Question Types :
Open – This type of question cannot be answered with the straight forward 'yes or no'. Open questions aim to find out a lot of information.
Closed – This type of question has to be answered with either 'yes or no' but sometimes the question can be ignored and the interviewee may choose to answer as an open question to avoid answering with a simple 'yes or no'.
Single – Usually questions that ask about one particular subject, these questions can be used along side of a closed question.
Multiple – This type of question can have more than one part to it and the interviewer will ask multiple questions at once.
Direct – This is used to get certain information from the interviewee. The question can be very specific and can sometimes be an open or closed question.
Closed – This type of question has to be answered with either 'yes or no' but sometimes the question can be ignored and the interviewee may choose to answer as an open question to avoid answering with a simple 'yes or no'.
Single – Usually questions that ask about one particular subject, these questions can be used along side of a closed question.
Multiple – This type of question can have more than one part to it and the interviewer will ask multiple questions at once.
Direct – This is used to get certain information from the interviewee. The question can be very specific and can sometimes be an open or closed question.
Interview Styling:
Hard News – With hard news interviews the questions are more serious and are formal to get a literate opinion. These interviews are done mainly for informative purposes.
Promotional – This type of interview is mainly used on chat shows, interviewing celebrities who want to promote a product of theirs, for example, a film, book or song etc. The questions used are quite light hearted and primarily based upon the product they are trying to promote to the audience.
Investigative – This style is used to find and gather further information on a certain subject. Usually interviewing Celebrities, Politicians or important people that know information that can't be gathered otherwise. The questions tend to be closed so the interviewer can get a straight and direct answer which aims to find the truth.
Light Hearted – Typically not a serious interview. The questions are quite casual and possibly informal. Chat shows like to use this style of interviews because it makes the interviewee more comfortable and allows them to joke around.
Combative – This type of interview tends to be quite opinionated, the interviewer will ask biased questions so they only get an unfair opinion and answer.
Entertainment - Almost like Light hearted but more for the purpose of audience entertainment. The interviewers can have fun and interact with one another.
Promotional – This type of interview is mainly used on chat shows, interviewing celebrities who want to promote a product of theirs, for example, a film, book or song etc. The questions used are quite light hearted and primarily based upon the product they are trying to promote to the audience.
Investigative – This style is used to find and gather further information on a certain subject. Usually interviewing Celebrities, Politicians or important people that know information that can't be gathered otherwise. The questions tend to be closed so the interviewer can get a straight and direct answer which aims to find the truth.
Light Hearted – Typically not a serious interview. The questions are quite casual and possibly informal. Chat shows like to use this style of interviews because it makes the interviewee more comfortable and allows them to joke around.
Combative – This type of interview tends to be quite opinionated, the interviewer will ask biased questions so they only get an unfair opinion and answer.
Entertainment - Almost like Light hearted but more for the purpose of audience entertainment. The interviewers can have fun and interact with one another.
Analysing Interviews:
The purpose of an interview is to gather information about topics and to find further information they the interviewer didn’t already know. Interviews can be done and found in many different forms and contexts for example, Television, Radio, Online, Newspapers and magazines.
Entertainment Interview-
The interview style is light hearted/ entertainment because the interview is on a late-night comedy chat show, the interviewees can be quite casual as the interview isn’t serious and formal. Light hearted/ entertainment interviews tend to be on chat shows as it allows to celebrities to joke around and have fun with the interviewer. This interview also shows this style because there is a live audience watching the interviews.
Most of the questions that the interviewer asks are open questions because they are trying to gather more information than just a simple ‘yes or no’. Some of the questions are also single questions because the questions are based upon one subject which was directing and doing different voices for his characters.
The structure of this interview allows the guests to talk to other guests on the show and join in with conversations. The celebrities get to listen, talk and interact with each other. The chat show has a friendly approach and everyone is included.
