Audio Components: Interviews

Interviews can happen in a range of places, in a studio, next to a race track, in a field, the possibilities are endless. However with this range of environments comes a range of techniques to gather the best audio for the job. In a studio, conducting interviews is at its easiest because the equipment used is studio based.

The use of clip on mini-microphones for each of the speakers and additional boom pole operators is the easiest and most efficient way to gather audio. Everything is easily regulated within the studio. If a reporter is out and interviewing the public, they usually carry just the one microphone (usually handheld) and direct it to the speaker when they have something to say.

As you can see in this video there is a lot of background noise due to the interview being carried out in an outdoor location

This mic normally has a dead cat or wind deflector on the end to deflect wind and harsh noises so that they can gather the clearest audio possible. It is often known that the Mic is connected up to the camera which is taken out to film, the cameraman also listens in on the audio through headphones, unless there is separate sound crew there. The possibility of this is low in some cases as there may only be room for two people at a time in the chosen location.