Video and TV interviews: studio, field and remote
Studio, field and remote video: where to look, what to wear, how to set up a video call from home, and how to stay ready until you are told you are clear.
Start here Essentials
At minimum, find out where and how the interview will be recorded, set up your camera and clothes for that setting, and watch one recorded answer before the real one. Everything marked Go deeper can wait.
- Ask the producer whether the interview is live or taped, and whether you will be in a studio, in the field or on a video call (confirm the setting).
- Decide where to look: at the interviewer in person or in a studio, into the camera lens on a video call (where to look).
- For a video call, put the camera at eye level with light in front of you and a plain background, then test the link (setting up from home).
- Pick a solid mid-tone top with no fine pattern, after you ask what the studio wants (what to wear).
- Record one answer on your phone camera and watch it, then plan to stay in place until someone says you are clear (practice).
Minimum time: about 30 minutes. Done when: the video checklist is complete and one recorded answer has been reviewed for framing, light and sound.
1. Confirm the setting and the format Understand
Television and video interviews differ from print and radio in one way that matters for preparation: the viewer sees you, your room and your reactions, and hears you once. Three questions settle most of what you need to do, and you can ask all three in the first reply to the producer. A producer is the person at the station or outlet who plans the segment and arranges guests; at some outlets a booker does the scheduling and a producer runs the segment. Either can answer these.
The first question is whether the interview is live, live-to-tape or taped. CDC's spokesperson chapter tells you to find out which it is (CDC, CERC: Spokesperson). In this manual, live means the viewer sees it as you say it. Taped means it is recorded and edited or aired later. Live-to-tape means it is recorded in one pass as if it were live; ask the producer whether anything will be cut. SciLine's guidance on TV interviews makes the same point for taped interviews: ask whether a recording will be edited, because a prerecorded interview can be cut into short clips inside a larger story or aired whole. Ask the authority
The second question is where you will be. In a studio interview you go to the station or a rented set. In a field interview a reporter and camera operator come to you, or meet you at a location such as a lake shore or a shop. In a remote interview you sit at home or at work and the station sees you through a video call or a camera it sends. The third question is who is in the room with you and who you will hear: the host alone, a producer in your ear, a second guest on screen.
| Setting | Where you look | What you control | What you ask first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio, live or taped | At the interviewer, unless the producer says otherwise | Your clothes, your answers, your stillness | What to wear, whether there is a green screen, whether you will have an earpiece |
| Field, with a reporter and camera | At the reporter, unless the camera operator says otherwise | Your clothes, where you stand, your answers | Where it will be shot, how long it takes, whether you will be asked to do something on camera |
| Remote, over a video call or a station camera | Into the camera lens when you answer | Your camera, light, background, sound and connection, as well as your clothes | Which app, a tech check time, and who to call if the link drops |
What to ask the producer
Add these to the request sheet from Before you say yes. Each takes one line to ask.
- Live, live-to-tape or taped? If taped, ask whether it will be edited and whether you may start an answer again.
- Studio, field or remote? If the station gives you the choice, ask which it prefers. Lena Ostrowski's producer, below, did.
- How long, and who else is on? CDC advises knowing the format and length, setting a clear end time, and asking who else is being interviewed.
- How will you be introduced, and what will the screen say? The name and title that appear on screen are called the chyron. A former TV producer advises asking how you will be introduced and checking the spelling of your name and title (Throughline Group, five ways to ace your media pre-interview). The same source says a producer's pre-interview, a short call to hear how you talk, is often an audition, and that a strong comment may be passed to the host to ask about on air.
- What should you wear, and is a green screen used? The producer or the studio's guest instructions settle this before any advice in this chapter does.
- For a remote interview, which app, and when is the tech check? Ask for a time before the live hit, and a phone number to call if the connection drops.
Answers for television
The answer rules from Practice answers apply, and television raises the cost of ignoring them. SciLine advises speaking in self-contained soundbites of one or two sentences that do not refer back to earlier answers, and repeating the gist of the question at the start of an answer, which makes the quote usable and buys thinking time. It also notes that TV news segments are often under two minutes, so expect to be featured for a sentence or two. A soundbite is the short stretch of your speech that the outlet uses. Convention
On length, the University of Florida's extension guide keeps answers for recorded TV or radio to 20 seconds or less (University of Florida IFAS, Media Interview Skills). That is one university's rule of thumb, not a standard. Use the answer timer to see how long your own answer runs at your own speaking rate, and compare it with the 20-second line. Preference
Pausing is fine, even live (SciLine). In a taped interview you can ask to start an answer again; the reporter does not have to discard the first take, but usually wants the best version. In a live interview you cannot restart, so correct yourself on the spot: say "let me correct that" and give the right figure in the next sentence. CDC gives the same two instructions, to ask to redo an answer in a taped interview and to correct a misstatement quickly in a live one.
