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Taming the Chameleon      Return to Views Directory Page
The interview format is so popular and widely used for corporate videos that virtually every script I write relies on it.    In most cases, I blend "guiding narration" into the script to introduce topics, provide transitions between sound bites, and supply exact wordings that the client wants included.  In others, where the client or producer are certain that those interviewed on camera will cover all the bases, I forego narration altogether.

Then there are chameleon scripts, the ones that keep switching back and forth.  I recently wrote one that the client specified as interviews-only.  I no more than completed the first draft and she learned that two of her most important interview subjects wouldn’t be available.  In the second draft I converted into narration the questions they were going to answer and the answers they were expected to give.

A few days before shooting, the producer telephoned to tell me that the client had recruited two last-minute interview subjects who would be able to address "about 80 percent" of what the original two were expected to say.  So I was back at the keyboard, reconverting sections of narration.  As it turned out, one of the new recruits was too wooden on camera to give the producer anything he could use.  So I wound up converting his questions and answers — again—into narration.

All of this switching back and forth would drive me nuts if I hadn’t long ago developed a flexible scripting technique.  Here is an example (from a different script) of how I write interview segments:

INTERVIEWER:   What are the advantages of freeze-dried artificial blood over real blood?

INTERVIEW SUBJECT (IN OWN WORDS EXPLAINS):

• Freeze-dried artificial blood is lighter, less bulky, easier to store and ship
• Does not go bad
• Has no "typing" characteristics. Can be safely given to anyone, regardless of blood type.
  

The question is simple, and I list "touch points" for the interview subject to use in crafting his answer and for the producer/director to use in guiding that answer so that he gets what he needs and it connects smoothly to whatever comes before it and after it in the script.  I write the touch points in a kind of shorthand, to save script space and to avoid too strongly suggesting the words the interview subject should use.

Producers, clients and interview subjects like touch points, because they give everyone needed guidelines.  I like them because I can easily convert them into narration without having to return to my research materials.    The above example, converted into narration might read:

NARRATOR: Freeze-dried artificial blood has several advantages over what the human body produces. It is lighter and less bulky; therefore easier to store and ship. It has a shelf-life of years instead of weeks. Most important, artificial blood has no "type" characteristics. Once reconstituted with distilled water, it can be safely given to anyone, regardless of their blood type.

Using the touch points as a guide, a producer can elicit good answers even from inexperienced interview subjects.  And when required, touch points easily convert into narration.  All of which makes the chameleon a lot less bothersome.

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