The communication skills were quite casual and informal, the interviewer and interviewee could joke around and have fun while doing the interview, their body language was very casual as the show and interview were quite relaxed and for audience entertainment. As it is an informal interview it allows the audience to engage and connect a bit more with the celebrities being interviewed because we get to see them in their true light being themselves. The entertainment style interview is the best way to connect with the audience on an emotional level.
Most of the questions that the interviewer asks are open questions because they are trying to gather more information than just a simple ‘yes or no’. Some of the questions are also single questions because the questions are based upon one subject which was directing and doing different voices for his characters.
The structure of this interview allows the guests to talk to other guests on the show and join in with conversations. The celebrities get to listen, talk and interact with each other. The chat show has a friendly approach and everyone is included.
The communication skills were quite casual and informal, the interviewer and interviewee could joke around and have fun while doing the interview, their body language was very casual as the show and interview were quite relaxed and for audience entertainment. As it is an informal interview it allows the audience to engage and connect a bit more with the celebrities being interviewed because we get to see them in their true light being themselves. The entertainment style interview is the best way to connect with the audience on an emotional level.
Promotional/Investigative Interview-
The interview style is Promotional and investigative because the interview is about the new Finding Dory film, Ellen Degeneres agreed to do the interview to promote the film of which she has the main role. The purpose of promotional interviews is to tell the audience about the film and to try to persuade them to watch it.
In this interview the questions asked were open because the interviewer was trying to gather more information on Ellen DeGeneres’s new film she is starring in called ‘Finding Dory’. The questions aimed to get answers about the film’s characters, how the film came about, the emotions the film creates and what people think about the film. Some of the questions that are asked are not about the film but relate to Ellen in a personal way, for example the recent shootings in Orlando’s gay nightclub which Ellen states she thinks is due to homophobia. This relates to Ellen personally because she is gay and understands that homophobia is still an issue today. With this being said about homophobia, in Finding Dory there does appear to be a gay couple and there was public controversy and hate about there being a gay couple in a children’s film. As the interview goes on we see that the questions are not just about Finding Dory, they ask questions on recent events like the elections in America between Trump and Hillary and talk about Ellen’s chat show which is popular all over the world and recently been airing on British Television.
The structure of this interview starts off with the interviewer asking questions about the film and then the interview cuts to show us small scenes of the film being promoted but we can still hear them talking about the film over the top of the scenes. Then they talk about Politics in America and the interviewer understands that Ellen is a big supporter of Hillary. They cut to a clip from Ellen’s chat show of her interviewing Hillary Clinton and then cutting back to asked Ellen questions about Hillary and why she would make a difference. Towards the end of the interview they talk about the recent attacks in America and Ellen’s thoughts on it.
The communication is very formal and we can see this in the body language, the interviewer and interviewee are both sitting up straight with their legs crossed showing that this is quite a serious interview.
In this interview the questions asked were open because the interviewer was trying to gather more information on Ellen DeGeneres’s new film she is starring in called ‘Finding Dory’. The questions aimed to get answers about the film’s characters, how the film came about, the emotions the film creates and what people think about the film. Some of the questions that are asked are not about the film but relate to Ellen in a personal way, for example the recent shootings in Orlando’s gay nightclub which Ellen states she thinks is due to homophobia. This relates to Ellen personally because she is gay and understands that homophobia is still an issue today. With this being said about homophobia, in Finding Dory there does appear to be a gay couple and there was public controversy and hate about there being a gay couple in a children’s film. As the interview goes on we see that the questions are not just about Finding Dory, they ask questions on recent events like the elections in America between Trump and Hillary and talk about Ellen’s chat show which is popular all over the world and recently been airing on British Television.
The structure of this interview starts off with the interviewer asking questions about the film and then the interview cuts to show us small scenes of the film being promoted but we can still hear them talking about the film over the top of the scenes. Then they talk about Politics in America and the interviewer understands that Ellen is a big supporter of Hillary. They cut to a clip from Ellen’s chat show of her interviewing Hillary Clinton and then cutting back to asked Ellen questions about Hillary and why she would make a difference. Towards the end of the interview they talk about the recent attacks in America and Ellen’s thoughts on it.
