Transitions in an interview

Ok, so Im editing an interview, and I have to make some cuts here and there.
Ive been thinking of maybe making transitions between some of the questions, because I saw this in an interview and though it looked a bit cool. It adds some dynamic to the very static interview which is filmed only in angle.
here is the interview I got the example of transitions from..
I know it has simply used the final cut template and I might have to do something about that?

But I am trying not to make it look cheep or amateur like at the same time.
I have made an intro, and I have some footage I could use in between if I were to make my own transition or something. One piece of footage I have is a river running (the interview has the river in the background so this is more of a close up)

Anyway I am looking for suggestions on how to go about it.. if anyone has experience with interviews like this. I watched a tutorial video saying wipe transitions should only be used when breaking up a story, but that is sort of what you're doing in an interview anyway when you're going from one topic to the next, right?

Let me know what you think.

Looking at this interview here it does not look too good. lol
Like I said, I would love to have some dynamic, I just dont know what to do.

Since I am using text kind of like they are doing on the bottom of the screen, could make that animated to come into the picture instead, but I will still have the jump cuts when I make a cut.

Too many transitions can make your video look very amateurish. However, there's no set rule as to when you use them. This is what makes the whole process creative.

This is just my opinion, but that interview is not executed well. So many things wrong with it, I don't really want to waste too much time critiquing it. You can definitely use it as an example of what not to do. Too many transitions, really bad audio, shaky camera, etc.

It would help us if you gave a specific example of what kind of interview you have and maybe post clips of the work you've already done. Without that, it's like trying to describe what you're painting and asking us if you need more color in the trees.

There are some basic rules to transition. Normally you're using them to show a passage of time in some way. Or as you put it, "break up the scene in some way", which is passage of time, since a single scene happens in one place at one time.

If you can't get your straight edit to look good, something is wrong. Never use filters, transitions, effects to cover up bad editing. If the edit can't stand on it's own, a transition won't automagically fix that.

The rule many of us tech in editing classes is, when you use a filter or transitions or effect ask yourself, "what necessary information does this give the audience about my story?" A question you should ask yourself about every cut you use in an edit, also.

Wipes should only be used if you are making Star Wars, otherwise avoided like the plague.

Never ever use them "cause its cool" or you end up with something like the example you gave. Which I feel is very amateurish, no professional polish. It is trying (in vain) to use a fancy transition in an attempt to fix an otherwise second rate production. Just my honest opinion.

BTW, I have a transition like this one free if you want to download it . But use it for something worthy, not an interview.

Thank for your reply.

It is an interview with a politician. It is a very small party and the video will be used as an advertisement. Its actually "the green party" which is why it is filmed outside in nature and I have some extra nature footage (not too much) as well as footage form a national meeting they had.

Yes I realize the interview I posted is not good in many ways, it was just the transitions I was looking into, but I agree it does not look too good.

So I guess Id like to spice it up a bit to not make it boring, even though the woman who's talking is really enthusiastic and stuff. I cant post it in here though. It will be 4-6 min long.

I got some new ideas just writing this as well.

And also if someone know about any cool transitions to download, please let me know.

benb, thanks for your reply.

I mean, I dont know how you feel about jump-cuts. Like I said this an interview from 1 camera and I make some cuts between the interviews to save time. I could have Posted questions on a solid colour to break it up, but I like it better on the bottom of the screen, like it's been done in the video I posed. I have some colors I have to use, and it just doesn't look too good when I have to use them on the full screen (too much, considering the color she is also wearing)

I made an alternative, posting the questions on footage of a river, and blurring the river so that the text shows better,, but I just think its a bit much..

thanks for your suggestions and I will take a look at your transitions anyway.

alven, I'd done work for the green party as well. Perhaps you can send me a private message and we can talk in more detail.

What's your delivery format? If you shot the interview in HD and you are delivering in Standard Def or the web you could always zoom in by just over 200% and then cut to shot fully zoomed out.

alven wrote: … and though it looked a bit cool. It adds some dynamic to the very static interview which is filmed only in angle.….

think for a second about the word 'transition' … = from here to there.

Your interview has no 'transition'.- it is - hopefully - structured by the questions. in many cases, such an interview can be re-arranged, instead of Q1,2,3, you can edit ti Q2,3,1 ....

Imagine that interview printed - would you add scribbled flowers, ornaments, doodles …?

so, instead making a static recording (next time, do better) 'dynamic', highlight the given structure!

add titles. " … about energy", "… about our future", "… about birds&bees" … whatever.

add 'noddy shots', those close-ups of the interviewer, nodding his head, furrow his brows, smiles, whatever to accent some statement. you can record 'noddy shots' (a cameraman taught me this word) hours before or days after the interview (ok, light .....).-

add a freeze, blur it and scroll a summary of following (!) answer.-

I would never add 'eye candy' to 'journalism'!
Giving an interview (its inherent) structure - yes.-

Another factor to keep in mind is your demographic. Who do you hope will be watching your interview? The interview you posted is for a fairly young crowd, TI's demographic is almost definitely younger than those interested in politics, green or otherwise. Camera movement is big with the MTV crowd, their interviews often have a lot going on visually as their target demographic have a short attention span. You'll notice in MTV interviews, often a lot of moving graphics & other distractions around the screen, along with the constant camera movement.

That being said, the interview you shared was unprofessional on so many levels, thus I suspect the cuts were introduced to remove some dead time, or sections that just didn't work. Also, since the camera man is moving around getting different perspectives, angles & types of shots, the cuts make it appear it's more than a 1 camera shoot. Kind of a pretend way of upping value. The transition they chose to segment those cuts is similar to the Picture Carousel that has become popular in many visuals now. It probably fit their sense of trying to make the thing look lively & raise interest levels in what is a rather boring non-revelatory interview.

The main thing is to have quality sound, work on that. It's an interview, we want to hear what people are talking about. Do your utmost on the set, & again in post to improve sound. While you're setting things up, maybe just chatting a bit, to relax everyone before you start, have your cameraman capture some of that, especially the "nodding" or reactionary listening shots our friend Karsten spoke of, these can be inserted in anywhere later, with your real dialog audio track which is not recorded from the camera mic so as to be changing in levels with each direction we shoot from. Boom or Lav mic them. With enough of the insert footage, from different angles, when we cut back to our other subject it can be from a different angle too. This way, the dialog keeps rolling in the track, & we use listening shots, reaction shots, smiling shots, all as transitions between our various angles, making it look like a multicam shoot.

For politics, clean cuts are probably the most conventional & safest bet. If you go too weird or artistic on this you will disengage your demographic. A little bit of art could be effective, but keep it subtle.

Take lessons from the interview you posted, quality well researched questions are essential to match the quality sound you're aiming for, if the camera movement method is used, it still must be smooth & stable. The downward angle is unacceptable.

Thank you for your replies! I enjoyed reading all your inputs, and I took your advice on having no transitions. I am really happy about that, because today I had a meeting where I showed the party my interview, and they were really happy with it, only positive remarks!

I am still pretty new at this, so I guess I'm a bit all over the place, but I am taking my time to make it work, and advice is highly appreciated, so Thanks for your input.