Tearing apart your “cinematic” interviews

[@markbone]

Giving away another whole fx6 camera package. Go follow Art of Documentary on Instagram. We’ll be announcing details in the coming days!!

[@Premier-Media-Group]

"Jumping the AXIS"

[@nathanbonsell1142]

Thanks so much for the kind words, Mark! My interview was the second one with the soft light. Appreciate you taking the time to do this and give the feedback!

[@prvanram]

My man

[@brianmengini]

Dude. Great work! What was your lighting setup?

[@markbone]

CORRECTION: It’s jumping the “AXIS” not “access” lol. I missed that one from the editing team. Spell check fail!

[@The_CGA]

Oh thank gods I’ve been seeing an absolute rash of Gen Z kids who otherwise know what they’re talking about but somehow are unfamiliar with the …spelling of things…

[@ClintonSinclair]

I was hoping I could be the one to point it out. Lol.

[@AtaurRaziq]

you may want to rename the video chapter to reflect this too :)

[@karimhamza708]

Thank you for reviewing my interview Mark! I appreciate your feedback man, always killing it🫡

[@ModernCavemanLukas]

This gave me a lot of value. Especially with the eyes being in the top half of the shot, and making the subject the brightest thing in the scene. Explains why sometimes my thumbnails doesnt really capture attention on the thing I wanna capture attention to. 2 eureka moments from 1 video. Not everyone can do that. Well done.

[@TacticalCactusMedia]

Cannot wait to show my film students this video. Love your concise and easy to understand breakdowns with visual examples, it helps me reinforce my lessons and give students another voice and samples to learn from.

[@JonJosephKuhn]

Thanks Mark! It was amazing to see some of my work on your channel. Lint roller is now in the bag and I always try to have overcovers with me. I actually had a shotgun on a boom for the interview but the coolers couldn't turn off so I panicked and hastily clipped a lav because I only had two hours in the restaurant (excuses I know...) If anyone is sober curious, the interview Mark critiqued is from video about Sober Bartenders and it's on my channel. It is called, "Thirsty For Change" (a story about sober bartenders)

[@ericbelluche9503]

I'd love to see more of these videos. Even though I'm a member of AOD, I still find these critiques helpful.

[@adambwhite]

Cool vid Mark. As a sound person I agree with the sound notes! I would add that a boom holder is a super inexpensive accessory and a must-have. Get a mic up and out of the shot and plug it in with a cable. No fancy hiding techniques and sounds great!

[@jakekitterman]

Mark! This was great! It would be great to make this type of video a series whether that’s just interviews or other types of shots. There’s so many good tips and examples from looking at a few different interview setups. Would love to see more of these!

[@sixgunguerrilla]

This is honestly a great video for the KZbin comments section, notorious for its high number of perfect geniuses

[@BezDDelnik]

It is extremely helpful! Thank you for the awesome tips on lighting interviews! Seeing how common mistakes play out in other videos is a huge learning tool. Softer light, diffusion sheets, and minding the background contrast are all going to be a big help.

[@EffectiveCommunications]

Mark, I love what you contribute to the community, and as someone in your position with so much influence, please expand your lexicon about softness vs diffusion. Softness is relative size of source to subject - it affects light wrap and shadow quality - we often do achieve it with diffusion so I understand how these words get mated together. Diffusion is density and it affects the speculation, direction (spread) and shadow quality. In the intro you’re talking diffusion. You are only talking softness when you said moving the light in (changing the relative size of source to subject). It is important to learn the difference in the terms to fully illuminate your use of their relationship. Thanks for all you do. Keep up the good work!

[@ToddBangz]

You get a LIKE for the comment in the first 20 seconds of this video. Collar mic-ing is so freaking annoying! Thank you for truth and value Mark

[@meanmarine24]

Great work! I've watched tons of videos on making videos, but yours stand out by delivering concise and immediate information that directly relates to the case shown. Would love to see more videos of this style of concise presentation.

[@amorsel]

Thank you for adding a great module to my homeschool curriculum haha

[@HI-SiteAerials]

As a solo freelance videographer shooting mostly outdoor content, I haven’t yet had the means to get lighting, but this video really makes me want to move it up on my priority list instead of constantly dreaming about another camera in addition to my ZV-E1. I could use another camera, like say an FX6 (hint hint!) for an A-cam and make the ZV-E1 my B-cam so I can do that and focus on getting proper lighting😉

[@PaulJakob]

This was super cool to watch. Do more of these. You were kind and respectful but honest.

