Synopsis
The quality of an interview recording is determined long before post-production begins. Clear audio, well-composed video, appropriate lighting, and reliable recording workflows improve the viewing and listening experience and reduce editing time and technical problems downstream. The following guidelines outline a set of best practices for recording InterDialogues, both in-person and remote. Though these are not intended as rigid rules, nor is every recommendation applicable in every situation, this document should serve as a general reference sheet to help ensure consistent production standards across recordings while minimizing avoidable issues.
1. Audio
1.1 Minimize environmental sound
Always pick the quietest environment you can find. Opt for private spaces over public spaces. Consider the acoustics of the space—for example, a carpeted floor absorbs sound better than a hardwood or concrete floor, which reflects sound. Eliminate or minimize as much as possible any ambient noise. Turn off a running fan, close an open window, or unplug a fridge emitting a hum—all of these sound sources may seem minor in the moment, but they can substantially affect the audio quality and consequently the difficulty of editing. Ideally, you want nothing but the speakers’ voices to be picked up in the recording. If you simply cannot find a quiet recording space, you can switch on your transmitters’ built-in noise reduction toggle.
1.2 Minimize distractions
It’s a good idea to minimize distractions, e.g., by turning off phone notifications and asking anyone else present in the area not to interrupt or make loud noises during the recording. If you’re in an office, close the door so visitors don’t interrupt; if you’re in a home, ask other residents to be quiet and stay out of the frame during the recording.
1.3 Audio levels and volume
If you’re getting low audio levels, ask a speaker to increase their volume before increasing gain. A strong, articulate, and sufficiently loud speaking voice produces better audio than increasing gain to capture a quieter or more mumbly voice. If need be, adjust gain, but be aware that setting the gain too high may introduce artifacts or pick up too much background noise. In general, however, it would be safe to set gain a bit higher than where you have had it in your recordings so far.
1.4 Recording settings
Sample rate and bit rate are measures of how much data you’re recording. Higher figures mean higher fidelity but also higher file sizes and diminishing returns. I recommend either 44.1 kHz 24-bit or 48 kHz 24-bit. Either sample rate at 16-bit is also acceptable, but less ideal than 24-bit. There’s no need to record in sample rates any higher than 48 kHz; it won’t result in perceptibly better audio, but it will balloon the file size.
1.5 Audio monitoring
If possible, you should manually check the audio levels and recording quality by listening in with a pair of headphones. Professional studio headphones work best for this. One entry-level industry standard (for 20+ years), and the pair I use, is the Sony MDR 7506. The quality of the monitoring headphones is important insofar as it will influence the fidelity of the playback, allowing you to make more informed adjustments.
It’s typically sufficient to set up the recording equipment, monitor the audio before starting the recording, adjust as needed (e.g., modifying gain or activating noise reduction), and then stop monitoring for the rest of the session (as long as nothing in the audio environment changes during recording). You probably won’t need to constantly monitor in your recording scenarios, other than maybe occasionally glancing at the levels meter on the receiver and making sure it looks good. A good rule of thumb is that you want levels to go as far toward the right side of the meter (indicating high volume) before entering the red, at which point the audio starts to clip.
If you don’t have a pair of headphones, you can still monitor audio with a pair of wired earbuds, though the quality will not be as good. If you don’t have any monitoring device, just keep an eye on the level meter and make sure it isn’t too low or too high.
1.6 Microphone positioning
Microphones should generally be positioned as close as possible to the sound source, i.e., the speakers’ mouths. Typically this means clipping it to their lapel or collar. If you’re not recording video, no need to worry about the mic’s visibility. If you do record video, some people like to hide the mic, such as by positioning it under a jacket flap. Your kit also includes some magnets that can be used to discretely position the lav wherever needed beneath the speaker’s shirt. Ultimately, though, for your purposes you may not need to worry about lav visibility at all.
If you don’t already have a field recorder, I recommend picking one up, as they give you far greater control over your recording settings than a smartphone does. I use a Zoom H1n, which is an affordable, entry-level recorder that also doubles as a stereo mic if needed. One major advantage of recording onto a field recorder is that you can make more advanced adjustments, such as applying high-pass or low-pass filters, limiters, and other useful tools. This may be more advanced than necessary for your present purposes, but it may be useful in the long term.
2. Video
2.1 Monitor lighting conditions
Good lighting is one of the easiest ways to improve video quality, whereas poor lighting can seriously reduce video quality. In general, try to ensure that light falls upon the subject. For instance, have subjects face a window or primary light source whenever possible, positioning the main light source in front of the subject rather than behind them. Avoid positioning them with a bright window or light directly behind them. Ensure faces are evenly lit and clearly visible. Avoid harsh overhead lighting that can cast strong shadows over the face. Avoid mixed lighting temperatures (e.g., daylight combined with a warm lamp).
Check lighting conditions before beginning the interview and monitor for major changes during long recordings, especially when natural lighting is involved—see the Jesús recording for a good example of this. If necessary, turn light fixtures on or off until you find the right balance of natural and artificial lighting. In general, your goal is to illuminate the subject and surroundings without silhouette effects from backlighting, faces appearing too dark, or finding the scene overexposed or underexposed.
2.2 Adjust for exposure
Exposure determines how bright or dark an image appears. Most digital cameras have automatic exposure settings. These sometimes work well, but in other cases you may have to adjust exposure manually, and it is worth learning how to do this with your particular camera model. Exposure can be thought of as a triangle with three factors dynamically determining how much light enters the lens and hits the camera sensor: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Aperture, also called f-stop (and expressed in figures like f/1.4, f/4.0, f/5.6, etc.), is a measure of the physical diameter of the adjustable ring that limits light entering the camera lens. Every (adjustable) camera lens has a minimum and maximum aperture. Wide apertures (expressed as lower f-stop values, e.g., f/1.4) allow more light and also produce a narrow depth of field, meaning a smaller part of the image is in focus and more of it is out of focus. Narrower apertures (e.g., f/18.0) allow less light and produce a deeper depth of field, “flattening” the image and reducing or eliminating background blur relative to the subject in focus. Adjust the aperture based on lighting conditions and aesthetic preference.
