As part of my rethink on my Destination Bicester film I contacted Bicester Town council for permission to interview Bicester residents in Sheep Street and someone from the Council. Well I have an interview with a town councillor this week. I have never interviewed someone on video before and for the last week I have been writing notes and questions about what I would like to get from the interview. I have been watching some very useful video on YouTube from Videomaker in particular Preparing for Interviews to help think about planning and framing the questions. I am an IT consultant and have a number of years experience in interviewing styles and questioning techniques – however this will be my first interview to video.

One tip I found useful was to contact the person before hand to describe the kind of questions and theme for the interview – but not the questions. This is what I wrote:

My objective is to create a short film of no more than 15 minutes (working tittle is “Destination Bicester”) about the town’s development and the other infrastucure projects in Bicester. I am hoping to depict Bicester as a happy and positive place to visit, live and work in. My central theme is “why is Bicester special for you?” and I will be asking questions about what Bicester means to you and personal expectations you have from the various development projects.

I am planning to take a selection of cameras, lights and microphones and see how it goes on the day. I will do a dry run this weekend on my wife.