[@realCAMERALERO]

Thanks for the tip on the diffusion cloth. I've never been totally satisfied with the built-in diffusion on LED panels but a cloth clipped on to the instrument should be a great and fast way to soften light even when working at ENG speed.

[@robinprobyn1971]

You will also have to move the light closer to the subject for it to be softer , diff straight onto the fixture will just cut the intensity , if its not making the source larger its not effecting the softness

[@realCAMERALERO]

@@robinprobyn1971 absolutely. I have extensive experience with softboxes on old school tungsten lights (I started using them 25+ years ago) and loved the soft, wrap-around look when placing them close to a subject. I've yet to find a softbox for LEDs panels that I like, though, so the diffusion cloth should be a good, quick tool to use. Thanks again!

[@robinprobyn1971]

@@realCAMERALERO Yeah you have to get the larger panel LED lights before they get soft . or through a softbox. My point is only that it wont actually make them softer if the diff material is just pegged onto the fixture ,without actually increasing the size of the source .

[@toshmeister92]

This is awesome! Do more of these kind of videos. I learn more from these kind of videos than other ones

[@CurrenSheldon]

This is awesome. Love seeing these different interview setups and great tips and techniques.

[@MattNormanFilms]

Hey mate great video. I’d love you to do a video about doing an interview with one camera. Thanks mate love your channel.

[@AnthonyValli]

This made me realize I should be moving my 3’ light dome much closer to the subject and with much less power (more like 10-15%). Might even get some of those sheets, too. Thanks for the tips, Mark!

[@turkermutlu2024]

you are good man, very good, fantastic critical eye, thanks!

[@markbone]

Thanks brother!

[@miguelberns]

Always learn a lot from you Mark. I’ll save up to hopefully enroll in your class soooon

[@kinoromantic]

Great work! Please do more of these in the future. One life hack from me is to use film used for tinting car windows (often sold in auto parts stores) - a few rolls of these is something that I keep handy, because Lee Filters is something expensive to use not just on any shoot )

[@drmatthewhorkey]

This was one of my FAVORITE MB vids. Sooooo much value here even for people like me making talking head YT videos

[@noahterrell3012]

This man called out the Jessie James West hahahah good stuff i think theres a time and place for every set up its knowing when yo use which one good advice my guy i found some useful info thanks!

[@RossetBespokeButlers]

Great advice thank you. I am not a filmmaker just a KZbinr but I still want to integrate this teachings to make my videos as high quality as possible.

[@robinprobyn1971]

Good video sir .One thing , just putting a stronger diff material straight onto your light wont make it softer , it will only knock down the output . If it's not making the source physically larger ,it's not making it softer .

[@jacobvanengen9874]

I heard it said that you need to know the rules in order to be able to break them. That is to say I agree with about 90% of the critiques. Something like the axis, it’s really valuable to know and understand how breaking that affects the viewing experience. But also, sticking hard and fast to this is a bit antiquated and can stifle creativity. along with that, in the last 10 years people generally have gotten way better at being able to visualize 3-D space from interviews. So crossing the axis is something you need to understand, but no longer a hard and fast rule. Same thing for things like making sure the light is coming from the long side of the frame. (9:00) I think the reverse key in the situation really helps make the space feel big, and provides good opposing balance for the light on the left side of the frame.

[@phamwoaw]

money, because these are interviews fundamentals that lots don't know. it seems. that being said these rules can always be broken but you gotta understand the rules first to involve broken rules for narrative purposes. I would love to see more where you would stage cameras given the room. sometimes I am standing there and spending at least an hour framing out the next scenes and spaces.

[@ByteReview]

This was super useful. Thanks Mark!

[@flochfitness]

3:09 would love an edge light on this one as the shadow side does blend into the background and cuts down on the shape

[@brodie_hart_filmmaker]

My interview in the wood shop made an appearance for exactly ONE FULL second at the beginning! Honored to briefly be part of the Bone Zone, Mark. Crossing fingers I’ll get the full critique experience with the next one!

[@davegoldsmith2588]

Awesome thanks. I'm off to film my first interview today. Feeling better having watched this. Just packed some tape to hide the mikes.

[@AndresArosemena]

Good luck with your interview!

