By Tenley Tuschman
If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that people like to watch people. It’s part of human interest, hence, it’s why we are always watching interviews and watching people talk about themselves. It’s not like we really have a reason to; we just do. It’s sort of addictive. This idea lies greatly in a video series called Vogue’s 73 Questions. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a guy with a camera who goes to a bunch of celebrities houses and asks them 73 random questions. Sounds weird right? Well, these videos get millions of views and are one of Vogue’s most beloved series. So what I was wondering was, what makes them so interesting? And I realized the answer lies within the mysterious voice behind all those videos.
His name is Joe Sabia and he is currently the VP of creative development at Condé Nast Entertainment. But before that, he was just an internet video artist working on his own. It wasn’t until 2013 that everything changed for him. He was approached by Conde Nast to be one of the ten directors for Vanity Fair’s “The Decade Series.” Six months later, they reached out to him again and asked him what he would do if he had some time with Sarah Jessica Parker. Sabia was told to think about a pitch for a couple days. It was in those few days that he came up with the idea; an insane interview where they asked her as many questions as possible. He wanted it to be comedic, with rapid-fire questions that she would have to answer as quickly as possible. This was also when the idea of looking directly into the camera came up. It would make it seem like she was looking directly at him, and for the viewers, directly at them.
The original plan was to have 100 questions and to do it all in one take. He realized 100 questions, along with the choreographed movement was a little impractical to do. He ended up with 73. It’s sort of brilliant because it’s a totally weird number but great for search-engine optimization. And he always asks funny, light-hearted questions, a prospect of the interviews that still hold up today. Each interview has a specific set of questions, tailored to each celebrity. Sabia didn’t want the same questions for everyone, believing it would appear too “stagy.” Because each interview is specific to that person, a lot of research and thought is put into each and every question. Sabia and his crew get to scout out the location of the shoot the day before. When shooting starts, they are given a four-hour time block. The person can look through their questions beforehand, coming up with answers and then do their first take. They normally do from 5 to 7 takes to get it perfect.
So, when you put all of that all together, what do you get? A crazy, nonsense video where a celebrity is answering questions as fast as possible. And we can’t help but watch it. We don’t ever get to see celebrities like that; it’s raw and it’s real. He isn’t putting a microphone in their faces asking them what they’re wearing on the red carpet or what crazy thing is happening in their lives. It’s deeply personal because they’re in their own space and we also get a glimpse into their brilliant, twisted, unfiltered minds. They’re looking directly into the camera. To see them in the wild for those six or seven minutes, we feel as if we know them a little bit better. And we can’t help but picture ourselves while watching the videos, answering the questions alongside our favorite celebrities.
Southview Catalyst 