Advice on appearance, framing and eye line is convention. The sources in this chapter are university guides, one agency chapter from 2014 and a studio operator, and they differ with one another on clothes. The studio's or producer's instructions come first every time. This chapter does not teach you to build a home studio or to produce video, and it does not settle what the outlet cuts, how it frames you or what the host asks. The producer settles those.
2. Where to look and how to sit
The question of where to look has two answers, and the setting decides which applies. In person or in a studio, look at the interviewer. CDC's chapter says to look at the reporter, not the camera, unless you are directed otherwise, and the University of Florida guide says the same for in-person TV. On a remote call, the University of Florida guide, SciLine and Bangor University's guidance all say to look at the camera. Bangor's phrase is to look "right down the barrel of the lens"; it adds that glancing away can look shifty, so it suggests practicing the eye contact. Convention
| Setting | While the interviewer asks | While you answer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| In person or in a studio | At the interviewer | At the interviewer, unless directed otherwise | CDC; University of Florida IFAS |
| Remote video call | Your choice; see the next paragraph | Into the camera lens | SciLine; Bangor University; University of Florida IFAS; UBC |
While the host is talking on a remote call, the sources differ in detail. The UBC guide, from a health research centre, suggests looking at the interviewer on screen while they talk and into the camera when you answer (UBC Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, remote video interviews). The other sources speak only to answering. Pick one in rehearsal and keep it. When you are on live television with an earpiece, the host may not be on your screen, and the lens may be the only place to look.
Sitting, hands and the monitor
SciLine's advice for TV is to keep your hands out of view and your head still. CDC advises asking for a chair that does not swivel and not watching yourself on the monitor, because looking at your own image pulls your eyes off the interviewer. The UBC guide recommends an upright chair, not a couch, and SciLine recommends a position you can hold for half an hour, because you may wait on camera before your question comes. Sit forward enough that your back does not touch the chair, and let your hands rest where the frame does not show them. Preference
Delay on a remote link
A video link adds delay, and Bangor's guidance says it makes people talk over each other. Its advice is to pause briefly before you answer. SciLine's note that pausing is fine, even live, applies here. Treat the pause as part of the answer: take a breath, repeat the gist of the question, then give your sentence.
Notes on camera: the sources differ
Our default is a card with your three words behind or beside the camera, glanced at rarely. The sources split on notes. SciLine advises having your three points in front of you during an interview. The UBC guide suggests a key-message cheat sheet on a surface behind the camera. Bangor University advises avoiding notes or crib sheets, because you will look at them, lose eye contact and may sound scripted. CDC says notes are fine on radio but that paper rustles. The reconciliation this manual uses is by format: notes help on the phone and on radio, and on video they work only if they sit at camera height so your eyes stay near the lens. If you read, viewers see it.
Field interviews and B-roll
In a field interview the crew often shoots B-roll, extra footage of you, your work or your surroundings that plays over the narration. Producers may ask a guest to do something on tape, such as turn pages or show an object, to get sound or picture; an NPR trainer describes this for audio (NPR Training, reporting audio interviews and scenes). Say yes or no to a shot of you at work as you would to any request, and ask what it will show before it happens. This manual found no source that says how outlets choose B-roll, so treat the pattern as common rather than universal.
3. Setting up a video call from home
If you are in a studio or a field interview, the crew handles camera and light; skip to what to wear. On a remote interview you are the crew. The steps below are this manual's single default, built from SciLine, the UBC guide and Bangor University, and each line is a row of the video checklist on the setup checklists page.
- Raise the camera to eye level. Stack books under a laptop. All three sources give this advice; SciLine adds to make eye contact with the camera. Convention
- Put the light in front of you. SciLine advises facing a window or placing a light behind the computer. The UBC guide warns that backlight turns you into a silhouette and advises against sitting right next to a window; it suggests a lamp near your face. Bangor says not to sit too close to a window and suggests turning side-on for softer light. Face the light and test it. Test it
- Choose a plain real background. Bangor advises a plain, uncluttered background tested on camera. SciLine advises a simple background and says virtual or blurred backgrounds can lower video and audio quality. Take down anything the viewer might read, such as a calendar or mail.
