Great piece and great points! There's a craft to the artist interview that we're still trying to hone (our gold standard is probably Off Camera with Sam Jones, especially the ones with Dave Grohl, Michael B. Jordan and Laura Dern).
Like you mentioned, focusing on the material process almost always gets better answers. Also keeping questions short and open-ended, and allowing the person on the other end to monologue. Doing background research to add hyperspecific-to-this-subject questions into the mix can do wonders as well.
Adding to the list, some questions we like to ask (not necessarily all in one interview):
- What's your favorite story to tell from [the production, the studio, etc.]?
- When did [the film, your part of the production] start to click for the first time?
- Was there a point during the process where something really wasn't working, and you had to go back to the drawing board?
- Was there a key visual or sequence idea that you felt was critical to get right?
- What was it like seeing the finished cut for the first time?
For historical interviews, these guarantee revealing answers:
- What was the atmosphere like [in the studio, the industry, etc.] at the time?
- What was it like seeing your work on TV for the first time?
Thanks for bringing up this subject! It feels like there's a huge discussion that could be started from this.
Thank you, these are all great. Your interview with Tony White was a real joy to read—your ethos shone through. Hope you have more in the pipeline! Cheers for those specific Off Camera recs too. I'll give them a watch.
Excellent article Alex, and very useful. Having conducted close to a hundred onstage interviews at LIAF I feel blessed to have met so many of my heroes in the flesh. I generally find animators to be some of the most creative, talented and generous people around and mostly very happy to natter away about their craft, inspirations, working methods etc. I suspect this may be something to do with working for many months/years in isolation and/or dark cubby holes on their cherished projects and when they are then let out into the world of festivals with the chance to meet and greet their audiences they are only too happy to share their experiences.
Over the years I’ve realised that it really helps if you can catch up with your interviewee in advance for an informal chat beforehand - it generally adds to a more relaxed feeling onstage. And I definitely agree with you about keeping your questions relatively short to allow the animator to do the talking.
One other question I always like to ask in relation to the working process is about their working relationship with the sound designer and/or musicians. After all, we all know how vital sound is in film and probably more so in animation than in live-action filmmaking.
Thanks as ever for reading, Nag. I agree: interviewing filmmakers may be my favourite part of my job. Interesting what you say about meeting them beforehand, which makes sense for Q&As (although it isn't possible for interviews by phone/Zoom, which, for me, is most of them). Building a rapport is important, but I wonder whether there's also a risk (which someone mentioned elsewhere) that the pre-Q&A chat is really interesting and covers lots of ground, and when you try to recreate that conversation onstage, it feels stilted.
Good shout about sound & music, too. I loved hearing Andy Cowton speak about his work with Paul Bush in November. LIAF in general has hosted so many memorable talks and panels. I also loved doing the one with Atsushi Wada and Sarina Nihei back in the lockdown.
Honestly research beforehand is so important. Knowing the director's work, their style, thematic ramblings, previous filmography can really make the interview questions be elevated. It's weird to think of how personal these questions may get, but oftentimes creatives do put so much of themselves into their work that having someone ask about little details makes us happy to be perceived at that level :) This style of interview questioning reminds me of Nardwuar, the fantastic hip hop interviewer who does deep dives into the personal lives of artists. He perhaps get a little too personal, but having that recognition from someone who not only appreciates your art but can speak to you on it opens up so much more in the dialogue!
Thanks, Shay! Yeah, I love getting into the details. One thing I find hard is balancing specific Qs with broader questions to set out the context of the filmmaker's work, which the reader/audience may not be as familiar with. The setting is key: interviewing someone for a generalist newspaper is obviously not the same as doing so in front of industry pros at an animation festival. So I guess you need to know your audience as well as your interviewee.
This was a terrific article that drew me into several directions very deeply and simultaneously. That’s quite a movement to achieve. Thankyou. Now I’m trying to piece myself back together.
