What I learned from interviewing

After interviewing Lynn for my documentary I can look back and say that I have experienced one of the biggest learning experiences of my life. I came into the interview with a somewhat clear vision of what I wanted out of the documentary, but I didn't factor in the variable of what Lynn would give me. It was definitely partially my fault in the questioning, but even when asking questions that were seeking a response that would be beneficial to my finished product, he would give me something completely different. He was emotionally guarded in front of the camera most of the time and spent most of his effort talking about miniscule details of the work he had done. These details did reveal something about him, but not in the way that I wanted. I'm a fairly guarded person, so I should have seen it coming, but I think my romantic preconceptions of the finished product got in my way. Looking back, I should have spent more time with Lynn before hand so I could have conditioned him to talking more openly. He rarely talks about his feelings as it is, so it would naturally be more work getting him to say anything deep on camera. I also think that he had the idea that the piece was more about the house than him. Even though they do parallel each other, they needed to be balanced in the piece, and that didn't come through. I think another factor in my difficulties was that I was not fully confident in myself. There are a lot of demon that I still need to face when it comes to that side of the family, and that inadvertently interfered with my ability to fully create.

There were some positive things that I learned also. Letting Lynn continue talking after he answered my initial question yielded some really good material. It seemed to be the only way for him to sometimes drop his guard and talk about how he felt. Taking frequent smoke breaks and talking about completely off topic subjects also helped too. It just made him feel like less of a performer after and gave him a break from his guise. Letting him tell me what he wanted me to know also brought out a more genuine him, which was useful in the final edit.

The whole experience wasn't negative, but I feel like I learned more from those aspects. The whole process was exhausting, but when I finished, I felt as though I had really done something. It completely consumed me for two and a half weeks, and at the end, it was worth it. Through interviewing Lynn, I also learned a lot about my own strengths and weaknesses. I now know that I need to prepare even more and keep my self esteem up through the whole thing. As always, self doubt was a large obstacle the whole time. Altogether, I feel much closer to my art as my life after now. I brought them closer together than I ever had, and I think it payed off. I guess it will be more evident in the future.