This page contains advice on conducting interviews, copyright issues and the equipment we use.

Copyright:

We follow strict copyright guidelines. The following text is an example of the wording we use on the copyright form we ask all interviewees to sign. This form gives us the right to use the recorded interviews for non-commercial purposes, (i.e. educational and research purposes). It is just an example and to be sure of your legal responsibilities you should seek legal advice.

Conducting an interview

It must be acknowledged that Recording the Crafts' approach to interviewing is just one approach and there are many other models that you could follow. The advice is basic but contains many of the most important issues to keep in mind.

Before you conduct your own oral history interview, it is worth addressing some of the criticisms of it. Interviewees are often asked about events years after they happened, people tell a story in a way that reflects well on them and they have a tendency to telescope events together. However, all of these criticisms equally apply to biographies, autobiographies, newspapers and most other forms of evidence relied upon by historians.

When you listen to the recordings on this site or ones you make yourself, you may ask, how can we substantiate that story? 'We've only got his word for that', or 'why should we believe one person's view? The answer is that oral testimony is one tool to be used alongside others. Paul Thompson states the oral historian's case most clearly in his book 'The Voice of the Past (Oral History)':

'History, in short, is not just about events, or structures, or patterns of behaviour, but also about how these are experienced and remembered in the imagination'.

What is important about oral history is that it gives voice to the individual who experienced the history we are looking at: whether it is yesterday or fifty years ago.

Interview techniques:

The following are just pointers to help you if you are unfamiliar with conducting interviews.

Say as little as possible
The single most important thing to remember is that no one wants to hear the interviewer: say as little as possible.

Don't ask 'yes, no' questions
Ask open ended questions such as 'when did you open your gallery?' and 'what is your business strategy?' These sort of questions cannot be answered by a 'yes' or 'no' and should therefore elicit a more fruitful response than, 'do you enjoy running a gallery' and 'do you intend to expand your business?'. If you begin a question with 'what', 'when ' or 'why' you can be sure you won't get 'yes' 'no' responses.

Don't ask leading questions
A major criticism of oral history interviewing is that the interviewer puts words in to the mouth of the interviewee. Don't say, 'so you opened your gallery in 1955, tell me about it'. You should say, 'when did you open your gallery and tell me what you remember of the first day's trading?'.

Don't worry too much about your list of questions
Be prepared and have a list of questions that you want to ask or issues you want to raise but don't let them rule the interview. If an interesting area comes up then pursue that: you can always return to your questions later.

Be realistic
Don't try to fit an interviewee's life story in to an interview unless you have plenty of time. Usually you will not be paying the interviewee and you are therefore relying on their goodwill and it is unfair to take up too much of their time. Concentrate on one particular area of interest and cover that properly.

Don't worry about silences
Give the interviewee time to think when you have asked a question. Don't jump in with a comment or further question until you are sure the interviewee has finished. Often a silence will be filled by the interviewee so don't be too eager to fill it yourself.

Ask yourself 'why'?
Always ask yourself, 'why am I interviewing this person?'. Don't just randomly interview people, choose them for a reason that adds something to your research.

Choose your subject carefully
When you choose an interviewee, make sure they are happy to be recorded and are comfortable. Some interviewees 'clam up' when the tape rolls and the interview is subsequently of little use.

Choose a medium you are happy with
Don't try to video an interview if you are unfamiliar with the technology. Use audio instead (and vice versa).

Make sure the sound quality is as good as you can get
Viewers can put up with a blurred image or poor camera work but poor sound is more problematic. Make sure you use a good quality microphone and check the sound levels as you begin recording.

Bring a friend to help
Rather than try to conduct the interview and record it, ask a reliable friend to come along and do the filming or work the audio recorder. It is much better to have to concentrate on one thing at a time, so get help if you can.

Some useful sources relating to oral history:

Bornat, Joanna, (ed.), Reminiscence Reviewed: Perspectives, Evaluations, Achievements, Buckingham, Open University Press, 1994.

Evans, George Ewart, Spoken History, London, Faber, 1987.

Grele, Ronald (ed.), Envelopes of Sound: The Art of Oral History, Chicago, Precedent, second edition 1985.

Lummis, Trevor, Listening to History: The Authenticity of Oral Evidence, London, Hutchinson, 1987.

Mishler, Elliot, G. Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative. Harvard University Press 1986.

Mishler Elliot G. Storylines : Craftsartists' Narrative of Identity. Harvard 1999.

Samuel, Raphael and Thompson, Paul (eds), The Myths We Live By, London, Routledge, 1990.

Silverman, David. Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction. Sage Publications,1993

Silverman, David (ed.) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice. Sage 1997.

Thomspon, Paul. The Voice of the Past (Oral History), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988 (second edition).

Tonkin, Elizabeth, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Vansina, Jan, Oral Tradition: A Study in Historical Methodology, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965.

Yow, Valerie Raleigh. Recording Oral History (a practical guide for social scientists), Sage Publications, London, 1994.

http://www.indiana.edu/~cshm/
An oral history technique site from Indiana State University, USA, which gives an insight in to one organisation's approach to interviewing.

Recording the Crafts Filming Equipment

We use the following equipment routinely to generate video material for the archive:

• DVC Pro 750 camcorder (Panasonic).
• SQN 2s stereo mini-mixer.
• Mic kit including, 2x Sony ECM 750 lapel microphones, Sennheiser 461 (short) gun microphone.
• Quikpole 450 microphone boom pole, 'Boom Buddy' pole holder and light stand.
• Vinten pro 130 tripod.
• 3 Strand 'Redhead' 800w lights with optional dichroic daylight conversion filters, tough spun diffuser.
• Panasonic 14" field monitor.
• Power extension cables.
• We record on Panasonic DVC Pro tape, (33 minutes is the maximum length of each tape).

We use the DVC Pro tape format because it was the best we can afford at this time. The tape is very reliable and the compression ratio is half that of Mini DV which means less information is lost during the recording process. We have used Beta SP for some of our earlier recordings. DVC Pro is of equal quality to this former `broadcast format` but has the advantage of digital error correction.

The recording crew includes a camera operator and a sound recordist who continuously monitors sound through the mini-mixer. This reflects best professional practise. Each operative can then pay maximum attention to their job.

We always use the best quality microphones available, because cheap microphones (less than £150 per) don't give the full range of voice frequencies. We have tried out two basic methods for sound recording. The simplest is to use lapel mics on both the interviewee and interviewer and record each separately onto left and right stereo channels. We have also tried using the gun mic placed out of shot above and in front of the interviewee held on a boom pole, supported by the Boom Buddy on a stand. This gives superb and realistic sound quality without the possibility of clothing rustle. It does however cause conflict between the sound recordist and camera operator because the mic shadow restricts composition of pictures. We have abandoned this approach recently because the former method works very well. We use the gun mic for less formal or mobile interviews. We have two good quality radio mic kits which we use if the interviewee is engaged in a task in which they need to move about.

The lighting kit enables us to create 3 point lighting for any scene and is essential for good pictures. The daylight conversion filters allow us to use available light where appropriate. We carry tough spun diffuser which is clipped to the barndoors of the lights if we want to soften the light or reduce its intensity in a confined space.

We always carry a field monitor in order to check picture quality and composition. This also allows the director to check what is being recorded.

(This equipment section was written by Bob Prince, Recording the Crafts' lighting cameraman).