(I landed on your page while looking for the director of Red Turtle who I met at Animac years ago, what are the odds of another Dudok de Wit working in animation)
Great piece and great points! There's a craft to the artist interview that we're still trying to hone (our gold standard is probably Off Camera with Sam Jones, especially the ones with Dave Grohl, Michael B. Jordan and Laura Dern).
Like you mentioned, focusing on the material process almost always gets better answers. Also keeping questions short and open-ended, and allowing the person on the other end to monologue. Doing background research to add hyperspecific-to-this-subject questions into the mix can do wonders as well.
Adding to the list, some questions we like to ask (not necessarily all in one interview):
- What's your favorite story to tell from [the production, the studio, etc.]?
- When did [the film, your part of the production] start to click for the first time?
- Was there a point during the process where something really wasn't working, and you had to go back to the drawing board?
- Was there a key visual or sequence idea that you felt was critical to get right?
- What was it like seeing the finished cut for the first time?
For historical interviews, these guarantee revealing answers:
- What was the atmosphere like [in the studio, the industry, etc.] at the time?
- What was it like seeing your work on TV for the first time?
Thanks for bringing up this subject! It feels like there's a huge discussion that could be started from this.
Thank you, these are all great. Your interview with Tony White was a real joy to read—your ethos shone through. Hope you have more in the pipeline! Cheers for those specific Off Camera recs too. I'll give them a watch.
Excellent article Alex, and very useful. Having conducted close to a hundred onstage interviews at LIAF I feel blessed to have met so many of my heroes in the flesh. I generally find animators to be some of the most creative, talented and generous people around and mostly very happy to natter away about their craft, inspirations, working methods etc. I suspect this may be something to do with working for many months/years in isolation and/or dark cubby holes on their cherished projects and when they are then let out into the world of festivals with the chance to meet and greet their audiences they are only too happy to share their experiences.
Over the years I’ve realised that it really helps if you can catch up with your interviewee in advance for an informal chat beforehand - it generally adds to a more relaxed feeling onstage. And I definitely agree with you about keeping your questions relatively short to allow the animator to do the talking.
One other question I always like to ask in relation to the working process is about their working relationship with the sound designer and/or musicians. After all, we all know how vital sound is in film and probably more so in animation than in live-action filmmaking.
Thanks as ever for reading, Nag. I agree: interviewing filmmakers may be my favourite part of my job. Interesting what you say about meeting them beforehand, which makes sense for Q&As (although it isn't possible for interviews by phone/Zoom, which, for me, is most of them). Building a rapport is important, but I wonder whether there's also a risk (which someone mentioned elsewhere) that the pre-Q&A chat is really interesting and covers lots of ground, and when you try to recreate that conversation onstage, it feels stilted.
Good shout about sound & music, too. I loved hearing Andy Cowton speak about his work with Paul Bush in November. LIAF in general has hosted so many memorable talks and panels. I also loved doing the one with Atsushi Wada and Sarina Nihei back in the lockdown.
Honestly research beforehand is so important. Knowing the director's work, their style, thematic ramblings, previous filmography can really make the interview questions be elevated. It's weird to think of how personal these questions may get, but oftentimes creatives do put so much of themselves into their work that having someone ask about little details makes us happy to be perceived at that level :) This style of interview questioning reminds me of Nardwuar, the fantastic hip hop interviewer who does deep dives into the personal lives of artists. He perhaps get a little too personal, but having that recognition from someone who not only appreciates your art but can speak to you on it opens up so much more in the dialogue!
This was a great article! Keep it up!
Thanks, Shay! Yeah, I love getting into the details. One thing I find hard is balancing specific Qs with broader questions to set out the context of the filmmaker's work, which the reader/audience may not be as familiar with. The setting is key: interviewing someone for a generalist newspaper is obviously not the same as doing so in front of industry pros at an animation festival. So I guess you need to know your audience as well as your interviewee.
This was a terrific article that drew me into several directions very deeply and simultaneously. That’s quite a movement to achieve. Thankyou. Now I’m trying to piece myself back together.
A great read :)
(I landed on your page while looking for the director of Red Turtle who I met at Animac years ago, what are the odds of another Dudok de Wit working in animation)