Help:Interview example questions

The following questions are intended to help you develop your own list of questions when interviewing lighting and set designers, and lighting technologists. Select, modify and add to the questions to meet the purpose of the interview you are doing - we don't expect you to ask all of them!

Introduction to the interview

• Explain who is conducting the interview and why. Give the date and place of the interview.
• Give a brief summary of the historical context to the interviewee.

Introducing the interviewee

• Please introduce yourself - what is your name and current role?
• What is your background - where and when where you born?
• What is your position now?
• What kind of work do you do now?

Questions about the person

Questions about career and life history

• How long have you been a [set designer/lighting designer/other role]?
• How did you get started in the industry? What was your position when you started?
• How were you trained / how did you learn the trade?
  • By whom?
  • What was the content? What did training entail?
• Who were your early influences - what did you learn from them?
• What kind of productions have you mostly worked on over your career? Which companies / artists / houses have you worked with?
• What has changed in these types of shows/performances?
• What has changed in the technology since you started?
• What was old-fashioned by the time you started?
• What is old-fashioned now?
• Do you see an evolution in the recognition that the profession receives?
• Which project or work are you most proud of, and why? Which do you have the best or worst memories of?

Questions about working processes

• How do you work with members of your team - who do you rely on most?
• How were the relationships in a team? Who had artistic or technical input? Who made decisions? Has this evolved over time?
• How was a working day organised when you started? How has the way of working changed?
• How does a production go?
  • Ideas?
  • Drawings? Technically?
  • Rehearsal process?
  • Premiere?
  • Follow up after premiere?
• How do you build a relationship when you work with a new collaborator such as a director?
• Which is your favourite part of the process? Which do you like the least? And why?
• What is the biggest mistake you have made? And why?

Questions for Designers

• How do you get started on a design - what are your first steps?
• How do you translate a director’s or choreographer’s vision into a design?
• How do you communicate about your design?
• What are the most important aspects of designing for performance to you - what makes a design "successful"?
• Is this still the same or did that change for you over the years?
• Are there any emerging trends or technologies you’re excited about?
• Do you think you have a "style"?
• How do you balance aesthetics with functionality on stage? In the kind of work you do most, is that an influence on the design?
• What are the parts you do yourself and what is done by others (CAD drawing, visualisation, technical preparations)?

Questions for lighting designers

• What equipment/materials did you use in the beginning?
• Was this conventional lighting (incandescent)?
• What were popular/standard brands?
• What was the way of working? What did a setup look like?
• Do you use a lot of alternative light sources, not designed for entertainment lighting?
• Do you have a specific starting point in creating a lighting design? Colour? Direction? Concept? Rhythm?
• What was your relationship to the set and/or costume design?
• Do you see light as a narrative element, and if so, how do you use it to tell a story?

Questions for set designers

• Were workshops/studios able to make your ideas a reality?
• How have the craft processes of realising a set design changed? What has been gained and lost?

Questions about a specific production (concert, theatre play, dance performance…)

Questions about the production

• What was the production about?
• When was the production and how many shows did it have?
• Was the production in a theatre, on location or in another kind of venue?
  • If it did tour was it national or international?
  • Did the production tour or stay in one place?
• Were you on the bill? In the program booklet?
• Is this the first time that you worked for this theatre group, team or theatre? If not, tell more
• How was the production made?
  • How was the relationship with the artists?
  • Who determined the end result?
  • What artistic input was there from the technicians?
• Were the technicians/engineers able to turn ideas into reality?
• Were there any issues you had to take into account (budget, equipment, venue, touring)? How did these constrain your work?
• How was your relationship with the artistic team?
• How was the technical work organized? What did the team look like?

Questions for designers

• What were the starting points for your design? What was your first inspiration?
• Who else was in the artistic team? (lighting designer, set designer, costume designer, sound designer, video designer)
• Was your design modified during the assembly? If so, why?
• Did your design change in the rest of the process (tour)?
• What did you think of the end result in terms of your design and the entire performance?

Questions for lighting designers

• Did you use specific fixtures or special effects?
• Did you use software tools such as VOR, Stamp, Moving Light Assistant, LightWright,etc.?
• Did you have a programmer, or did you program the show yourself?
• Who ran the show during the performances?

Questions about documentation and archiving

• What do you keep from each project long term? Why?
• For designers:
  • Do you use a storyboard? When in the design process?
  • During the design process, do you think about what to keep as documentation material for the venue/technical department? And for yourself?
  • What do you do to ensure the quality of your design is maintained in future? How do you explain and communicate this with the technical departments?