Examples of interviews cut using hands/eyes

[Juris Eksts]

I wouldn’t worry Astrid, I think they never work.

[Mark Suszko]

Oh, it can work, I think, just that you have to have the right timing. Like, opening on the XCU hands with the first sentence of the new idea, then cutting to the interview shot. If you just slap a hands wringing or facial expression out-take across any splice like it was a transition, that’s when it won’t work for you. These things take timing, they have a rhythm that can’t be forced like a standard transition. You also tend to need to set up the idea of these shots as a consistent convention in the piece, putting one where you didn’t mechanically need it, just to prove you’re making aesthetic choices and not just mechanical ones.

I’m blanking on an example to show you,sorry.

[Bill Davis]

For any cutaway shot to feel natural, it has to present the viewer with an idea that fits into the narrative flow of the scene. For example, if you are interviewing someone the audience judges to be nervous, then a cutaway hand shot of their fingers tapping nervously is congruent and supports the narrative. Every shot you use should support the narrative flow if at all possible.. If the cutaway shots you have don’t do that, then you need different cutaway shots. An arbitrary close up shot of eyes is silly. A close up of teary eyes of a character who’s sad emphasizes that sadness. That it covers a jump cut might be important to the editor, but should never come at the cost of taking your audience out of the story you’re telling them.

My 2 cents, anyway.

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[Bernard Newnham]

Amazing – totally agree, extremely well put. Still hate them though.

Bernie

[Mike Cohen]

Only use these in a 2 person interview, assuming you have established the interviewer already, you can cut to a nod or whatever to cover an edit – as long as you are not changing the meaning.

Taking a shot out of context just to cover an edit is a stretch.

Better to have a 2nd camera angle and cut to look intentional. You often see the behind the scenes camera angle or a side view in network interviews.

Mike Cohen