Interview Chair

[Dan Brockett]

Rick:

Why would you want an interview chair that swivels? Why would you want a metal based chair that if it doesn’t have squeaks out of the box, it will develop them quickly? Deadly bad for interviews, even if it locks, it will still have some play.

After shooting and serving as interviewer, director and cinematographer for thousands of interviews, I have found that a simple Target or Ikea pine chair with either low arms or no arms works just great. You buy it with a detachable cushion. The back has support, the height is always pretty close to ideal. The wooden construction with a straight back tends to make the interviewee sit up straight, which is always what you want as a DP.

At the production company I used to work at, we had about a dozen of these old Ikea chairs that were metal with a leather seat and a U-shaped wooden back that wrapped around as arm rests. Best interview chairs ever made and more sturdy than the wooden chairs. If you watch the old syndicated comedy, “Just Shoot Me”, they are the chairs that Jack Gallo, the character portrayed by George Segal had in his office across from his desk. Wish Ikea still carried them, great interview chairs.

It all comes down to personal preference but the seats you specify would be my nightmare for interviews. Cheap, light, straight-backed and semi comfortable are better for the camera. You don’t want talent to slouch, ever, looks terrible on camera. You wouldn’t want swivel, metal, height adjustable. You want simple, quiet and reliable.

Dan Brockett

A Producer Who Is Also A DP? Yep, that’s Me.

http://www.danbrockett.com

[Mark Suszko]

Dirt-simple sled chairs, no arms, adequate cloth padding, a low backrest that presses the lumbar area a little, for good posture. You want a chair that basically disappears once someone sits in it. You *might* want to have a padded apple box for a footrest available, for short-legged folks.

No chair height adjustment: compensate with the tripod or pedestal height to get the lens where it needs to be.

You can probably find one at Salvation Army, it needn’t be a thousand-dollar Herman Miller.

[Jason Jenkins]

[Mark Suszko] “Dirt-simple sled chairs, no arms, adequate cloth padding, a low backrest that presses the lumbar area a little, for good posture. You want a chair that basically disappears once someone sits in it.”

I’m with Mark on the ‘no arms’ thing. Some people will slump off to one side if you give them an arm rest.

Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!

[Dan Brockett]

I know the chairs you are talking about, yes they work really well also. They are stackable, heavy duty and just work.

Dan

A Producer Who Is Also A DP? Yep, that’s Me.

http://www.danbrockett.com

[David Johnson]

I have the same need, but have always had trouble finding anything suitable. Might anyone be able to provide a link to someplace that online that sells good chairs? For example, do you see anything you might recommend at either of these places?

https://www.office-chairs-discount.com
https://www.sit4less.com

I must have height adjustment so one issue has always been finding height adjustable without swivel. I know it’s best to adjust with the cam, but that’s just not possible in my situation … one-man band, often with prompter, a logo behind the people, and forced to start rolling as soon as people sit down because there are too many executives back-to-back in way too little time since 30 minutes of their time costs more than I make in a month; yet, everything is supposed to look and sound perfect every time for the same reason.