Comments on: BORING INTERVIEWS http://lfhd.net/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/ Musings of an NLE ronin... Mon, 14 May 2012 16:07:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: peter http://lfhd.net/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/comment-page-1/#comment-1099 peter Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:13:00 +0000 http://postfifthpictures.com/lfhd/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/#comment-1099 isn't the whole idea of delivering info via expert talking heads to be due for retirement. isn’t the whole idea of delivering info via expert talking heads to be due for retirement.

]]> By: Len Sitomer http://lfhd.net/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/comment-page-1/#comment-1098 Len Sitomer Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:16:00 +0000 http://postfifthpictures.com/lfhd/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/#comment-1098 As a producer of 20 years -- mostly of interview-based pieces, I couldn't agree with you more. There's a message in there somewhere, fighting to come out, and it's just so incredibly painful sometimes to find it. And then, once you've found it, there's always the skill of taking it to the next level. I've heard some producers describe it as looking for the needle in haystack. Another said it was like cutting down a forest to make the perfect toothpick.<br/><br/>It's just this challenge that prompted me to come up with a new tool to deal with this scenario. It's definitely a whole new way of approaching it. When you take away the hair pulling, nail biting, frantic paper and tape searching for bites, it's amazing how much more creativity is left to actually apply to the art itself!<br/><br/>I would be like to show you PortalVideo, via a demo online, sometime and would appreciate your feedback on the software. <br/>Best,<br/>Len Sitomer<br/>lsitomer@portalvideo.com As a producer of 20 years — mostly of interview-based pieces, I couldn’t agree with you more. There’s a message in there somewhere, fighting to come out, and it’s just so incredibly painful sometimes to find it. And then, once you’ve found it, there’s always the skill of taking it to the next level. I’ve heard some producers describe it as looking for the needle in haystack. Another said it was like cutting down a forest to make the perfect toothpick.

It’s just this challenge that prompted me to come up with a new tool to deal with this scenario. It’s definitely a whole new way of approaching it. When you take away the hair pulling, nail biting, frantic paper and tape searching for bites, it’s amazing how much more creativity is left to actually apply to the art itself!

I would be like to show you PortalVideo, via a demo online, sometime and would appreciate your feedback on the software.
Best,
Len Sitomer
lsitomer@portalvideo.com

]]> By: strypes http://lfhd.net/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/comment-page-1/#comment-1097 strypes Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:38:00 +0000 http://postfifthpictures.com/lfhd/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/#comment-1097 You could try doing a gentle speed ramp on the interviewer, and adding a pitch shift on the voice so he doesn't sound like a chipmunk. Then when the cut is confirmed, use Motion's optical flow to do the speed ramp properly and StrkPro to retime the audio. <br/><br/>I did this on a project recently when I had a bunch of academics (some aren't very camera-savvy, and a most of them were talking too slowly). You could try doing a gentle speed ramp on the interviewer, and adding a pitch shift on the voice so he doesn’t sound like a chipmunk. Then when the cut is confirmed, use Motion’s optical flow to do the speed ramp properly and StrkPro to retime the audio.

I did this on a project recently when I had a bunch of academics (some aren’t very camera-savvy, and a most of them were talking too slowly).

]]> By: Jon Chappell http://lfhd.net/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/comment-page-1/#comment-1096 Jon Chappell Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:05:00 +0000 http://postfifthpictures.com/lfhd/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/#comment-1096 I like pressing L to go through interviews at 1.5x speed. It's not only quicker, it also makes them more interesting by cutting out a lot of the pauses.<br/><br/>I once cut a guy with a speech impediment. He kept stuttering and sometimes he would think too quickly and miss out words. I had to piece his interview together like Frankenstein's monster - lots of cuts stitched together with the odd word from a completely different part of the tape. Fortunately what he had to say was very interesting. I like pressing L to go through interviews at 1.5x speed. It’s not only quicker, it also makes them more interesting by cutting out a lot of the pauses.

I once cut a guy with a speech impediment. He kept stuttering and sometimes he would think too quickly and miss out words. I had to piece his interview together like Frankenstein’s monster – lots of cuts stitched together with the odd word from a completely different part of the tape. Fortunately what he had to say was very interesting.

]]> By: James Weber http://lfhd.net/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/comment-page-1/#comment-1095 James Weber Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:17:00 +0000 http://postfifthpictures.com/lfhd/2008/12/23/boring-interviews/#comment-1095 I've found that there are experts on a subject, and then there are "experts". The experts know what they are talking about, maybe even are passionate about it, but it's not their own. "Experts" on the other hand may not have any training in the field, but they have lived it, and can, I think, communicate on that subject much better. I've learned to push for interviewing both- experts can give backround, but the "experts" can make the story come alive. I’ve found that there are experts on a subject, and then there are “experts”. The experts know what they are talking about, maybe even are passionate about it, but it’s not their own. “Experts” on the other hand may not have any training in the field, but they have lived it, and can, I think, communicate on that subject much better. I’ve learned to push for interviewing both- experts can give backround, but the “experts” can make the story come alive.

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