- Frame head and shoulders with room for the chyron. SciLine advises leaving room under your chin for the name graphic and some above your head. The UBC guide asks for your full head and the tops of your shoulders in frame.
- Plug in and use HD if the link allows. The UBC guide advises plugging in the laptop and checking the connection. SciLine advises HD video if bandwidth allows.
- Silence interruptions. The UBC guide advises silencing your phone, including vibration, and turning off computer notifications. It notes that muting the computer would silence the interviewer too, so turn notifications off rather than the sound.
- Test sound with earbuds. The UBC guide says in-ear headphones help you hear and over-ear headphones look strange on video. Ask the producer what the station prefers.
- Run the tech check. Join the producer's test call, or record yourself on the same app. Look at the result with the sound on.
Tick the matching lines on the video sheet as you go. A recorded test answer, which the practice section asks for, is the only check that shows you what a viewer sees.
Earbuds or over-ear headphones
The UBC guide prefers in-ear headphones on camera. NPR's producer checklist for radio guests prefers listening on over-ear headphones when possible, because the goal is sound, not picture (NPR Training, catch audio problems in radio interviews). The two sources are written for different formats. For video, use what the producer asks for; if the producer has no preference, use earbuds so the viewer can see your ears and the cable does not cross the frame.
4. What to wear
Start with the studio's guest instructions; if there are none, ask the producer. The default in this manual, built from the sources that agree, is a solid mid-tone top, no fine patterns, no large areas of pure white or pure black, and a top that takes a clip-on microphone. A lavalier is the small clip-on microphone used on a collar or lapel; Ohio University's guidance suggests a lapel, collar or button-up shirt so it has somewhere to clip, and notes that necklaces can rub on it. Convention
- No fine stripes, small checks, houndstooth or tight plaids. Ohio University and the University of Florida name the effect, moiré: fine patterns can shimmer or crawl on camera. The University of Florida guide says tight stripes or plaids cause it and advises mid-tones. CDC's 2014 chapter says the camera makes patterned suits, stripes and checks look wavy.
- Solid colors with some contrast. The University of Toronto Mississauga advises solid colors such as blue and pastels, with some contrast, for example a grey blazer over a blue shirt, in light cotton.
- Little jewelry that moves or rings. Toronto advises against large or jingling jewelry; Ohio notes that necklaces can rub on a lavalier.
- Ask about a green screen. A green screen or virtual set replaces green with picture. The University of Nebraska Medical Center's studio guidance says to avoid all green in front of one, including olive, moss or khaki, and to avoid white because light from the screen tints it green (UNMC, green screen guide). That advice applies when a green screen is in use. Ask the producer; do not guess.
- Do not wear a lab coat or medical clothes unless your work calls for it. CDC gives this advice to spokespeople. If you are a scientist, ask the producer whether they want you in your usual field or lab clothes.
Choose the outfit the day before and record your test answer in it. A top that looks fine in a mirror may shimmer on a phone camera. Test it
Where the sources disagree on clothes
The sources are guidance from institutions, not measurements, and they differ. The table lists what each says on the questions where they part.
| Source | White and black | Red and saturated colors | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDC, CERC: Spokesperson (2014) | Says white shirts are the most conservative choice for men | Says to wear neutral colors and that most set backdrops are blue or purple, so a contrasting scarf helps | Not addressed |
| Ohio University (2026) | Avoid large areas of black or white, such as a white shirt without a jacket | Avoid red and other highly saturated colors; pastels, earth tones, blues and greens work well | Names greens as a color that works |
| University of Toronto Mississauga | Avoid pure white and black | Avoid red and brights such as hot pink, orange, yellow, purple | Not addressed |
| UTSA | Avoid all white and all black | Avoid prominent red | Advises avoiding green in general |
| UNC Health and School of Medicine | Says black and white look dull on camera and notes a long-running debate about men's white shirts | Recommends jewel tones, including blue, green, red, purple and orange | Lists green among jewel tones |
| University of Nebraska Medical Center | Avoid white in front of a green screen unless mostly covered | Not addressed | Avoid all green in front of a green screen |
The university pages (Ohio University, University of Toronto Mississauga, UTSA, UNC Health) are newer than CDC's 2014 chapter, and three of them advise against large areas of pure white or black. UNC's jewel tones and Ohio's list of colors that work contradict UTSA and Toronto on red and green. The sources agree that green is a problem in front of a green screen; whether it matters otherwise is the studio's call. Our default of solid mid-tones sits inside every source's advice except CDC's white-shirt line; the studio's instruction settles the rest. The moiré explanation rests on two university pages; this manual found no broadcast-engineering source for the mechanism, so it says only that fine patterns can shimmer on camera.