[@timsnider336]

Always great advice, brother. Even at the age of 55 I channel my inner Mark Bone when I'm in the field. 🙂 And the tip about the diffusion on Amazon is fantastic. Got some on order. Glad you're still finding time to make these videos. Know you're busy. I'm in NC so hope to meet up some time.

[@fernanrodriguez8196]

I'm a simple man. Mark uploads a video and I hit that like, and then I get ready for the knowledge and fun. Gracias Mark.

[@scotey]

Man, I appreciate this critique so much. I just finished a road trip with 14 interviews in 30 days, and I made some sort of mistake in every single one of them. The worst mistakes are the ones I notice while filming ... when fixing them will mess with continuity or the flow of the interview. How do you approach in-interview adjustments?

[@jaapvw66]

Doing 14 interviews in 30 days is the best way to avoid problems, because you will create a checklist in your head by learning from the mistakes. If you noitice that the mistakes are too bad, you have to stop after an answer appologize and do it again, or at the end of the interview correct the setting and tell the interviewee that you want too ask some questions again because they are crucial to the interview and you want to have the several answers so you can pick out the best But you have to do it on the spot, if you feel you have made some crucial mistakes.. It's the only change you have to do it right. You will be sorry in the edit if you haven't done it.

[@markdonnery]

Love your videos. So much to learn from. I think i need to join the AOD program, just need the boss to foot the bill. Now i am going to go back and review some of my work to see where i could BONED it. ( new term for when you nail the lighting)

[@iborov]

cool feedback and comments on the sets of the interviews informative and useful principles

[@haydenidrus7005]

@markbone Thanks for the tips! Lots of learning still to do, thanks for taking the time to look at my work!

[@travelbagphotography]

Fantastic main teaching points. You are a talented educator. Thanks so much!

[@Dancing_Alone_wRentals]

After watching this great video, and others you posted in the past........it is starting to sink in a bit....I'm learning. tHanks for the videos Mr. For Mark Bone!

[@garretreed9709]

Great content and insight. Subscribed.

[@QuinnAden]

I’m so excited to dive into this video, this is huge!

[@markbone]

GSS MAFIA IN THE HOUSE

[@QuinnAden]

@@markbone Confirmed, this is slightly better than Comm Tech...slightly.

[@sarahheinss]

This was so helpful! Thanks so much for this, Mark.

[@spIette]

First time here, I like your style, right to the point and very well explained.

[@TechnikFreund]

This is a great format!

[@alisab63]

Wow, this was SUPER helpful! Just found your channel - subscribed!

[@SoowDeJu]

This is very helpful because these are shots that more inexperienced people will face, and now we know how to improve them, thanks so much Mark!

[@MatthewDangyou]

thats right! 2:30 Lucas Carsado my boy is crushing the lighting game!

[@elcasanelles5806]

"you are a professional film maker, don't settle" I can imagine some merchandise featuring that.

[@JustinMarkwalter]

I laughed way harder than I should have with the saw clip.

[@markbone]

😂

[@PaulMDiaz]

Good stuff. Glad you are coming down on the box mics!

[@kereyvproductions5521]

Oh hai Mark! You're teeeaaaring those interview shots apaaart! But in all seriousness this is a fascinating video.

[@northroadproductionsvt]

Thank you for talking about hiding the mic. I thought I was all alone hating that trend. 😑

[@texashammer4]

BIG FAN THIS WAS SO HELPFUL

[@BrianArtka]

100% agree with you on the Mic in shot thing. Boom it. Gonna sound better from a better mic and no distractions! ;)

[@ThruVisualMedia]

Mark awesome breakdown, thank you for sharing. Love your videos!

[@ifthenwhatnext]

KZbin delivered this to me right on time. New subscriber, thanks!

[@michael14848]

Thanks heaps Mark for the review! Some great insight there that I seriously needed and will take into my next IV set up!

