Planning one interview for a main film, cutdowns and vertical edits

When one interview needs to become a main film, cutdowns and vertical edits, plan the message, framing and supporting footage for each output before filming. A speaker's gesture can fit comfortably in a wide shot and disappear at the edge of a vertical crop.

Bring the agency's agreed strategic and creative direction to the production team. Give each output a clear job, then work backward to the questions, compositions and coverage that will supply it. An editor reading the plan should be able to identify the material each piece needs.

Use the structure below with the producer, interviewer, director of photography and editor while those choices are still open. The fictional workshop brief follows the decisions from the output list to the frame.

Give each output a job and a priority

For every requested piece, record the audience, placement, approximate duration, aspect ratio, central point and next action. Add requirements for captions, identifying graphics and language. Mark whether the output is committed or still being considered.

A main film explaining a process needs room for sequence and context. A short introduction needs to establish the speaker and give the viewer a reason to keep watching. The vertical excerpt must carry an intelligible point within its own frame and running time. Write that point into the brief.

Ask the agency to rank the outputs while there is still time to plan for all of them. If the interview runs short or a location becomes unavailable, the production lead needs that order in hand. Keep optional ideas on the list as candidates, with their capture and edit needs assessed before anyone commits to making them.

Build a deliverable-to-capture map

Consider a fictional agency brief about a workshop instructor explaining how to prepare a workbench. There is no client, completed shoot or measured result behind this example. The durations and formats are illustrative planning choices, subject to the actual placement requirements.

The following entries use the same fields so they can be copied into a planning sheet.

Main film

• Intended output: a roughly two-minute, 16:9 website film introducing the instructor's preparation process. Priority: first.
• Viewer need: understand what gets prepared, in what order and why the order matters.
• Interview material: a complete explanation of the sequence, with context for any conditions or exceptions.
• Supporting coverage: the workbench before preparation, the instructor arranging materials and details of the relevant tools.
• Framing need: a composition that includes useful gestures and the work area, with space for the planned identifying graphic.
• Decision before capture: the agency confirms the teaching point; the producer and editor agree which steps need visual coverage.

Short cutdown

• Intended output: a roughly 30-second, 16:9 introduction leading to the main film. Priority: second.
• Viewer need: identify the subject and understand one reason to watch the explanation.
• Interview material: a concise introduction that names the preparation task and makes sense without hearing the question.
• Supporting coverage: an establishing view and an action that directly relates to the chosen point.
• Framing need: a clear subject and room for the agreed end card.
• Decision before capture: the agency selects the point and next action; the interviewer plans the follow-up needed to make the answer self-contained.

Vertical excerpt

• Intended output: a roughly 20-second, 9:16 excerpt for a mobile placement. Priority: third.
• Viewer need: understand one preparation step without having watched the longer film.
• Interview material: a short explanation naming the step, with any qualification needed to preserve its meaning.
• Supporting coverage: a close view of the relevant action composed for the vertical frame.
• Framing need: the speaker, demonstration and captions remain legible in the intended layout.
• Decision before capture: the director of photography and editor test the proposed crop; the producer assesses whether dedicated vertical coverage is needed.

Add a language and caption requirement to each entry, even if the answer is simply one agreed language with a specified caption format. Confirm final export specifications with the receiving team. A duration and aspect ratio leave technical delivery questions open.

Write questions for the material each piece needs

Next to each interview question, note its intended output and the context an answer must include. Keep the conversation flexible while making essential topics easy for the interviewer to track.

For the fictional workshop example, a useful main-film question is: “Walk through how you prepare the workbench before the session begins.” A follow-up can ask why a particular step comes first. The interviewer can then request a shorter explanation of that same step for the excerpt.

Let the speaker answer in their own words. If an answer begins with “it” or “that,” ask a follow-up that invites them to name the subject. Avoid feeding them an unsupported conclusion to fit the planned edit.

Keep the longer answer within the editor's reach. The qualification at the end of a sentence may be what makes the explanation accurate. If that meaning cannot survive the proposed running time, revisit the duration or choose a different point with the agency.

Test the horizontal and vertical compositions together

Before filming, inspect the planned frames with the speaker in position. Check eyeline, gestures, headroom, background and space for captions or identifying text. Use frame guides or sample crops when practical so the team can assess the actual composition.

In the fictional workshop scene, the instructor sits to one side of a wide frame and a tool rests near the other edge. Tighten the crop around the speaker and the tool may disappear. Shift it toward the tool and the speaker's expression may fall outside the image. Decide what the vertical piece needs the viewer to see, then compose coverage that holds it.

There are several capture options to discuss during on-site production planning:

• A shared, wider composition can leave room for reframing. Check the resulting crop, usable resolution and visual emphasis against each output's requirements.
• Another camera can provide a different composition. It also needs space, lighting coordination and attention to eyelines.
• Dedicated vertical coverage can serve a priority placement directly. Allow for the additional setup or repeated action within the agreed scope.

Make the capture choice against the brief, location and equipment plan. Extra resolution cannot bring an action back from outside the recorded frame.

Give supporting footage the same format check

Mark the intended uses beside each supporting shot. A detail of a hand placing a tool may fit several formats. A wide demonstration with important action at both edges may need another composition.

Give the editor the beginning of the action, the action itself and the result the viewer needs to see. Keep those images attached to the speaker's meaning. A polished close-up of the wrong step can quietly change the explanation.

Prioritize supporting shots alongside the interview topics. If the vertical excerpt depends on a specific close-up, put that close-up on the required coverage list. Assign optional visual ideas a lower priority so the crew can make a deliberate choice when time is limited.

Bring the editor into the plan before capture

A post-production discussion should happen while capture choices are still open. Ask the receiving editor to review the output list, proposed frames, graphics and caption requirements. Confirm recording and delivery requirements with the technical team.

For each output, name the agency contact who will consolidate comments and the person authorized to approve its content. Agree when the team will assess the story, the assembled edit and the finished formatting. A transcript can help evaluate wording; the assembled piece also needs review of the images, pacing and text on screen.

Have the responsible rights owner confirm the intended uses of talent, locations, music and supplied assets. A request for another placement or language needs its own scope and permission check. The production team should record unresolved questions for the person authorized to answer them.

Use the output list to make the final capture decision

Before the shoot, walk through each committed output with the agency producer, interviewer and production lead. Identify its required answers, supporting shots and framing needs. Bring the editor or director of photography into any unresolved technical decision.

An unexpected answer may open a useful direction for the film. Keep it as a candidate until the agency decides where it belongs. Before accepting a change to the brief, assess what it asks of capture, editing, permissions and review.

To discuss interview production with Bada Bing, send the intended deliverables with the brief. Include the priority piece, additional formats and any requirements the receiving editor has already supplied.