Typical Conventions of Documentaries
- A medium shot, medium close up or close up is generally used when filming an interview.
Below is an example of this in The Simpson's 20th anniversary show
.
It is also used in the Documentary of In The Teeth Of Jaws:
Also in these shots they consist of Looking space, this means that the Interviewee is framed more to one side of the camera shot than a more onlooking shot.
Framing follows the rule of thirds, as the eyeline is roughly a third of the way down the frame.
- The Interviewee looks directly at the interviewer and not into the camera
Positioning of interviewer is therefore important: If the Interviewee is on the right side of the frame then the Interviewer should be positioned on the left side of the camera and vise versa.
Mise-en-scene: background reinforces the content of the interview or is revevant to the intervieww, providing information about them in terms of occupation or personal environment.
Interviews never filmed with a ligh source behind them i.e. in front of a window or with the sund behind them; the light is always infront of them
- Questions are edited out
- Cutaways are edited into interviews for two reasons:
To break up interviews and illustrate what the interviewee is talking about and to avoid jump cuts when questions are edited out.
Cutaways are either:
Archive material, or suggested by something days in the interview and therefore filmed after the interview 