[@jaapvw66]

Hi Mark, first of all, I love your video's! Very inspirational. But i do like to make a comment, for those who are watching and Think: " I will never be a professional cameraman 😢, making those interviewshots is too difficult for me" Don't worry Guys, even in the real professional world we are not always able, or often not able tot make such beautifull interviewshots, since most of those stunning interviews shots are made in a perfect world and environment . As a professional I can tell you that 90% of the time, we are not able too scout for a place to do the interviewshot. We are happy if we don't end up in 3x3 office , a small livingroom with windows on both sides,or even a crowded cafe. Most of the time we have 10 minutes to set up the light , because the interviewee has a thight schedule or the reporter has a deadline. Light by the way that we have tot carry our own, and if you are in a city like Amsterdam, your (small) car is parked 500 meters away. That means, you have to carry your camera, light, tripod on your own. And if you have a bad day, 3 doors high with a tight stairway. The reality is, that most of the time you have to make the less, worst decision to get the most out of the situation. And watching Mark Bones video's will definitly help with this! And if by accident, you end up in the prefect world, Dig up all the tips and tricks from Mark, and make your most beautifull interview shot ever! Thank you Mark, and keep up the good work. i'll be watching!

[@AM2PMReviews]

Bigger, softer, closer lights! That is a great tip!

[@KeeganBenn]

7:40 that sunset behind you tho 🙇🏽‍♂

[@dlyon9673]

Thanks, this was super helpful!

[@davidsklubal]

Great video Mark thanks for the advice ✌️🎬🎥

[@BillyDubss]

Hi just found your channel! I could watch 1000 of these

[@TTH247]

2:25 - Should the diagram say "jumping the axis" instead of "jumping the access"?

[@DerrickLytlephoto]

The mic thing in the intro OMG

[@optimumfilms]

Fantastic info and inspiration in this one!

[@12yfilms]

This was great stuff! Thank you for sharing!

[@blpznchts]

That Saw reference though😂

[@markbone]

😂

[@FredTrevinoColor]

Ah!, saw my interview there for a split second! 9:28

[@williamshakespeare9815]

Please do more of these!

[@joshhoe]

very informative video! is it "jumping the access" or "jumping the axis"? I thought it was the latter intuitively until I saw the words come up haha

[@ericyoungblood]

This was a very helpful, practical style of video!!!! Thanks Mark!

[@samkellman]

Great vid, thanks for this

[@SimonDures]

Hi Mark, another great video as always! I am a culprit of the mic-in-shot... I promise to do better! I would love to see your tips for outdoor interviews. I work on location, often in tricky light and audio conditions, but I love having my subject in the environment they work in. I rely on natural lighting, but perhaps I need to use some additional artificial light?

[@demojoys]

20 seconds in and i hit subscribe, THANK U SIR

[@markfinster5608]

The Tatlock Interview was me haha my bad, I though I had put my name. Mark Finster

[@markbone]

Beautiful work my friend! I was just taking the piss ;)

[@markfinster5608]

@@markbone great feedback! Thanks so much for taking the time to review it and for your kind words!

[@brianmengini]

@@markfinster5608great work man! Would love to hear about your lighting set up for that interview.

[@joakimnorrby]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this!

[@phillipdoyle3055]

Seems like a style choice to jump the line. I'm seeing it more often in big productions

[@Coalbanksco]

Thanks for the examples, Mark! I've been working on enhancing our interview setup, but it’s challenging to balance the strong ambient light from backlit windows. Even with ND filters reducing the ambient light, my current lights don’t have enough power to make the subject stand out as the brightest element. I'm considering investing in a more powerful key light. Any suggestions or advice on handling this would be greatly appreciated.

[@iamvictorperez1482]

This is awesome thank you 🙏

[@MUTABAZISTUDIOS]

I'm glad you jumped in that 14" MBP

[@journeywithjay3197]

I once dimmed a led practical with a plastic grocery bag. Thought those bulbs didn't heat up.. was wrong! It worked but took quite awhile to get the plastic off the bulb

[@RedRumble14]

Is it ok if a person watches at the camera? No need to always come from the angle right?

[@thyerriwolf]

I'm sure that is ok, I've watched many docs with the camera pointed straight to the character, and it was beautiful, the only concern that I would be aware of is to separate the background from the subject... But of course it depends on the purpose of your film, at the end of the day it's more an artistic choice ✌️

[@thesecretcompartment]

I edit a lot of doc series and I wish I could show this video to many of the DP’s I’ve worked with.

[@aclark210]

Mark I seen that interview with Carlo, I'm glad to know that you're a brother in Christ! You are one of my biggest inspirations & you're not 36, you're like late 20s

[@BEYONDIMAGES-AI]

I wish I could hold now and say, Yes! About the mic. Nothing I hate more than seeing the mic taking up 50% of the scene or just expose for show sake. I could not agree with you more. Thanks for calling out the mic.

