Unit 36 : Task 1

Question Types:

Open: An open question is a question that wants a detailed answer and wants the information that the interviewee has. It will be said in a certain way so the interviewee will give their opinion or emotions on the said subject.

Closed: A closed question is a question which would be asked to get a one word answer, the answer would commonly be a Yes or a No. A closed question is good when the interviewer wants a quick answer on a subject or is running out of time in the interview so doesn't want a lengthy answer.

Single: Single question is a standalone question normally very direct that the interviewee would struggle to try and avoid answering. You would find a single question in a hard news interview where the interviewer wants to get straight answers.

Multiple: Multiple questions are multiple questions that are asked to the interviewee which all have a common theme and may be building up to what the interviewer is looking for. Multiple questions are normally suggestive and would be found in light-hearted interviews and in the confidence building stage of said interview.

Direct: A direct question is a question that is straight to the point, it wants a straight answer and it would be very hard for the interviewee to counter the question. You would find a direct question in hard news or an expository interview.

Suggestive: A suggestive question is a type of question that hints at the real topic, but allows the interviewee to come to it themselves. The interviewer would most likely need multiple suggestive questions to get to the answer they were originally looking for. If the interviewee is very skilled at what they do they would understand that they are being asked a suggestive question and respond appropriately.

Interview Styling:

Hard News: Hard news is a very serious interview style, it would generally be about hard hitting topics or serious topics like Politics, Murder, War, Religion etc. The question types would be very direct, open, and closed. This would be because they would want instant answers so they can cover what they want to ask in the time slot they have.

Combative: Combative interviews are normally very aggressive and the interviewer can come across as very determined to get to the point of the interview. The question types again would be direct, open, and closed. This is again because they would want straight answers about the subject and so they can move on to the next question quickly. You would find that a combative style would be for subjects like politics, life stories etc.

Light-Hearted: A light-hearted question is a light question that necessarily doesn’t need to be about the topic but would be asked to ease the interviewee into the interview. They would be used in an emotional interview or personal response to an event.

Entertainment: An entertainment interview would most likely be an interview with a celebrity where they have many jokes about what they are talking about and make the crowd laugh a lot. You would generally find it with a celebrity, and they would be talking about certain subjects, normally because they are trying to feature their work on the program.

Investigative: Investigative interviews are interviews that try to find out as much information about the subject being discussed. This style of interview is normally either biased or unbiased to the story and can be easily mistaking for the other interview style of hard news because it is very straight to the point with the questions.

Promotional: A promotional interview is as it sounds a promotion for the interviewee to try and promote their product or service they are selling. This is more common for celebrities to be promoting their book or their new up-coming film. The question types would be open and closed and most likely both suggestive and direct. The interviews would also be light-hearted with a bit of humour to lighten the mood.

Structuring:

Introduction: An introduction in an interview is when the interviewer introduces the interviewee and themselves to the audience, and sums up the topic being discussed. This could be done in multiple ways, showing a small clip about the topic at the start, saying what the topic will be about, or when they introduce the interviewee they say their profession which sometimes gives a hint about the topic. For example, if the interview was about animal rights, when they introduce the interviewee they would say this is Helen, she is an animal rights activist.

Developmental Questions: The development question is a single question that set the interview, it eases the interviewee into the interview, trying to make them more confident. A common question that an interviewer would ask is "How are you today" or "We are very pleased for you to be here today". It is a simple question or statement that makes the interviewee more comfortable and in turn would make them open up more later on with the key questions.

Confidence Building: This is similar to a development question where they try to build the confidence of the interviewee for the key questions. However, these are actual questions that they would ask the interviewee, but only expecting a yes or no answer, these would be closed questions they ask.

Key Questions: The key questions are the main questions to do with the topic at hand, the length of the questions and answers do depend on the topic. However, these questions are more open questions that expect a more formed answer that the interviewer could bounce other questions off. The key questions would usually be found in the middle of the interview so that the interviewer can build up the confidence of the interviewee so they can try to get the best possible answers.

Soundbites: Sound bites are small clips taken from the interview that sum it all up, they can be used in trailers for the interview, used in videos to do with the topic, or at the beginning of the news program to introduce what will be shown and spoken about. The sound bites take some of the key information being said to try and draw the audience into listening or watching.

Summary: The summary is a quick sum up of what has been said in the interview, with the interviewer trying to finish the interview. They may ask one last quick question that would be closed to get a quick answer.

Wind-Up: The wind-up is the final part to every interview with the interviewer thanking the interviewee, sometimes leaving with a light-hearted joke or question. If it was an artist in the interview, they will most likely be asked to perform which will finish the interview.

Communication Skills:

Building Rapport: Building Rapport is when the interviewer builds up the relation between themselves and the interviewee to try and create a trust. They do this so the interviewee opens up more about the said topic, ways in which they do this is by their body language, what they say e.g. humour. Even if the interviewer doesn’t agree they will still try and build rapport so that the interview is successful.

Active Listening: Active listening is when the interviewer responds appropriately to what the interviewee has said and shows that they are engaging with them. This would be done by nodding, smiling, and their body language. They would also need to listen so that they can ask a follow up question if the answer wasn’t sufficient enough for them.

Body Language: Body language is how the interviewer is sitting and how they are visually reacting to what is being said by the interviewee. A positive body language from the interviewer can build the confidence of the interviewee and end up resulting in lengthier and more detailed answers. Compared to a negative body language it can see hostile to the interviewee and they give short answers or even want to end the interview if they feel it’s appropriate.

Journalistic Context:

Print: In magazine and newspapers you would find print interviews, these are different to video interviews because you can’t visually see them or hear them, you have to read them. The way in which they are set out is the question will be in a bold or italic font and then the answer would be below. Unlike video interviews you wouldn’t get interruptions you would get straight answers from the interviewee. Interviews on print can be many different interview styles, these include reports, hard news, straight forward, and editorial.

Television: Every interview style is shown in some way or another on television, many programs will show a certain type of interview style. Channels like Channel 4 who are known to have hard news, combative, and investigative interviews because they are a news channel and get the information for the viewers they want to hear. Whereas a chat show like the Johnathon Ross show would have entertainment and promotional interviews with famous celebrities. It would be set out like the structure set out above.

Radio: Radio interviews are similar to television interviews but just without the visual aspect. The structure is exactly the same, and the interviewer will give off the same body language to build a trust between there selves and the interviewee. However, you are just hearing the voices of the two people, so the interviewer will introduce the interviewee at the start and round off by saying thank you to the person so people know who is talking. The interviewee can be interviewed in the studio or over the phone which is projected to the listeners at home or in their cars.

Online: Online interviews are in many different formats with print interviews on newspaper and magazine websites, and video interviews from news reports or documentaries on websites like BBC IPlayer or ITV hub. However, many interviews can be found on YouTube where random people can post the interviews for other people to watch. All styles of interviews can be found online and almost all interviews recorded in recent years can be found online somewhere.

News: Interviews on the news are normally conducted by the presenter and would most likely be hard news or informative. The interviewee commonly would be an eye witness, a police officer, a member of the public, a politician, or a specialist in a subject. A news interview is set out to get the information without being biased (depends on the news station) so they can inform the public.

Sport: During a sporting event, you would find a post-match interview with a presenter asking ex-players or game specialists questions about what they think the score might be or past games etc. This can be found in sporting events like football games, rugby games, cricket matches, and many more. You also see cut away VT’s of interviews with some of the players or managers and after the game an after match interview about how they felt the game went.