collected, I have noticed that out of the three people who I interviewed, they all have pretty much have the same view on the subject matter as they all answered the questions in a similar way. They all more or less had positive responses to the questions rather than negative, such as saying how they disagree with what goes on within society when looking at the plus-size category. What I did not see throughout the interviewing is anyone going against the questions I was asking, or giving a different opinion as to what the rest did, which would've been more controversial and unusual to see rather than having people with the same answers. Saying this, if I had answers such as this I would feel quite offended - say if someone agreed with the treatment of overweight people in society, as a person overweight, I would feel as though I would have to bite my tongue slightly in order to carry out the interview properly. I interviewed three people, of different gender and races, which showed me whether colour or age was evidently different, it didn't make a difference to someone's opinion. It also made it fair, rather than asking 3 people of the same race, age or gender, as they may give different answers to one another.

Through carrying out the interview, I learned more about the opinions of my fellow class mates whilst also coming to a conclusion that not everyone has the same views about the issue I am talking about. I have also become aware through the vox-pops that I should broaden my horizons when it comes to the people I ask, as although this selection of people were on my side during the interview, I would like to ask more people to see if their views differed to make things more interesting. I also achieved experience to interview people in a professional like scenario, as I was in-control of the questions and frame/camera shot throughout the interview, which gave me an insight to how it feels to interview someone.

I feel my vox-pops were quite effective, they were open questions which lead to long, detailed answers which gave me an insight to the thoughts of people about this particular subject matter.
If I were to improve my interviews, I would probably give my interviewee less time to answer, as I felt their answers at some points were too drawn out and I should have cut in so I had the opportunity to ask connective questions which would progress the interview more, rather than cutting to a completely different question and losing track of what the interviewee had just told me. I would also probably prepare myself more, so I came across more serious about the matter & prepare my interviewee's with what they're going to talk about, rather than throwing them into the deep end not knowing what the questions are going to be about. Saying this, I feel overall I was able to conduct a good interview and with some minor touches, I feel I would create an even better interview experience for myself and the person I am interviewing.

Interview questionnaire - doc

1.) What is your personal opinion on plus-size women and how they're viewed within society?



2.) Do you feel that people of all sizes should be able to live and be apart of everyday culture as long as they are taking care of their health in the meantime?



3.) Do you know anything about the prejudice against plus sized women? Do you agree with it? If so, why?



4.) Do you think we as a society are worried that overweight people are becoming the 'norm', by doing so rejecting plus-size completely?



5.) What are your views on those who promote women of average size (size 10-12) as plus-size (size 16+)?



6.) Are there any assumptions that you have about people who are overweight? Any immediate judgements you have?



7.) How do you believe this will effect the current generation? Do you feel women will be pushed to being what society tells them?



8.) Do you think weight is often confused with health?

Graham Norton: Interview Techniques

Graham Norton: Seth Macfarlane interview BBC ONE, Series 15 - MAY 2014 

The style in which Graham Norton presents his show is light-hearted, as the interviews with the guests combined with the characteristics of the interviewer have been done solely to entertain and make the audience laugh without any serious matters coming into hand. Graham Norton is a shown in which not only one guest is interviewed, but rather 3-4 (in this case 4) at the same time, which attracts me to this particular style of interviewing, as it is an un-conventional style of which is different to many other of the shows which have interview based content.

The main objectives of this interview is to entertain and investigate, which both have the audience in mind. Entertain, due to the humour being the core of this show. Graham uses innuendos, which is especially funny when interviewing a comical genius (Seth Macfarlane of Family Guy). Investigative, due to the questioning nature of Graham Norton - asking questions linked to relevant conversation within the chat show. Interviews within this show are crucially important, especially since there is more than one guest being interviewed. Interviewing carries on the conversation between interviewer and interviewee within this show, helps the plan of what happens within the show flow as naturally as possible, without any awkward moments being apparent and makes both the subjects feel comfortable with one another.

I feel the main purpose of this interview is to let the audience feel as though they're involved with the conversations between Graham Norton and the guests, letting them know more about them whilst being entertained, covering any important new events in the celebrities life. This could be things such as new films, book or even music. Within this particular show, we see Graham interviewing Seth Macfarlane, talking about the current roles he has starred in and his most famous, Family Guy, where he voices more than 2 of the characters. Whilst a picture of the Family Guy characters sits behind Graham, he asks Seth about what gave him the ideas to make the characters sound the way they do. This gives Seth the ammunition to do the voices of Stewie and Peter Griffin, as this was a relevant topic of conversation and I could tell he was excited to do. This is done by Graham Norton building rapport with Seth, making him feel comfortable to do the voices within the show. By doing this, the audience, interviewer and interviewee all benefit as they get what they want out of the interview; being entertained, creating a successful interview and showcasing the actor's talent.

Within the interview, none of the questions Graham asks as particularly closed, as rather than asking question after question, he has a conversation with the guest so they feel comfortable with answering any possible questions Graham may ask. For instance, the questions asked are more open, as the answer Graham wants is one which will enrich the conversation further so he can ask another. The way in which this works is with Graham asking Seth or one of the other guests a closed answer question, then with the reply he goes onto the open question which is both longer for him to ask and for Seth to answer. This is a clever technique by Graham Norton, as by ordering the questions by type, he receives a longer and more detailed answer to the important questions his asks.

Firstly, Graham Norton welcomes him guests to the stage by shaking their hand firmly and sitting them down on the couch opposing to him. This 'initial' meeting makes the interviewee feel comfortable, letting them know that they are going to be comfortable with him throughout the interview and shows that he is a friendly person, again building rapport between interviewer and interviewee. The communication skills which the Graham Norton use are important to creating the correct atmosphere, as he presents himself as humorous (not serious/mean or controversial). His body language says a lot about the type of person he is, as he turns to each guest to show he is actively listening and is interested in what they are saying, as well as exaggerating his hand gestures to show that he is excited about the topic which is being talked about. He also approaches the celebrities as if they are everyday people - which even though he is a celebrity in his own right, I feel he would still feel intimidated by sitting with so many famous people. This shows his confidence within the interview, which in turn makes the guests feel comfortable with him. I also feel as though Graham has a clear sense of a humour and voice projection; where even when he speaks over the guests, they aren't offended as he entertains them as much as the audience.

Overall, I feel that as an interviewer, Graham Norton is incredibly good at listening, asking the right questions at the right time and building rapport when it comes to the relationship between both him and the guest. His personality gives him an edge, as in some cases we are presented with interviewers who only ask question, without caring whether or not they are liked, but rather getting on with the job at hand. Graham also obviously knows quite a bit about the main guest (Seth Macfarlane) as he related back to information he had collected - whether through ear, text card, telly prompter or through personal knowledge, he is very convincing and knowledgeable when interviewing.