Questions to ask my interviewee

[keshk]

I am making a documentary about a football player.

I am going to interview and film a friend of this football player. Can I get some insight on the kind of questions I should be asking?

I did a similar interview with the player's school coach where I asked questions like what was he(the football player) like, his growth, whether the coach was able to predict this guy's future based on his performance and so on.

I am stuck cos I don't want to repeat these questions to the friend too. I want to cover something different but can't really come up with anything. Can I get some help on what I should be asking the friend?

Thanks for help.

 

[NickClapper]

It will depend, to an extent, about how you plan on structuring the film. I would always ask my interviewees a basic set of questions – the same ones for each interview – so that, during the edit, I can intercut between the interviews. For example:

COACH: He was technically brilliant, he made all the other kids look average, and they were decent players really. But he was the next level.

TEAMMATE: It was hard being on the same team with him when he was just another class.

Those answers could come from asking the same questions, but, when edited side-by-side, they build the picture, rather than simply reiterating it.

But, of course, if you want to have each of these interviews as discrete commodities (something which is more common on doc TV series than in film docs) then I wouldn't worry so much about the questions as the answers. What questions are going to provoke the sort of answers that you want? Asking the same question to different people can result in radically different answers.

So, Coach, how was Player X's relationship with you?

So, Teammate, how was Player X's relationship with you?

So, in that sense, don't be afraid to ask the same questions, because different subjects will give you very different answers.

Who's the player?

 

[WalterB]

Nick is right: different interviewee & same questions = different perspective on the subject.
It can actualy get really interesting when people give totally different answers to the same questions