5. The earpiece, live microphones and staying ready
In a studio or a live remote hit you may wear an earpiece called an IFB (interruptible foldback). It is a one-way feed that carries the program audio and, when the director or producer speaks, their cues over it (Clear-Com, interruptible foldback). That means you may hear the anchor, a count-in or an instruction from a person you cannot see. Two habits help: do not react to a voice that is not the host's, and wait for the question to finish before you answer. CDC advises making sure the earphone fits and knowing what to do if it falls out. Ask the producer ahead what they want in that case, and write the answer on the day-of sheet. This manual found no source that says what the right response is, so the producer's instruction is the one to follow.
Treat every microphone and camera as on from the moment you are connected or seated until someone says you are clear. SciLine, CDC and Bangor University agree on this. CDC's chapter says the interview is not over until the reporter and all equipment have left. Do not say anything about the host, the station or the story that you would not say on air, and do not adjust your clothes or your hair as if no one could see.
Stay ready until you are clear
Bangor's guidance says that once you are connected, you should assume you are on air, and that the interview is not over until someone says you are clear or the call ends. The practical rule: after your last answer, stay still, keep your face neutral and keep looking where you were looking until the producer or host tells you that you are clear. A camera may hold on you while the host reads the next item, and the station may cut to B-roll and back. Reach for your notes or your water only after you are told you are clear.
After the interview
Two things can still happen after the last question. A host may ask a casual follow-up while the cameras are cooling down, and a reporter may chat as you unclip the microphone. Our default, from Before you say yes, is that everything you say is on the record, including talk before and after. UTSA's media office states this for its faculty. If you want to ask what the host thought of your answer, wait until you are off the call and ask the producer.
6. See it See it
Dr. Lena Ostrowski's live remote hit. All names, stations and results here are invented. A blue-green algae bloom has closed the beach at Pine Hollow Lake, and Lakes 7 News (a fictional station) asks Lena, a hydrologist at Kettle River State University (fictional), to appear live by video on its 6 p.m. news. She answers the producer's email at 3 p.m. Toxin results from the state lab are due in 48 hours. The producer asks whether Lena would prefer to sit at home or stand on the shore. (The 4:30 p.m. tech check, the four-minute slot, the anchor appearing alone and the chyron wording are details added for this example.)
Lena asks the producer the questions from this chapter: live, not taped; remote; about four minutes; the anchor alone; the chyron will read "Dr. Lena Ostrowski, Hydrologist, Kettle River State University" if she confirms the wording. She chooses home. At 4:30 she raises her laptop on three books so the camera sits at eye level, moves a lamp behind the laptop so the light falls on her face, takes the window out of the frame and takes down a wall calendar. She chooses a solid blue top with a collar and no jewelry. She writes the question the producer says the anchor will open with, then the answer she will give to it:
The bloom covers about a third of the lake. In the past five summers, 2 of the 14 blooms on this lake tested above the state's advisory level for toxins. The state lab's results for this bloom are due in two days.
The answer is 42 words, about 17 seconds at 150 words a minute and 14 seconds at 180, inside the University of Florida's 20-second guideline. Lena records it twice on her phone, looking into the lens and pausing briefly before she speaks. On playback the second take has a lamp reflection in her glasses, so she moves the lamp slightly higher and records again.
Known: the interview is live and remote; the beach is closed; the bloom covers about a third of the lake by satellite image; 2 of the 14 blooms in five summers tested above the advisory level (her own data); the toxin results are due in 48 hours.
Assumed: Lena assumes the link will have some delay, so she plans a short pause before each answer. That is her assumption; the producer's 4:30 tech check settles how much.
Open: whether she may speak for the university or only from her expertise, which the university's media relations office settles under its policy (Before you say yes); whether toxins are present above the advisory level in this bloom, which the state lab's results settle and the state health department announces (Communicating uncertainty); whether the station will show the chyron wording she confirmed, which the producer settles.
