Interviews & Talking Heads
Crafting the perfect Interviews and Talking Heads
Over the last 20 years we have filmed more than 1000 different interviews and talking heads across Scotland and beyond.
We have a relaxed and personable approach that helps put interviewees at ease and elicit natural responses. We combine this with beautiful, cinematic lighting and visuals, along with crisp clear audio. We can provide you with a full camera crew, a single videographer, or a camera operator and an interviewee.
Our in-house team is experienced with all different types of subject matter from hard hitting documentaries to promotional corporate films. On this page you will find some examples of previous interview-led films that we have produced, and some information about the equipment that we use whenever we film interviews and talking heads.
Audio
Sound is crucially important when recording interviews. At Mallard Productions we use a mixture of high quality broadcast microphones.
We have specialist super cardioid microphones like the Sennheiser MKH50-P48 and the MKH8050 that help to reduce unwanted echo in noisy rooms. For exterior locations we have a range of waterproof and wind resistant enclosed shotgun mics like the MKH416, and for versatility we have tie clip wireless mics that can be concealed out of view. We have an OFCOM license that allows us to operate on Channel 38 in the UK, and our latest Deity Theos mics allow us to record in 32 Bit Float whilst simultaneously transmitting back to the camera and mixer. Our camera packages include wireless microphones and a boom mic with a stand, but we can also bring along a dedicated sound operator and mixer. This is particularly useful for productions where your subject is moving, or you have multiple people in conversation.
Lighting
One of the most important factors to consider for interviews is lighting. Our small in house team of cinematographers always excel in this respect. We make sure that lighting is always balanced, motivated and designed to complement the interviewee.
We have large 5ft soft boxes that cast beautiful soft light over a subject, powerful direct spotlights that can replicate the effects of natural daylight, and small portable LED panels that are perfect for filming on location. Colour accuracy is extremely important, and lights like our Aputure LS 600 II have ≥95 CRI and ≥98 TLCI, producing incredible colour replication and skin tones. Some of our range can be used externally in the rain thanks to their IP54 weather protection status. We also have RGB lights for coloured backgrounds and plenty of gels and lighting modifiers for differing lighting set-ups. If you would like to achieve that cinematic haze effect then we can bring in our haze machine that allows us to reveal light shafts in interesting and unique ways.
Cameras
We have a huge range of industry standard cinema cameras from renown brands (Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Blackmagic) that produce beautifully accurate skin tones. Capable of resolutions up to 12K, with high dynamic ranges and large sensors, our cameras are on the Netflix approved list and have been used for high end commercials and feature films.
We typically pair our cameras with fast Canon cine primes, ND filters and occasionally matte boxes for more creative filters. We will often have a smaller and more portable second B-Camera that can be attached to a gimbal or steadicam for B-Roll, and can be used as a second angle for interviews. Because the B-Camera is usually from the same manufacturer, and often the same sensor, the two cameras will match perfectly in the edit. We can either shoot in a RAW LOG format or record with a burnt in LUT or picture profile such as Rec-709 or BT2020. If you require graded or ungraded rushes these can also be sent over to you.
Other Equipment
We can provide you with wireless low latency 4K monitors so that you can see what the camera operator is filming. Most of our monitors can also record, providing you with a Low Rez or proxy back-up file.
We have different teleprompters in house that are perfect for keeping the presenter or interviewee on track, or we can supply you with Eye Directs so that you can speak directly to your interviewees but keep them looking directly down the barrel of the lens.
We can also livestream interviews anywhere in the world using our portable LiveU, Teradek and Starlink systems. This means our camera team can set everything up and you can conduct the interview from the comfort of your own home.