[@yanns559]

Hmm I wouldn't hide a mic if you can make it a bit tidy and pretty (parallel to the opening or the jacket or smth) also choose more discreet mics like eg. VT or trams that don't catch the eye. If you have a collar neck you might as well hide it because the sound sucks when the lav is as high up under the chin.

[@rickdeckardbladerunner2049]

The woman in the large space with wimdows talking about dentistry seems way out of place with regard to dentistry! So dark too. We all want dark, but sometimes we need to stick to what works for the project. I agree, shoot into the dark corner. I would use real long lenses to bring the background closer since you have so much room, and maybe add something to the scene that feels like a dentist office. Maybe some chairs, table, floor lamp, and 2400k practicals. Maybe if you want the cinematic look, shoot anamorphic or spherical with a crop. But up the lighting so its not a spy movie background. Great tips you gave! I need to up my LED overhead light to make the subject the brightest thing in the scene. Thanks for the reminder. I upped it in post in the last one because my light mat led was not too powerful, but does look super cinematic. My client loved it.

[@Northpaal]

As an audio engineer I do agree that hiding the LAV is a lot prettier, but I also feel like it depends on what you are making. Hiding LAVs usually come with a lot of problems with rustling noise and overall loss of clarity on the voice. If you want a hidden mic you should go for only an overhead shotgun mic in my opinion. Sit down interviews for reality shows etc. that I usually do we most often don't have the time in the schedule to hide it properly and we also because of budgets have suboptimal rooms with a lot of reverberation and usually rely on having to use our sennheiser 416's in these rooms instead of a mkh-50 which would do wonders for the reverb. I know the picture is important, but please guys don't forget that most "normal" people will be much more likely to notice a noisy rustling microphone than a small LAV sitting on a shirt. I would argue that most non-creative people don't even realise what a LAV is. I would love to hide the LAVs, but someone smarter than me needs to come up with a better way of doing so that what we have today. I constantly get put off of watching a show like for example "Suits" where you almost hear as much rustling noise as the voice of the actors. Izotope DE-rustle is magic, but can only save so much before it gets to "artifacty". On another note, I found this channel very recently and I love what you guys do! Also that FX6 would come very in handy for my business 🥹😆 Keep doing what you do!

[@JonJosephKuhn]

I can attest as one of the people critiqued for the mic being in the shot, I had one chance to grab the interviews, the subjects showed up late, I couldn't turn off the beer cooler that was louder than a diesel engine, and I did have a boom but I had me myself and I for a production crew so I wanted the redundancy. I was monitoring the boom whiled conducting the interviews so I could have trusted it. 🤷🏼‍♂

[@notthere83]

I gotta admit it gave me some pleasure that I haven't been working in the industry for like a decade but when I saw the 75% thing at 14:55, I was like "No way that's 75%. Looks like 66%." Measured it - his eyes are essentially precisely at 66%. 😅 (Which I think makes sense - rule of thirds and whatnot.)

[@MegaReaso]

Love it Mark. Thanks.

[@ISpeakOnlytheTruth]

I know a lot of people who shoot these interviews will resort to lapel mics. In my experience, using a boom mic set-up for audio is much more preferable. Not only is the audio cleaner in general, you don't need to waste time worrying about hiding mics and you won't get rustle on a boom :) You're welcome!

[@TheAstrologyPodcast]

Would you recommend using extra diffusion still even if you are already using a full Aputure softbox that has two layers of diffusion built in?

[@markbone]

Only if you’re a Libra

[@TheAstrologyPodcast]

@@markbone 😂👍

[@jerrytheniceguy]

"We all need to care for our deers." *likes video immediately*

[@seecraig]

The problem with those rectangular mics is that they're inexpensive (everywhere) and generally impossible to hide. The better ones can take an external lav and a few have magnetic rather than collar clips but if you don't have one of those you're stuck with an ugly rectangle hanging off a shirt. Some might choose them because they have internal recording and want that security as well. Generally, they're hard to hide, and it may be all they have in their kit short of telling people not to use them at all. So a question would be "How do you make the best of it when all you have is a rectangular wireless mic?" One of the biggest challenges in doc and run & gun shooting is sometimes you just don't have the ideal gear you need (and the location is absolutely hideous) and you have to make the best of it. Perhaps a series on what to do when (missing certain gear, problem locations, etc).

[@markbone]

Answer: use a lav.