Shutter speed is a measure of how quickly the camera shutter closes when capturing an image. It is measured in fractions of a second, e.g., a shutter speed of 1⁄500 is twice as fast as 1⁄250. Lower (i.e., slower) shutter speeds allow more light to enter the lens and hit the sensor during a shutter cycle, but with more motion blur if capturing moving subjects. Higher (i.e., faster) shutter speeds allow less light but produce less motion blur. Shutter speed also relates to framerate when shooting video, as the 180-degree shutter rule stipulates that your shutter speed value should generally be double that of your framerate. For example, if your framerate is 60 FPS, set your shutter speed to 1⁄120. Since your framerate should never change when shooting InterDialogues, don’t worry about adjusting shutter speed once it is correctly set. Beware that under default settings, the automatic exposure system in your camera may automatically adjust shutter speed; disable this if this occurs.
ISO is a measure of the camera’s built-in digital compensation for low-light conditions. Higher ISO values artificially lighten a scene that may be too dark to expose well by adjusting aperture and shutter speed alone; however, high ISO can introduce digital noise or grain—though it is unlikely that in your use cases you would be shooting an interview in conditions dark enough for this to occur. Generally, it is best to adjust other factors to improve exposure as much as possible before turning to ISO—but be willing to adjust it if other strategies are insufficient. The lowest ISO value is 100 and it is best to keep it there.
Beyond these three primary factors, some cameras have other exposure adjustment options, such as automatic exposure compensation (often on a -3.0 to 3.0 scale) and white balance adjustments (also often on such a scale). Additionally, many cameras support peaking/clipping settings that impose a visual pattern such as zebra stripes on the image preview to indicate where a scene is overexposed. It may not be necessary to use these functions, but it’s good to know what they do and how/when to use them.
When setting up for a recording, monitor exposure conditions using the camera screen or viewfinder and adjust controls as needed to ensure subjects are properly exposed and avoid blown-out highlights or dark shadows. Disable automatic exposure adjustments if they cause visible brightness fluctuations. Some exposure adjustments can be made in post, but it’s best to shoot things right in the first place.
2.3 Framing, zoom, and camera positioning
Framing affects how professional and engaging the interview appears. For most one-camera interview scenarios, the idea is to have both subjects (interviewer and interviewee) clearly visible and in frame, at least in profile but ideally at a 3/4 frontal position relative to the camera. Avoid setting up the camera behind or over the shoulder of one subject; it is best to see the face of both subjects. The camera should be positioned at approximately eye level, not above the subjects looking down or below them looking up. Many cameras include a level meter that is useful to reference when framing. Keep subjects’ heads near the upper third of the frame and ensure their faces occupy a substantial portion of the frame. Avoid excessive empty space above or around the subject. Once the camera is well positioned, limit moving it and ask subjects to limit their own movement so as not to alter the frame.
A medium close-up framing typically often well for interviews. In this framing, head, shoulders, and upper chest are visible, but not a subject’s whole body—the argument is that viewers are rarely interested in what subjects’ legs and feet are doing. This framing ensures a tight view with minimal wasted space.
Framing is largely affected by the distance between the camera and subject, the focal length of the lens, and whether the lens has adjustable zoom levels or is fixed. If the lens has adjustable zoom levels (i.e., a focal length range rather than a fixed focal length), you can experiment with framing by both repositioning the camera and trying different zoom levels; if the focal length is fixed, you are limited to camera position alone. In general, situate the camera and/or adjust zoom close enough that facial expressions are clearly visible and prioritize filling the frame appropriately rather than capturing the entire room. As always, verify that the frame looks good before beginning the recording.
2.4 Appropriate background and minimal distractions
Alongside the framing you should consider the backgrounds against which the subjects are being recorded. Backgrounds should be should generally be clean and uncluttered, supporting the conversation rather than competing with it. Remove distracting objects (e.g., bright lamps, or phones that may ring or buzz with notifications) when possible. Ensure when possible that the background reflects a relevant professional environment—bookshelves, offices, workspaces, and studios are appropriate options—but otherwise neutral walls provide an appropriately non-distracting alternative.
On the other hand, avoid backgrounds like highly cluttered rooms, busy areas with people moving behind the subject, bright screens, and distracting artwork or patterns. Also consider whether any potentially sensitive information may be visible. In general, consider what the objects visible in the frame communicate about the setting.
3. Virtual recordings
These best practices are mostly concerned with in-person recordings using microphones and cameras. However, as some InterDialogues are recorded virtually, it is also worth addressing some basic best practices for virtual recordings, which involve some different considerations.
First, ensure that all participants have access to a reliable, high-speed internet network; wired connections are best, but high-speed wireless internet is also appropriate. During the recording, close unnecessary applications and disable notifications that may be picked up by your screen-recording or audio software. Record locally when possible and keep backup recording options available. Whenever possible, record separate local audio tracks for each participant; see 3.7 Riverside alternatives for some suggested workflows along these lines. As usual, conduct a short test session to ensure everything is in working order before beginning the interview.
4. Final prerecording checklist
Before recording, check:
- Camera positioned at eye level
- Background appropriate
- Face evenly lit
- Exposure checked
- Framing checked
- Microphone tested
- Notifications silenced
- Internet connection checked
- Recording software tested
- Backup recording plan available
Related
2.4 InterDialogue production checklist
3.7 Riverside alternatives