Tag Archives: interviewing

Don’t Be So Serious with Your Science Videos

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Scientists are supposed to be serious…and most of us live up to this expectation.  However, this trait can be quite detracting and frustrating to non-scientists, unless it’s meant to be humorous as in this clip from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:

You might succeed in using such humor, making fun of an egghead speaking on camera.  But in general, this humorous approach is already a cliche, and it would take a really fresh twist to succeed.

In general, a talking head who is pompous or pedantic is going to turn off viewers. The viewer does not want to be lectured to (they got enough of that in school). As a scientist videographer, you will have two choices of (professional) talking heads in your projects:  you or your colleagues.  Both of you likely suffer from the “stuck in their heads” syndrome.  We think too much instead of just doing or saying what comes naturally to other people.  A book called, “Don’t Be Such a Scientist”, by Randy Olson addresses this very issue as it relates to science communication.  Olson has advice for scientist communicators, spelled out in his book chapters:

1. Don’t be so cerebral

2. Don’t be so literal-minded

3. Don’t be such a poor story-teller

4. Don’t be so unlikeable

Olson makes the case in his book that although accuracy is important, it’s even more important to grab the public’s attention so that the science message is heard.  I agree, but that’s easier said than done.

Many of my scientific colleagues are, to put it bluntly, boring on camera (and I include myself in this group).  We are, to borrow Olson’s list:  too cerebral, too literal-minded, poor story-tellers, and generally unlikeable.  It’s rare to see a scientist whose personality attracts rather than repels viewers.  Think Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and science communicator:

We can’t all be like Tyson, but we can strive to “get out of our heads” so that we can communicate like the average person.  It’s impossible to change someone’s natural demeanor (and you don’t want to try).  However, we can select our interview subjects carefully so that the message we want to convey is heard and accepted.  If you are uncomfortable on camera and this discomfort is contributing to a poor demeanor, then practice giving interviews.

I was absolutely terrible the first time I was interviewed on camera (at least it felt that way).  The interviewer kept restating my answers in a much clearer and appealing way without scientific jargon and asking, “Is this what you meant?” Although I felt like an idiot at the time, I learned a lot from the experience.  More recently, what has helped me improve my performance in front of a camera is interviewing other scientists.  Seeing how other scientists perform….which ones shine on camera and which ones are dreadful…is an eye-opening experience.  I highly recommend doing a few interviews with your colleagues and then reviewing the footage.  If I were going to teach a science videography course or workshop, that would be one of the exercises.

More Reality Thoughts about Science Videography

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I’ve been describing my experience “field testing” my iPad and the iMovie app to make videos. I attended a scientific conference last week and conducted a few interviews. I found shooting video with the iPad to be somewhat awkward–not at all as easy as with a camcorder. However, it was possible to get decent footage, which could be directly recorded into an iMovie project.

The awkwardness was partly due to having to hold the iPad with both hands to keep the image steady. But the main problem I had was in conducting interviews and holding the iPad in such a way that my subject could look at me while talking. I should explain here that it’s best to have the person being interviewed not look at the camera, but at you. This approach produces a more natural conversational aspect.  Also, the interviewee is often intimidated when asked to speak to the camera. This is particularly problematic with the iPad because it’s difficult to see the camera lens, which is very small. I had subjects nervously ask me where they should look and seem very relieved to be told to look at me and basically talk to me in giving their answers to the questions.  So it’s a good idea to prep your subject before filming to encourage a more relaxed, conversational setting.

In case you are wondering how my field test worked out, here is the finished video:

Science Video Tips: Say What?

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In the last post, I started talking about some of the challenges in using an iPad to shoot video and audio.  I mentioned some of the issues with audio in particular.  Some of these points are relevant to any device you may be using to capture audio.

For example, during interviews should you record your voice (as the interviewer) along with the response of your subject?  The answer is yes.  It will make things much easier when you sit down to edit your movie project later, especially if you are not going to be able to edit soon after shooting.  Although it may be clear from the interviewee’s answer what you asked, it’s not always apparent, especially if your subject tends to ramble and does not answer your questions directly.  Another consideration is that although I plan my questions ahead of time, I always think of something extra to ask during the interview (these unplanned questions often yield some of my best footage).  You can remove your voice during the editing process so easily that there is no reason not to record it.  Also, depending on your desired interview format, you may wish to record both interviewer and interviewee and retain both in your finished product.

So overall, the iPad did pretty well in recording audio, even in situations with a lot of background noise.  I did find, however, that I needed to get pretty close to my subject in order to have their voice record well enough to be distinguishable from the background.  That tended to interfere with framing the shot I wanted.  Because what my subjects were saying was more important (in this situation), I compromised on the visual aspect.

I did not try using a lavalier (lapel mic) with the iPad during this field test. However, a lavalier would definitely enhance the audio of any movie project and avoid the problem mentioned above.  In the future, I will look into appropriate adapters for connecting a lavalier microphone to an iPad and give it a test run.

A Real World Test of the iPad to Shoot a Video II

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In the last post, I began describing my experience using the iPad to shoot and edit video.  This was my first movie project with the iPad in a “field” setting.  The previous videos were done in a controlled setting (my home office).

So, how did things go in the real world where you don’t have so much control over your surroundings and subjects?  You never know whether there will be problems with background noise or shy interviewees who are self-conscious on camera.  Well, it went better than expected.  There was quite a bit of background noise to contend with, as you might imagine at a conference. However, I got around some of that by scheduling interviews in quiet corners away from the crowds. Of course, I wanted to capture some of the noise and activity surrounding the meeting events, so I did try some interviews in the midst of loud crowd scenes.

I was surprised at how well the microphone on the iPad picked up my subject’s voice in spite of the background noise.  However, I ended up having to import those clips to my full iMovie version on my computer to decrease the background noise and enhance my subject’s voice.  These expanded options are not available on the iPad version of iMovie.  All you can do is raise or lower the audio on the clip, but this will raise the volume of the background noise along with the desired audio track. I may do a tutorial later to show how to enhance an audio track (e.g., someone’s voice) while dampening the background noise (using iMovie 11).

Another thing I noticed with the iPad is that it was easy to accidentally cover the mic openings with my hand, especially when my attention was diverted toward dealing with my interview subject.  So I had to be careful how I held the iPad while shooting video.  If you make this mistake, it will definitely muffle your audio, rendering your interview useless.  This has never been an issue with my camcorders, which are designed for capturing video and audio.

In the next post, I’ll continue my critique.