Free guides that show the setup and the clothes:
- UBC Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, how to conquer your remote video interview: sound, light, framing and eye line for a call, from a university research centre.
- Bangor University, tips for remote media interviews: a short UK guide on the lens, delay and staying on air.
- University of Florida IFAS, Media Interview Skills: where to look by setting and the 20-second guideline.
- Ohio University, what to wear on camera: patterns, colors and microphone-friendly tops.
7. Practice Practice
Minimum: one answer from your message sheet, recorded once on your phone camera propped at eye level, watched with the sound on and checked against the video sheet. Time: about 30 minutes, or about 15 if you record only one take. Materials: a phone with a camera, a stack of books, a lamp or a window in front of you, the top you plan to wear, your message sheet and the video checklist. The video checklist is essential for a TV or remote format; the day-of sheet is essential for every interview.
- Write the setting on the request sheet. Live or taped, studio, field or remote, the length, the chyron wording and the producer's number. If you do not know yet, write the question you will ask.
- Prop the phone at eye level and set the light. Face the window or place a lamp behind the phone. Take everything off the wall behind you that a viewer could read.
- Put on the top you plan to wear. Check the preview for shimmer in any pattern, and for a clip-on mic spot at the collar or lapel.
- Record one answer, 20 seconds or less, from the answers you practiced in Practice answers. Look into the lens. Pause briefly before you start. Keep your hands out of frame and your head still.
- Watch it with the sound on, then once with the sound off. With the sound on, check your voice is clear. With the sound off, check framing, light, background and how much you move.
- Fix one thing and tick the sheet. Change one thing, such as the lamp or the height of the camera, and tick the line on the video sheet. Record your answer to the practice question on the practice sheet if you changed the wording.
The smallest version is what the minimum describes: your phone, a stack of books and one 20-second answer, in a quiet corner. If the interview is by phone for print, this recording is optional practice; the green box below says how this chapter applies to your format.
Record a second answer in each of two conditions and compare: once looking into the lens, once at the screen. Then record once with a card at camera height and once without. Watch both with the sound off and write on the sheet which one looks steadier. If you can, ask a friend to be the host on a video call, and record the call, not only the camera, so you see what the station would see.
8. Your interview Your interview
9. Check your work Check your work
Criteria
- Do you know whether the interview is live or taped, and whether it is a studio, field or remote setting?
- Do you know where to look in that setting, and did you look there on the recording?
- On a call, is the camera at eye level, the light in front of you and the background plain, with room under your chin for the chyron?
- Is your top a solid mid-tone with no fine pattern, and did you ask the studio what it wants?
- Does your answer fit in 20 seconds or less at your own rate, with the gist of the question in its first sentence?
- Does the day-of sheet say what you do after your last answer until someone says you are clear?
Worked example
Lena's recording (fictional) meets the first four criteria: live remote, lens, books and lamp, a solid blue collared top. Her answer meets the fifth: 17 seconds at her rate. Her second take failed the framing check because of the lamp's reflection in her glasses, which she saw only on playback. The sixth criterion is open: she wrote "stay still, face the lens, until the producer says clear" on her day-of sheet, but she has not yet asked the producer what to do if the earpiece falls out. That question goes in her 4:30 call. The result is complete for the chapter: a checklist done and one answer reviewed, with one question still addressed to the producer.
Common mistakes
- Looking at yourself. You watch your face on screen and look off-lens. Cover the self-view or minimize the window.
- Testing the app but not the picture. The call connects and you stop. Record a test answer and watch it; the picture shows what a viewer sees.
- Window behind you. The face turns dark against the glass. Turn your chair so the window is in front of you or beside the camera, or add a lamp.
- Dressing for the mirror. A fine stripe or check looks fine in person and shimmers on camera. Check on the recording.
- Relaxing at the end of the answer. The shot holds on you while the host wraps up. Stay still until you are clear.
- Treating one source as the rule. A guide that says white shirts are safe or green is forbidden is one voice. The studio's instruction wins.
What is still unresolved
This chapter cannot settle what the outlet chooses to use, how it edits an interview, which wording the chyron shows, or what the studio wants you to wear. The producer settles those. It does not settle how to answer a hard question on camera; Hard and unexpected questions covers that. If you are a spokesperson for an organization, the organization's media contact may have its own rules about on-camera appearances; ask it before you accept (Before you say yes).