The communication is very formal and we can see this in the body language, the interviewer and interviewee are both sitting up straight with their legs crossed showing that this is quite a serious interview.
Light Hearted Interview-
This interview style is light hearted/ uplifting/ human interest story about one brother giving up his chance of winning a race to help his brother finish. Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby interview the Brownlee brothers behind an inspirational story.
Most of the questions asked we open because the interviewers were trying to gather more information on the inspiration clip of the Brothers helping each other by getting their side of the story and to know why he did what he did to help his brother. The answers to these questions were in depth and gave the whole story behind the clip. His brother was suffering from heat exhaustion and close to winning the race so he took it upon himself to help him finish and in the end made it to 2nd place.
The structure of this interview is the interviewers talking directly to the brothers asking them questions about the race. Before they start the interview, they showed that clip that they were about to be talking about and then after the clip finishes they begin asking the Brothers questions on the event.
The communication was quite formal, they asked formal questions and their body language also suggested it was a formal interview. The interviewers were actively listing to what the Brownlee brothers had to say.
Most of the questions asked we open because the interviewers were trying to gather more information on the inspiration clip of the Brothers helping each other by getting their side of the story and to know why he did what he did to help his brother. The answers to these questions were in depth and gave the whole story behind the clip. His brother was suffering from heat exhaustion and close to winning the race so he took it upon himself to help him finish and in the end made it to 2nd place.
The structure of this interview is the interviewers talking directly to the brothers asking them questions about the race. Before they start the interview, they showed that clip that they were about to be talking about and then after the clip finishes they begin asking the Brothers questions on the event.
The communication was quite formal, they asked formal questions and their body language also suggested it was a formal interview. The interviewers were actively listing to what the Brownlee brothers had to say.
Hard News/Investigative Interview-
This interview style is hard news, investigative and combative. In this interview, we see Jeremy Paxman asking Michael Howard the same question repeatedly twelve times and still never got the answer he was looking for. This interview happens to be one of the most famous political interviews in recent years. The interviewer aimed to get a certain piece of information from Michael Howard which made this interview style mainly investigative and combative.
The interviewer asked the same question repeatedly “Did you threaten to overrule him?”. This was a direct and closed question as Jeremy Paxman wanted a simple ‘yes or no’ answer but this was avoided by him answering with multiple open answers and not giving a simple answer. Michael Howard did this because he didn’t want to tell the truth.
The structure of this interview is very forceful and direct. The interviewer was determined to get an answer so he forced the question upon him many times. There was only one key question throughout the whole interview which was avoided every single time. When asking the question and getting the wrong response the camera kept cutting from person to person, for example the interviewer asking the question and the interviewee giving the answer.
The communication skills were formal but after asking the question multiple times Jeremy Paxman leaned forward and apologised that he was going to be rude and told Michael Howard that it was a “Straight yes or no answer”. At this point you could tell that the interviewer was getting quite annoyed as he wasn’t getting an answer.
The interviewer asked the same question repeatedly “Did you threaten to overrule him?”. This was a direct and closed question as Jeremy Paxman wanted a simple ‘yes or no’ answer but this was avoided by him answering with multiple open answers and not giving a simple answer. Michael Howard did this because he didn’t want to tell the truth.
The structure of this interview is very forceful and direct. The interviewer was determined to get an answer so he forced the question upon him many times. There was only one key question throughout the whole interview which was avoided every single time. When asking the question and getting the wrong response the camera kept cutting from person to person, for example the interviewer asking the question and the interviewee giving the answer.
The communication skills were formal but after asking the question multiple times Jeremy Paxman leaned forward and apologised that he was going to be rude and told Michael Howard that it was a “Straight yes or no answer”. At this point you could tell that the interviewer was getting quite annoyed as he wasn’t getting an answer.