I interviewed Tamar Kay, a documentarian from Israel and a graduate from the Sam Spiegel Film School in Jerusalem. In finding my subject, I knew I wanted to interview someone I didn’t know who would be able to talk about something the audience (me and you) could engage with.
I found out on Monday that Tamar Kay would be screening her film The Mute’s House at Muhlenberg the following night, so I knew I had to ask her if she would sit for an interview. I asked, she said yes, we exchanged numbers, and the next day she texted me in the morning with a time that would work for her. I left work early, set up and interviewed. I knew I wanted to talk to her about her film, but my intentions were to ask her about being a new film student in search of any advice that might help alleviate some of the anxieties associated with creating a film for the first time (for a lot of us). Especially because some of us (me) have never done anything like this ever.
She was wonderful, polite, helpful, and insightful. I was extremely nervous to interview her. I didn’t sleep at all the night before. All I could think about was how I’ve never set up a tripod, filmed, or interviewed anyone in my life. The technical issues and preparation of questions were anxiety provoking, not to mention how I just decided to jump right into it without even thinking about how I didn’t know what I was doing on almost every level. Luckily I had help setting up and I prepared many questions, knowing well I wouldn’t get through them all. Needless to say the interview went well. There were some issues with slating, but nothing unresolvable. The worst part is playing it back and hearing myself!
I set up in a professor’s office on campus. Locations were limited because both of us were on a tight schedule (she left for Pittsburgh right after our interview and I went back to work).