Laurie House is a documentary filmmaker in New York and a video producer at TED. Below, she offers advice for student storytellers who want to conduct video interviews — like this — that open a window of understanding for viewers:

Every interviewed someone officially? Or talked to a friend about something going on in their life? Ok, so you probably already have more interview skills than you realize. I love to interview people because I get to go into a new world and start asking nosy questions. I like to get to the bottom of things. And I like that interviewing gives me a chance to ask things that I might not normally. For someone to give me their story is such an honor. In return for that honor, I try my hardest to help people say what they want, to make sure what comes out is real — and that it represents them. That it helps them to be heard. Here are some of my tips for documentary video interviews:

1. Interview style: Besides the standard sit down interview, you can set up your subject to be doing an activity that reveals something about them, like how they cook a meal. Or, you might set up the camera to capture an interview while they’re in the car. “Walk n talk” interviews can be fun but technically challenging, so plan ahead.

2. Location: Choose a location to match your content. A location can show a lot about someone — for example, a subject could give you a tour of their house, or show you around their classroom, or talk to you on the football field. Outdoor light is great.

3. Framing: Be intentional about your framing. It’s best to use horizontal (landscape) framing if you’re using an iPhone for video, but there’s really no ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ framing any more, as long as it’s intentional and motivated by the content. For example, you can shoot someone upside down, if they have a Batman costume on…but if it’s not motivated by the content, creative framing can be distracting. Is someone especially formal? Maybe play with that instead of trying to hide it. For example, you could frame them in a more formal, wider shot to emphasize their formality, rather than in a closeup where they just look uncomfortable.

4. Background: Pay attention to background noise and activity. What is happening visually in the background? If there’s background activity, make sure it’s motivated and works for the content — otherwise, it’s distracting. What noise is in the background? Good audio is important, so pay extra attention to any background noise where you set up. Listen for sounds that you don’t normally notice that could be distracting. If you start an interview and find that the background noise is distracting, don’t hesitate to stop the interview and move to somewhere quieter. Before you start, do a tech check for video and sound.

5. Interviewing: Really listen. If you are real, relaxed and spontaneous, the person you’re talking to will be more likely to mirror that. Don’t just wait for a person’s answer with glazed over eyes, glancing down or reading your next question. Your interview subject will take your cue. Also, let them do the talking! Sometimes it’s best to leave space when they finish speaking, instead of jumping in with your response or your next question. A slightly awkward silence can sometimes inspire and provoke a person to bring out their deeper thoughts. And remember, what is interesting to you is probably interesting to others, so go ahead and ask — within reason, of course.

6. Troubleshooting: Sometimes when people are being interviewed, they get uptight and start talking like they are not themselves. How can you break that trend? First, check that you are speaking in a real way to them, rather than in a formal, stilted way where you’re reading your questions directly from the page. Then, help them come back into themselves by throwing in a surprise question or changing your line of questioning or even taking a moment to stop and triplecheck your recording equipment.

7. Important to remember: If you need to spell out information or a backstory to provide context, make sure to do this on video with the subject. Also, encourage your subject to tell an anecdote or story, not just a description of how they feel. This can be easy to forget!

To learn something new every week, sign up for the TED-Ed Newsletter here >>

Image credit: iStock

The TED-Ed Team feels lucky to have created the first live-action TED-Ed Lesson with five-time Grammy winner, and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones bassist, Victor Wooten.

The shoot took place on a Saturday, and while the 10-person camera, lighting and sound crew primed the bass-riddled second level of Manhattan’s David Gage’s Repair Shop, a few of us decided to try our hand at documenting the creative process of each artist in the room. These pictures, taken with our cell phones, tell the story behind the “one-shoot” TED-Ed Lesson entitled, Victor Wooten: Music as a language.

8:00am The film crew arrived two hours before Victor to be sure they had ample time unload, setup and solve every problem the beautiful location could possibly pose to their super-sensitive HD camera. The first problem noted was the extreme light pouring in through one side of the room.

You can see the extreme difference in exposure in this picture in which we photographed Lesson Director, Angela Cheng, with our backs to window shown in the previous picture. One side of the room is completely light. The other, completely dark.

8:30am Using massive film lights to brighten the shadowy areas and match the exposure levels of the window was the obvious solution to the team’s first problem of the day. However, the solution wasn’t just as simple as positioning a light. The operating plan was to use a steadycam (pictured above) to walk in circles around Victor as he performed. So, lights located anywhere on the same plane as Victor would also be picked up by the camera, which was unacceptable to the team.

Lucky for us, the room had a small balcony opposite the over-exposed window. This was the perfect perch to position lights that could spotlight Victor, illuminate any unwanted shadows and add a controlled visual texture to the room.

In charge of creating that texture was a most capable cinematographer named, Anthony Jannelli [pictured far right]. If you have seen Silence of the Lambs or Independence Day, then you have seen just a few examples of Anthony’s incredible work in Film.

9:00amWe cleared out a few of the beautiful basses waiting for repair and installed two massive lights on the balcony. The gel material you see over the first light balanced the light’s color to match that of the window on the far side of the room. And the yellow screen you see in the far right of the picture diffused each light making them less harsh on Victor and the instruments around him.

10:00am Just as we finished lighting the scene, Victor showed up. We each took a moment to let him know how much we appreciated his work, and he began stringing up his electric bass guitar.

10:15am Ensuring that we captured great sound was the next major challenge. Victor decided to plug into an amp located just behind him, which allowed the sound engineer, Jon Moore, to mount a microphone off camera between the lights on the balcony.

10:30am Next, steadycam operator, Michael Fuchs, suited up for one practice run. He couldn’t do too many rehearsals because the camera and harness together weighed well over 100 pounds.

11:00am We were ready. Project Facilitator, and TED-Ed team member, Jordan Reeves marked the first scene with the electronic slate….

….and Anthony and Angela yelled “action” as they monitored the footage behind a closed door in the hallway.

After many hours of prep work, the shoot itself was finished after two consecutive and nearly identical five minute takes. Victor performed brilliantly in both.

1:00pm After breaking down and returning our rental equipment, the only tasks left were to ingest the footage into Final Cut Pro, collectively decide on the best take, splice in Victor’s narration, balance the levels and share the Lesson on TED-Ed!

Check out the full TED-Ed Lesson here. If you look very closely, you might see the sound guy hiding behind a bass. Does knowing the story behind the shoot change your perception?